Broken Flyght – Chapter 18

When I return to my hotel room, I’m officially beat.

Between the crap night of sleep and running around Oitavo all morning, my knees are liquid and my chest aches. I need to rest, but I can do that after I break things off with Jinzo. I’ll do the deed, return to the room and pack, and then head straight back to the Amagi.

A handwritten note in my room from Jinzo tells me to meet him at the bar on the fifth floor of the casino. “We’ll have drinks, and I’ll take you out for lunch. Can’t wait to see you.”

Angry Vivian pushes Tired Vivian aside with a shove.

What the fuck is this? He can’t wait to see me? In what universe did he not watch Cressida’s vidcall five times last night?

I fling the card to the bed with a flick of my wrist. I’m suddenly sure he’s playing with me. He was sweet and caring in order to get me into his good graces. He turned me down last night because he wanted my trust. But now, he’s going to screw me over. Right?

Right.

I choose my outfit carefully. It’s daytime, but that doesn’t stop me from picking one of my shorter skirts. Legs. Legs all the way to the moons and back. And a form-fitting shirt. Because I may not be gorgeous like Fucking Cressida Briar-Stevenson, but I have breasts and legs that are worth showing off and doing something with. Maybe, someday, if I actually workout, they’ll be even better.

By the time I’m done in the bathroom, I’m ready to knock Jinzo dead. I try to look hot without looking sleazy, a delicate balance. I opt for big lashes, but I keep the shadow to a minimum, and I top it all off with my favorite dark plum lipstick. My hair is sleek and shiny, and I pop in a pair of sparkly earrings.

I blaze a path of sexiness from the room to the elevator to the fifth floor. Heads turn to watch my butt sway past them. They don’t whistle or try to stop me though. I know I look good for me, but that’s about it. I’m never going to be a model or someone gorgeous like Fucking Cressida Briar-Stevenson. There’s still something too homely about my rounded face and soft body, but that will probably change with the limited diet of spaceflight. Anything’s possible.

My black heels click on the expensive marble floors, and several heads turn as I approach Jinzo, but I keep my smile in my pocket. I’m not in the mood.

Jinzo is at a tall table on the far end of the bar, so I have a lot of ground to cover before he sees me. The casino floor, almost all card tables, stretches out on either side of us, and the day of gambling is off to a noisy start.

With each step, I begin to lose my resolve. I flash back to only a few days ago when I met him on the Orbital Station — his casual work clothes and boots, the warmth of his smile, his confidence next to my taller stature, the way he spoke to his friends, the ease with which he made himself at home on the Amagi…

I shouldn’t have let him into my heart.

He looks up from his datapad and blinks in surprise.

“Vivian, I… uh…” He coasts his hand over the top of his head, and my resolve cracks. A tiny hairline fracture zigzags across my steely anger. It’s a good thing he didn’t meet me up in the room when my anger was red hot because I would’ve lost it on him.

Why does he have to be so handsome? He’s wearing a simple black shirt and white denim pants. I’m impressed with his shoes, shiny and black. And his eyes, they’re his best feature. He kissed me with those smiling lips and made me feel wanted.

Why did he have to lie to me?

I straighten up as I join him standing at the table.

“Can I get you a drink?” he asks, his smile is first sweet then confused as he takes in my frosty glare.

“No, thank you,” I say, though I desperately want to drown myself in a vat of gin. I’m afraid I’ll do something stupid with a drink, like toss it in his face, which is something Angry Vivian wants to do, but Sad Vivian does not.

Sad Vivian sees her opportunity to step forward.

“I’m afraid I’m here to end our initial contract, Jinzo.”

His face falls, the disbelief so palpable it’s a shell around him.

“I…” My throat closes up, so I clear it to continue. He can only stare. “It’s regrettable — truly — as I feel we’re a good match. I…” I stammer to a stop.

I could see myself falling in love with you.

I could see myself laughing in bed with you.

I could see myself growing old with you.

I don’t say any of those statements.

“I’m sorry it’s not going to work out.” I nod once, take a deep breath, and grasp the table to take a step back.

He’s frozen in shock which was not what I was expecting. But I’m not sure what I was expecting, really. I try to walk away, but his hand lightly brushes my arm. It’s not a grab or anything aggressive, and that’s why I stop to face him.

“Oh my God, what happened between last night and now, Vivian?”

Cressida’s tears rip through my memories, and my resolve hardens back into anger.

“I thought you’d be relieved!” I press my hand to my chest and call up my sarcastic side. “We had an ‘amazing’ date, according to you, but I must have underperformed because you went back to your room and watched a vidcall from your actual lover five times in a row.”

Jinzo covers his mouth with his hand. “Cressida,” he breathes out, his eyes wide. “Wait. How did you know about that call?”

I shake my head in a tiny jerk. “My ship is nosy.”

“Vivian, you didn’t ‘underperform,’ and she’s not my lover either.”

When I don’t move, he deflates.

“I thought you knew that I was done with Cressida. I told Marcelo, and I assumed…”

“How could you lie to me about something so important?” I ask, my voice shaking.

“I didn’t,” he insists.

“Withholding this information is just as bad as lying, Jinzo. You didn’t mention her once last night! You watched that video five times in a row. That’s not the action of someone who’s moved on.”

“There was nothing to withhold. I have moved on. We’re done, over. I left her four, five months ago. I told Marcelo that. He even verified it with my employers.”

“But not with Cressida’s head of staff.”

“Cressida’s head of staff? Darron Stevenson?”

His voice rattles, and it knocks me back a step. There’s an enmity there I hadn’t anticipated.

All of that rage from earlier turns cold in my belly.

He reaches for my hand, and I let him take my fingers in his.

“Please listen to me, Vivian. Cressida is…” He blows out a long breath, shaking his head. “She’s a cold and uncaring woman, and those are not words I like to use with anyone. She sent me a new vidcall the other day, and I swear I watched it a hundred times looking for any signs of regret from her, and I didn’t see it.”

Hmmmm.

“She’s so good at the routine now, she can cry at the drop of a hat. But she’d never win at poker with me” — he sweeps his arm out to the surrounding tables — “because I can always tell when she’s lying. She drops her eyes when she’s trying to summon up some emotion. It’s sickening the lengths she’ll go to.”

Standing here talking to him, I’m reminded of our dinner last night, how we breezed from one subject to the next, how we laughed and danced and ate and enjoyed each other’s company.

“Jinzo,” I plead, interrupting him with a squeeze of my hand, “we can’t do this if she’s still hanging on. She’ll ruin me. She’ll track me down, run me over. I… I haven’t told you everything of what I’m doing to earn money. I haven’t told you about the seeds…”

I swallow through my fear, my knees shaking.

“I can’t attract any more attention. I’m already dangerously close to losing everything.”

His face pales, and I’m sure it mirrors mine. For the first time, I can see my daily nightmares so clearly. I’m running from Athens Industries… They’re taking away my mother, my father… A strong man has his hands around my throat…

I bring my fingertips to my throat. I can still feel the dream man’s grip, like a ghost wrapped around my neck.

Courage brings Jinzo up a few centimeters, and he steps closer to me.

“Let me help. Forget Cressida. I want to be with you. I want to be with someone who cares.”

He thinks it’s easy to forget Cressida, that it would be easy to tell her no and just move on. Cressida with her fancy family name, burgeoning empire, and infinite resources. Cressida with her sad eyes, pouting lips, and a history of relations to fall back on.

“She wants you back. She’s already got her people calling Marcelo. It… I think we’re a good match, but I cannot fight her too with everything else going on.”

“Vivian, I promise you won’t have to.”

I don’t know.

I…

I turn my head from him because I can’t think logically with him looking at me like that, and that’s when I see her.

No. Not Cressida. That would be too weird. This is unexpected, and yet she’s the one I’ve been looking for. Still, my eyes see, and my brain does not comprehend.

Exiting from a staff room onto the main casino floor is the woman from Tomu’s photos. The gorgeous, curvy woman with the tiny beauty mark just above her lip is a casino pit boss. She slowly winds her way across the floor, stopping to spare a word or two for her employees or check on a table. Her stare is practiced and powerful; definitely someone my brother would find attractive.

“Holy shit,” I whisper, floating away from Jinzo. “It’s her.”

“Who?” Jinzo looks around and then his eyes follow my line of sight. “Who is that?”

“My brother’s girlfriend.”

Whatever rage I held for Jinzo is gone. Whatever doubts I had are temporarily forgotten. He’s lucky he spoke sense and kept me from exploding.

But now that rage has transformed into determination. That anger I held for Sean, for my circumstances, and for life has turned over two-fold and been redirected. This woman is complicit in whatever my brother did, and she’s going to answer for what he did.

Oh yes, she is.