Page 8 of Protected By the Convicts
When he didn’t reply, she inhaled a deep breath, gathering every ounce of her courage to ask what she’d been avoiding. “Do you care aboutme?”
He stood straight and tall, as if she’d insulted him. “This is something I have to do. The others will survive. Dresden won’t touch them. They’re too valuable to him.”
“Except Ky’Li. But you’ve never cared about him.”
“Why should I?” Ren slammed the tool in his hand down. “He’s never cared about me.” Ren pulled the top of his shirt down, exposing his neck with the ring of bruises there. “Got another Ky’Li necklace to prove it.” Ren released his shirt and looked down. “Then again, that was my own doing. I deserved it.”
“No, it was my doing. Or maybe it was both of ours. It doesn’t matter. It’s done. That’s why I’m here. We both need to get past this.”
“I’m past it. And I’ll be gone soon, so you won’t have to look at me again.”
“You’re really going?”
“You can still come with me, if you can stomach being with me. I have one last part to install, and then I’m leaving. Three days,” he said as he patted the side of the ship.
“You’re selfish,” she said, her stomach twisting.
“I’m selfish? You just don’t like not having control over me. I’m not going to listen—” His data-pad lit up and buzzed. “Shit,” he said as he looked at the alert. “O2 failure at Mine 33.” He tossed the screwdriver onto the table and grabbed a backpack that clanked like crazy as he slung it over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go.”
Ren shot out through the tunnel, without even a glance at her.
Damn, that hadn’t gone the way she’d hoped. Not at all. Ren was leaving them. He had nothing to keep him here, including her. That shouldn’t hurt, but it did. Ren didn’t let people inside, and he needed someone on his side beside her, someone he’d trust because clearly, she wasn’t that person.
Maybe he’d find his happiness out there. He’d be free at least, sort of. . . if The Company never caught him.
As Hannah considered her options, she walked around the ship. She could tell the others in the unit, but what could they possibly say to convince Ren to stay?
Hannah gasped. Painted in black, the word “PRINCESS” stretched across the back of his ship. Ren had named the damn ship after her. Or her after the ship. . . It didn’t matter at this point. She wasn’t going with him.
She wasn’t ready to lose him. Who would push her to her limits, make her explore the hidden desires and come to know the person she’d buried inside her long ago? Who would help her free that person, help her march past the fears of not fitting in, of causing trouble and tearing her family apart, so she could live life to the fullest, even on the dark planet of Narkos?
Ren would be leaving soon, and there was nothing she could do to stop him, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. She’d find a way of convincing him that this plan of his was crazy, and that life here could be better. He was one of her guys, and she wasn’t giving up on him.
