Page 2 of Mongrels United
It was an interesting face. Black brows over pale eyes, a straight nose, and full lips. A dimple in the center of his square chin. The line of his jaw was sharp beneath the stubble. High cheekbones made the cheeks beneath fall straight to the jaw, and made his face look strong.
Grady forgot her fear. She forgot that she was the Chief of Staff to the Captain of the Endurance. For a single moment, she was a creature of pure feminine reactions and appreciation. She could easily imagine drawing closer to such a powerful man and appreciating the sheer animal physicality of him.
She watched him land a punch, this time to his opponent’s jaw, which wrenched the man’s head about and sent him staggering into the audience, who pushed him back onto his feet.
Kailash came back to her side. He’d noticed her fall behind.
Grady leaned closer to him. “Who’s that?” She nodded her head at the tall fighter.
Kailash looked and rolled his eyes. “Sweetheart, you don’t want to go anywhere nearthatone.”
There was a note of knowledge in his voice that made her ask, “That’s your contact?”
“Stars, no!” Kailash gave a mock shudder. “That’s Nash Hyson.”
The name told her a lot. “That’sHyson? His Forum photo is out of date.” Although it had been years since she’d seen Hyson’s profile. Hyson and her moved in different circles. Some of the churning in her gut eased. It sank into a pool of disappointment. “He’s trouble.”
“More trouble than a dabble is worth,” Kailash agreed. They could speak at just under a shout, back here, for the thick rope of people watching the fight muffled some of the music. “This is his party, you know.”
“I’m shocked,” Grady said, her tone flat. “Only Nash Hyson could arrange something like this.” She recalled what she knew of him, which was very little. Two facts she could recall with ease. One; that he was one of the richest men on the ship. And two; his father had been the very last Skinwalker.
Neither of those facts accounted for his trouble quotient. It was the bar he ran in the Palatine that was the source of his sour reputation. More whispers said he ran gambling tables in one of the rooms in the building he’d purpose-built to house his bar.
But the bar alone did not explain his amazing wealth. He owned other businesses or had a controlling interest in them.
Hyson also outright owned, one hundred percent, the Dreamhawks tankball team, which had won the championship for ten years straight. Although that had to be the least lucrative of Hyson’s business, for no one went to tankball games.
Kailash tilted his head, considering the fight with narrowed eyes. “Hyson is a curiosity,” he said thoughtfully. “He’s seen with all the interesting people.”
“Captain Carpenter is seen with all the right people,” Grady shot back. “Believe me, I know. I spend most of my day making sure he is. And Hyson isn’t among those people.”
Kailash rolled his eyes. “I meaninteresting, not politically correct.”
Grady smiled. “You have interesting people in your bed, too.”
“Nash isn’t seen with just lovers and partners,” Kailash said quickly. “Although plenty of those, too. Maybe he beds everyone who can make him richer or more influential? It’d be a way of coaxing them, wouldn’t it? I mean,lookat him.” He did just that, as Hyson shifted around the circle. “Look at that broad back, hmmm?”
Grady nudged him again. “What else?”
“Fancy a bit of nasty yourself, Grady Read?” Kailash asked.
She shook her head firmly. “This is his party. It’s illegal in about three different ways, including the fist fight for money—”
“I brought you here as a friend, not as the Chief of Staff with a direct line to the Civil Guard!”
She made a patting motion in the air with her hand, to calm him down. “It’s all minor stuff, but it’s right out in the open. It’s…rude. It’s flaunting outrageous behavior at the whole ship. Which makes me wonder what’s going on here that I can’t see.”
“That law-abiding streak of yours will get you into trouble here,” Kailash warned her. “Let me find this idiot I’m looking for, then we can get out of here.”
“You don’t like it here, either?”
Kailash grimaced. “I like conversations that don’t need me to shred my voice box to be heard.”
“Go find your contact, then.”
He didn’t move away immediately. Instead, he glanced once more at the fight, and shook his head with a touch of reluctance. “I’d take a swing at him myself, but I like to be in control. Alas.”
Grady grinned and dug her elbow into Kailash’s side. “And Marko would never forgive you.”
