Page 44 of Choosing Jenny
She could have been saying those words to me. Or Tiger. Or Mal. We had all been so stupid.
Eating resumed, and I realized more people were absent than those who went looking for the Halla Pearls. “Jac, where is Treg? I miss that guy.”
“He’s been working on building his own ship, actually,” Jac said.
Ode smiled proudly. “My man wants to build his from the ground up. It’s kind of a Gorrk thing. They are way into ships, customizing them, painting them with strange patterns. He won’t even letmesee it until it’s done,” she said, sounding excited.
Jac laughed. “He’s out at Valor’s place, working on it now.”
“That’s awesome.”
“He’s a Gorrk?” Longshot asked.
Ode nodded happily, clearly in love. “Yes, why?”
“I’m surprised. I didn’t think a ship doctor would date someone she couldn’t work on.”
“That’sthe part that surprises you?” Jac asked. There was a challenge in his eyes that I didn’t understand.
Longshot shifted his gaze to Jac. “Should it be something else?”
Ode rolled her eyes at Jac. “Not everyone has a problem with Gorrks, Jac. Calm down.”
“I didn’t like his tone, Ode.”
Longshot shrugged. “I meant no offense at all. Romance blooms where it blooms. I am not one to judge such things.”
Jac studied him carefully. “Good to know.”
“You can trust him, Jac,” Deacon said. “Longshot Griel is known for being as accurate with his words as he is with a hand cannon, isn’t that right, Malice?”
“Yes, I brought a noted sniper into your home, Deacon. No need to remind me. I know what he is,” Mal said dismissively, before he took another bite of his breakfast.
Deacon gave him a sidelong glance. “I had preferred my subtext to remain sub, but if you’d like, we can have this all out in the open.”
Mal met his gaze, as if accepting the other man’s challenge. “I prefer it.”
“Fine. I am still not sure that we can trust you.”
I managed to drop my utensil for the second time. “Deacon, I swear to god, you need to stop with this.”
“She’s right, Deacon,” Jac said, surprising me with his defense. “You heard what Malice said last night. He is risking everything by telling us what Justice is having him do.”
Sarah nodded her agreement. “He told us he was sent here to spy on us—”
“Andthatis what makes you trust him?” Deacon asked incredulously. “That he admitted he’s a spy?”
“No,” Sarah said, her voice taking on a surprising edge as she stared at Deacon. “I trust my sister completely. She would never bring someone dangerous into my home. Not ever. The fact that you do not understand that bothers me greatly.”
Everyone was quiet. No one knew what to say, not even Jac, who had always been a kind of go-between for Sarah and Deacon. I’d seen him smooth things out a couple of times among their trio. For him to be speechless meant he was uncomfortable. We all were. No one wanted to say anything to each other.
So similar to my current situation with Tiger…
It was then that realization hit. “Deacon, you do realize this is what Justice wants, right?”
Deacon frowned at me. “How do you mean?”
“Think about it,” I said, the pieces clicking into place as I spoke. “Mal and Longshot come here under Justice’s orders to spy. That’s the plan. But say they come clean and tell you everything. You, being a good, proper, classed Ladrang, would never trust them. You can’t. They’re villains in your eyes. You’d be betraying your principles to even try.”
