Unchained (13 page)

“
Yes.”

“
She was more than just
your cook, wasn’t she?” Cidra whispered.

He didn’t answer her. He was too busy
mentally rerunning his heated conversation with Mora. When he fired
her, she had been furious, swearing at him and making some nasty
comments about his lovemaking skills. The discussion had digressed
from that point. He must have been blind to trust her. He had no
one to blame but himself. He took her without knowing her and paid
dearly for his moment of weakness.

“
I’m sorry.” Cidra reached
out and placed her hand gently on his arm.

His jaw tightened. “Forget it. It won’t
happen again.”

Cidra frowned. “What do you mean?”

“
I broke my own rule. Never
get involved with a member of the crew,” he said bluntly. “Bad for
business.”

Cidra withdrew her hand as if it were on
fire. “We all make mistakes, Grey.”

“
I trusted her. That’s one
error I won’t repeat.”

The message was unmistakable.

Cidra’s mouth dropped open. She swung around
to face him, indignation lacing her words. “Does that include me?
Do you distrust everyone you meet or is it just me?”

His eyes narrowed in warning. “You of all
people should know the price of betrayal.”

His words struck hard. Anger, deep and
swift, shot through her. “Yes, I do. But I won’t let it rule my
life. I believe most people can be trusted.”

“
Is that a fact?” With
lightning speed he reached out, grabbed her by the waist and yanked
her hard against his chest. She gasped at the raw strength, hard
muscle and harder eyes. He crushed her arms between
them.

His words seared her face, all heat and
fury. “You don’t even know me, Cidra. How do you know you can trust
me?” He pulled her closer, her mouth inches from his.

She didn’t fight him. It was obvious he was
trying to make a point. Damned if she’d give it to him.

“
Syrus chose you. That’s
good enough for me,” she replied, calm and cold.

His mouth twisted into a bitter smile.
“Maybe I’ve changed since Syrus knew me.”

If she hadn’t been watching, she would have
missed the flash of regret in his eyes. Pain so deeply buried, that
only someone who knew suffering would recognize it. Her anger
seeped away, replaced by sudden understanding and great
sadness.

“
Something tells me you
haven’t changed very much since you left Avion fifteen years ago,”
she said softly.

Grey’s expression changed, from anger to
surprise to disbelief in an instant. Seconds ticked by, she didn’t
move, didn’t want to tempt the dangerous fire in his eyes. Finally
he released her and braced his hands against the railing. He stared
out into the still night air.

“
Go inside, Cidra. Show’s
over.”

Grey stormed into the kitchen, threw himself
onto a stool and glared at Barrios who was making the morning meal.
How he hated sleepless nights.

Barrios looked at him warily, his eyebrows
high. “Sleep well?”

“
No.” The word was an
answer and a warning in one.

Barrios nodded once. Heeding the warning, he
busied himself with serving the meal.

Grey finally broke the tension with a gruff,
“Where are they?”

“
Who?”

“
Not funny, Barrios. Where
are Cidra and Rosa?” Grey barked.

“
There’s a note.” Barrios
inclined his head toward the message board. The old man chuckled as
Grey leapt from the stool to read it.

Boys-

We went to the market early. See you at
dinner. Behave.

Rosa

Barrios grunted. “Boys! Indeed. That woman
needs a lesson on the difference between boys and men.”

It was Grey’s turn to raise
an eyebrow. Well, well. Wasn’t
that
interesting. He scanned around for another note.
Nothing from Cidra. She was still mad. And she had every right to
be.

He blew out a breath in self-disgust,
knowing full well it was his own fault. He had spent the better
part of last night reliving the argument and it didn’t improve with
repetition. How could he have been such a fool? She actually tried
to comfort him and he brushed her off. No, he had shoved her off,
scared her and practically thrown her out. All in less than a
minute. Must be some kind of record. He’d better devote a good
portion of the day figuring out how to rectify the mess he’d
made.

Barrios set the full plates on the table and
sat down. “So, what’s on for today?”

Grey took a deep breath. He couldn’t do
anything about Cidra right now. Besides, he had another serious
matter to attend. He sat down across from Barrios and smiled for
the first time this morning. “Depends. How are you at spreading
rumors?”

By the time they broke for mid-day meal,
Cidra had decided that Rosa’s energy knew no bounds. It manifested
itself in effervescent chatter, flurries of animated gestures and a
walking pace that would have put Grey to shame. But at least
keeping up with Rosa’s rapid-fire manner took her mind off the
previous night’s disaster. She was immensely grateful they had
escaped Grey’s house early this morning before he arose. She had no
desire to endure an encore performance.

“
Are you all right, my
dear?” Rosa placed her hand on Cidra’s arm. “Have I worn you out?
It was a busy morning.”

Cidra shook her head and smiled back across
the small dining table in the crowded eatery Rosa had chosen. “No,
you haven’t.” Then she frowned and said uncertainly, “We are done,
aren’t we?”

Rosa laughed and patted her arm. “Yes,
quite. I think Grey will be pleased with your purchases. Those
dresses especially.” Her eyes lit up. “He’ll like those.”

“
I doubt that,” Cidra
muttered and caught Rosa’s questioning gaze. “We had a few words
last evening. Right now, I don’t think he’d look at me if I walked
in completely naked.”

Rosa waved her off. “Oh, nonsense. He would
do more than look. And what are a few words? To your life, they add
excitement and energy. Tell you things you did not know. Best of
all, they give you reason to make up.” She winked.

Cidra shook her head in amazement. The woman
was positively unsinkable.

“
The words, what were they
about?”

Cidra sighed, rubbing her temples. “Trust,
mostly. Women, in particular. Mora, specifically. And me, by
gender. I don’t understand it. I’ve done nothing to earn his
mistrust.”

“
Then you have no worry. He
will come around. Grey is stubborn, yes, but fair. A man who admits
his mistakes. Give him time,” Rosa stated with
confidence.

Cidra could only hope. She hated the cold
feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she thought of him.
She preferred the heat he stirred so effortlessly.

A server delivered their lunch order.

After he left, Cidra hedged, “Rosa, do you
know anything about Grey’s family?”

Rosa dove into her lunch and shook her head.
“He does not offer. I do not ask. Why?”

Cidra shifted in her chair. “I was just
wondering.”

“
What of your family?” Rosa
asked with a smile on her ruddy face.

“
I don’t have any. Barrios
is the closest thing to family I’ve got,” Cidra spoke softly and
stared into her plate.

Rosa was silent for a few long moment. Then
she gently covered Cidra’s hand with hers and smiled.

“
Well, now you have
us.”

“
Here’s to a job well done,
my boy.” Barrios saluted Grey with his fifth drink and downed it in
a single swallow. Coon, fresh off his shift guarding the
docked
Calíbre
,
gave Grey a big smile with a mouthful of mismatched teeth and shot
back his drink in kind. Grey shook his head, envisioning a long
night of salutes.

The saloon keeper began setting up another
round. Barrios shooed him away. “You’ll wear yourself out keeping
up with us. Just leave the bottle, we’ll serve ourselves.”

Then giving himself a self-congratulatory
smile, he sloppily poured the next round.

It was bound to happen, Grey thought, as he
eyed him. Barrios had finally discovered Oeno and embraced it like
a long lost friend. Life would never be the same. Still, he
couldn’t have asked for a better partner today.

Between the two of them and the deal with
Rourke, they had spread the word all over the city that Grey was
leaving in two days to retrieve the Lost Mask of Teran. That should
give Wex incentive enough to take the false file Mora stole and
spend the next several months traveling across the galaxy to the
middle of nowhere. He couldn’t help but smile.

They drank on, saluting everyone and
everything. Toasts to the inventors of Oeno and reverse thrusters.
To the visionary of long-legged street molls and horizontal beds.
To the short skirts the servers wore. To the inventor of short
skirts.

Drinks were raised as Barrios offered the
next toast. “To fast ships.” Grey drank heartily to that.

“
To faster women,” Coon
said. Barrios drank heartily to that. After a moment, he noticed
that Grey hadn’t joined the required salute.

“
Stone, you’re not drinking
to faster women.” Barrios nudged him, splashing his drink. “Don’t
you care for fast women? Ah, maybe you prefer the ones that burn
slower and last longer?”

Grey narrowed his eyes at him. “Maybe, but
I’m not talking.”

Barrios roared with laughter. “Son, you
don’t have to. It’s written all over your face. You’re in deep
trouble, my boy. I can feel her cold shoulder from here. What did
you do to rile her?”

“
It wasn’t my fault.” Grey
defended himself, although the words sounded feeble even to
him.

Coon offered some slurred advice, waggling a
finger. “It doesn’t matter if it’s your fault or not. She’ll wear
you down. Then you’ll...” He nodded wisely. The other two men
looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish. After a few
seconds, it became obvious that he thought he already had.

Barrios turned back to Grey and prodded.
“Out with it, Stone. Cidra doesn’t get upset for nothing.”

“
I can’t remember exactly.
Something about me not trusting her. I was pretty mad at the time,”
he mumbled over the rim of his drink.

“
You told her you didn’t
trust her?” Barrios eyes widened. Then he let out a slow, wobbly
whistle. “You got big trouble, son. She’s spent the past ten years
trying to make up for what her father was accused of. I never saw
anyone take their obligations as seriously as she does. Cidra’s
straight up. You should know that by now.”

Grey sighed in resignation and stared into
the undulating Oeno. “I know. I wasn’t thinking of her, I was
thinking of Mora.” He speared Barrios with a grimace. “Talk about
fast women.”

Barrios nodded and weaved in agreement.
“Myself, I prefer the slow burners. You never know what you’ll get
when you light up one of those.” He raised his glass. “To slow
burners.”

Grey drank to that. Coon made a valiant
attempt join the toast, but instead his head dropped down on the
table with a resounding thud. Barrios and Grey regarded him in mild
surprise.

“
I guess slow burners put
him to sleep,” Barrios summarized, leaning slightly as he attempted
to line his vision up with Coon’s horizontal head.

Grey laughed. “It would seem so.” Clouds of
Oeno were descending around him. He was still thinking about Cidra
and grinning like a fool. Definitely not a slow burner. He’d
already had a taste of her fire. What he wouldn’t give to see her
fully ablaze.

They drank the next round in silence. Then
Barrios listed toward Grey, his tone serious. “Cidra is like my
daughter, you know. She’s been through a lot, seen a lot,
experienced little.” He focused on Grey with a lurch. “I wouldn’t
want her hurt.”

“
I won’t hurt her, I
promise. Keeping my mouth shut should help greatly,” Grey
muttered.

Barrios accepted that. “If you want her,
you’ll have to apologize. And you better make it a good one.”

Grey nodded. He wanted her. He didn’t know
exactly when the thought became fact, but there it was. The
acknowledgment alone eased the twisting in his gut that had plagued
him all day.

Grey raised his glass. “To understanding
women.”

Barrios’ laugh boomed through the saloon.
“That’ll take more Oeno than they got on all of Vaasa.”

Rosa and Cidra were sitting at the table
when the boisterous pair clamored into the kitchen with Barrios
singing at the top of his lungs. They both reeled to a halt,
looking all the world like two little boys caught in an act of
mischief.

Barrios’ whisper in Grey’s ear came through
as a lilting shout, “Nope, they’re not sleepin’. We don’t have to
be quiet. ‘S good thing ‘cause you make too much noise.” He gently
patted Grey’s cheek. He winked at Cidra with both eyes. “Hello,
love. We were just talking ‘bout you, weren’t we, Stone?”

Grey wasn’t listening. All his senses were
focused on Cidra.

Barrios donned a stunned and stupefied
expression as Rosa began scolding him. “You. You are a bad
influence. I should have known. Grown men. Indeed. Look at you. We
cannot leave you two alone for a single day.”

Rosa pointed to Grey. “Cidra, you take that
one. I will handle the almighty chef myself.” She then proceeded to
pry the joined drinking buddies apart and pull Barrios towards his
room. His playful chiding and her feisty retorts echoed down the
hallway until the bedroom door slammed shut behind them.