Josiah leaned toward her, whispering in her ear.
“He’s a spy, you know,” he said softly. His breath brushed against her cheek and she shivered. The tip of his tongue flicked out, tracing her earlobe so softly that she hardly realized he touched her at first. She quivered even as she willed herself not to respond.
“He pretends to be a smuggler, but he’s really in service to the Saurellian government. If he knew you knew that, he’d have to kill you.”
She tried to pull away from him, but somehow his arm had wound its way around her, holding her securely so she couldn’t move. His insidious whispers continued.
“He’s also a friend of the Emperor’s,” he said softly. “He’s a double agent, and a darling of the Imperial court. He’s bedded hundreds of women there. He f**ks them until they give him their husbands’ secrets.
How much room do you think has in his life for someone like you?”
With that, he pulled away from her. Any hint of emotion or warmth was gone from his gaze.
She looked across the table to see the woman sitting next to Jerred, rubbing his back languidly. Her eyes, so deep and rich and brown, gazed back at Giselle. There were secrets in that gaze. Her touch on Jerred seemed possessive, as if she knew she owned him.
Or perhaps as if she’d touched him before.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying Celia,” Josiah said smoothly. He turned back to Giselle. “She’s always been his favorite. He likes those tall, dark types.”
Giselle gritted her teeth and nodded her head. What had she done to deserve this? All she wanted to was a decent, regular job so she could get back on her feet. This simply wasn’t fair.
“Celia has been asking after you as well, Jerred,” Josiah continued. “I promised her she could have you.
Of course, that was before I searched your ship. I’m not sure you’ll be capable of accommodating her once I’m done with you now. I really wasn’t very pleased with what I found there.”
Giselle looked to Jerred quickly, suddenly afraid.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied lightly. “There’s nothing on my ship that should concern you.”
“Oh, really?” Josiah said, his tone growing harsh. “I find that interesting, because in one of your encrypted databanks there was a detailed schematic of this station and the five largest ships in my fleet.
Why would you want information like that, Jerred?”
She looked to him, waiting to hear his explanation. She had no idea why he might have such a thing, but she hoped to hell he had a good reason. Josiah didn’t seem very pleased about the situation at all.
Jerred didn’t reply, though. Instead he sat up and pulled Celia against him, whipping out a knife and holding it to her throat.
Everyone froze, and Celia gave out a low moan. The music stopped.
Then Josiah burst out laughing, and the music started again.
“Oh, Jerred,” he said. “I’m impressed by your play acting, but I really don’t care whether you kill Celia or not.”
The woman moaned piteously, and her eyes caught Giselle’s. All trace of seduction, superiority was gone now. They were just two women afraid of the men around them. Giselle’s breath caught her in her throat.
“Please, Jerred,” she whispered. “Don’t kill her. She doesn’t deserve to die, and I don’t think that Josiah cares about her at all.”
She knew she was right about that. As far she could tell, Josiah didn’t care about anyone. He wasn’t human—or at least he wasn’t human where it counted.
“Shut up,” Jerred said roughly. “You aren’t part of this. I don’t care what a little whore like you thinks.”
His words stung her at first. Then she thought back to his comment early, about making friends with Josiah. Was he trying to protect her? Or simply reverting to form…
She sat back, trying to think what to do next. Before she came up with anything, one of the guards came up behind Jerred and hit him over the head with the butt of his blaster. He dropped like a stone, and Celia scrambled away, clutching at her throat and screaming. A line of crimson blood dripped down between her fingers.
Josiah sat through it all, a smile on his face, his arm curled around her rigidly. After a moment he turned to her and spoke.
“Celia will be fine,” he said softly. “Jerred is a weak man. He never intended to hurt her. I know him well enough to predict that. You have a choice to make now.”
She nodded slowly, watching two men roughly lift Jerred’s body and haul him out the door. Where were they taking him? Would they hurt him?
“Are you listening to me?” Josiah asked softly. “I really think that you should. You’ll only have one opportunity to make this choice and I’d hate for you to miss it.”
She swallowed and forced herself to pay full attention to what he said.
“Now you get to decide where your loyalties lay,” he said smoothly. “You can either choose to stay with Jerred or you can choose to join me.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “How would I join him?”
“In my prison cells,” he said. “I haven’t decided what to do with him quite yet. Normally I would set an example of man who betrayed me. It’s good for business. On the other hand, I’ve known Jerred for a long time and we’ve had many mutually profitable business dealings with each other. I can’t help but wonder whether I should let sentiment enter my decision-making process.”
She saw nothing resembling sentiment in his face. He was inhuman—she had more than enough proof of that. Poor Celia still clutched her bleeding throat as the women fluttered around her, trying to help.
“What about her?’ she asked softly, nodding toward the woman. “Do you care about her?”
“No,” Josiah said, cocking his head thoughtfully. “Not particularly. I mean her no ill will.”
She thought for a moment, desperately considering her options. She’d told herself a thousand times that she hated Jerred, but seeing him attacked like that tore at her inside. She cared about him for some reason. There was no point in denying it to herself.
“What if I decide to stay with you?” she asked softly. “What do you intend to do with me?”
“Well, I suppose I’d discover what it is about you that intrigued Jerred so,” he said softly, running one finger up along her cheek.
“He seems to genuinely care about you,” he said. “He’s lying when he says he’s taken other companions. He’s never done anything like that before, and I assure you that I make it my business to know such things. There’s something different about you.”