"I want immunity."
Ven growled under his breath. "You drive me crazy, Claire. I take you to the house of my best friend, and you get upset. I offer you the highest honor a kinsman family can bestow on an outsider and you haggle with me like I'm trying to sel you apples at the market. Just what is it you're hiding in your mind?"
"You will find out if you give me immunity."
He stared at her. Silence stretched.
"Fuck it. I have to know now. You have your immunity."
She rose. "Come with me."
He fol owed her. They almost col ided with Lienne, as she opened the door of the office. Perfect.
"Fol ow me, please," Claire said.
Lienne arched her eyebrows. "What's going on?"
"I have no clue," Ven said. "Just play along."
Claire led them down the hal way to the conference room. Charles and Tonya scrambled up at their approach.
Doreem struggled to rise. Claire crouched by him. "Do you want to save your grandson?"
"Yes," the old man breathed.
"Then you must adopt me. Write me into the building rol . Right now."
Charles lifted Doreem to his feet. The Building Manager took his scrol -tablet from his bag and handed it to Tonya. She held it up. Claire knelt. Doreem placed his hand onto Claire's hair. "By the power invested in my by War Council, I formal y adopt Claire Shannon, Rank Captain, birth date of..."
"... Two thousand seven hundred and twenty six standard," Claire murmured.
"... two thousand seven hundred and twenty six standard into Nagi family as witnessed by these five witnesses."
Doreem pul ed the stylus out and careful y wrote her name into the Nagi family and passed the tablet to Charles.
Charles signed, gave it to Tonya, then the tablet made the rounds to Lienne, Venturo, and final y Edu.
Doreem examined signatures. "So witnessed. Rise, my daughter."
"Thank you." Claire rose and faced Ven. "Kosta is my nephew. Please make the cal , patron."
Lienne's eyes widened. "Patron... Patron? "
"I will explain later." Ven took Claire by the hand.
"Come on. You four go down to the security forces station to col ect the boy."
"Venturo!" Lienne yelled.
"Later." Ven kept a firm grip on her fingers and led her to his office. They stepped inside. He touched his desk.
The glass wal s turned opaque, and the faint whoosh announced the activation of the sound barrier.
Ven dialed the number on the digital projection on his desk. "Captain Alvarra."
A long moment dripped by.
"Kinsman Escana," a male voice said. "What may I do for you?"
"You've apprehended a boy, Kosta Nagi. He is a
"You've apprehended a boy, Kosta Nagi. He is a nephew of my client, Claire Shannon Nagi."
"My apologies, kinsman. The boy bears our AI mark."
"He was playing on the bionet and stumbled into the wrong sector. I will be happy to pay the fine."
A number ignited in the corner of the screen. Fourteen thousand credits. More than a quarter of her yearly salary.
Venturo flicked a stylus.
"Thank you, kinsman. Shal I deliver the boy to his home address?"
"No need. His grandfather is coming to pick him up.
Thank you for your assistance. You have been most helpful."
"My honor, kinsman."
The screen went dark.
So easy. It was so easy for him.
Venturo looked at her. "Feel better?"
"Yes."
"Rank Captain," he said.
"Everyone must have a rank of some sort." Claire desperately wanted to run away. The door was locked. She wouldn't get far in any case. Besides, she gave her word.
"I will initiate the mind link now," he said. "I'll do all of the work. all you have to is relax."
"Can I have a minute?" She began dismantling the shel from the inside.
"I'm afraid not." His mind enveloped hers, slicing through her surface thoughts.
Venturo's eyes widened. "What is this?"
She put more pressure on the shel .
"Open your mind, Claire."
"I'm trying. It takes time."
"I'm afraid I must insist."
His mind smashed into her shel . It cracked, caught between the pressure of their two minds. He pushed harder. The shel broke. Her mind soared free and she felt him surge through it, finding all of her secrets. He felt the raw grief of her team's death and the pain of the PPP. He saw the bionet, he saw the red cat, he saw himself as the beast on fire. He saw everything. She desperately tried to hide one tiny secret bit of self, the one fil ed with fantasies of him, with images of both of them, touching, kissing, making love, but he found it in a fraction of a second.
They sat across from each other, her mind glowing, completely revealed.
His jaw tightened. His mind was like a supernova, churning with anger and surprise.
Venturo rose from behind his desk and walked out.
Chapter Eight
Claire went home. There was nothing else left to do.
She walked into her apartment and sank on the couch.
She felt exhausted, drained, as if nothing of her remained except for a thin shadow.
She should have felt relief. Final y Venturo knew. She wouldn't have to lie anymore. Her position as a client meant she would be safe from deportation. None of it mattered next to the look on his face. He looked betrayed.
She did betray him, his trust, all while she had fantasized about him. She felt smal , shamed, and pathetic.
She would cry, except she had no tears, so she curled into a bal hugging her knees.
A knock sounded through the door. Claire's mind soared, checking.
Venturo.
She pul ed her knees tighter to her. No.
"Open the door, Claire."
No.
"Open the door."
She closed her eyes and will ed him to go away.
An image blossomed in her mind: Venturo, nude, golden, his big body bracing hers. She was shameless and naked. His lips trailed the line of her neck.
Her whole body shivered in excitement, conjuring a physical response to the fantasy.
Claire tried to scrounge a mental shield.
In her mind Venturo flipped her, caressing her back, sliding his hands around her to cup her br**sts, his fingers teasing her ni**les, sending tiny electric shocks through her. A hungry yearning began to build inside her, a kind of emptiness that insisted to be fil ed. She felt the steel ridges of his stomach against her back and the thick length of his c**k against her butt. Her head swam, as if she were drunk on pink wine.