Page 89 of Owned By Two

My jaw fell open. “Lizzy’s father was a criminal kingpin?”

“What? Of course not! But the people he did businesswithsometimes were. They could be useful contacts to have.”

I looked Uhti over again, surprised he had such contacts.

He didn’t look the type to associate with the underworldat all.

Anyone looking at the two of us would have saidhewas the straitlaced one andIwas the one with criminal contacts.

“So where are they?” I asked.

“On Blizac 7. If we want to find where Lizzy is, we need to head therenow.”

I turned to the pilots on the floor, still groggy and struggling to get to their knees.

I doubted they were going to be much use to us on our rescue mission, and if anything, could end up being a nuisance.

I lowered my voice so they couldn’t hear me. “What do we do with them?”

In response, Uhti grabbed each pilot by their collars and dragged them toward the hatch door.

Attached to it was a small escape pod — barely big enough for the two of them to fit in.

In their current state, they put up little resistance.

“Sorry to do this, guys,” he said. “But we need to make sure you’re not part of whatever is going on here. I’m sure you understand. The location beacon has already been initiated. Help will come soon. Just sit tight.”

With that, he detached the escape pod and let it drift free.

Then he climbed into the pilot seat. “Now we go to Blizac 7.”

I was about to suggest he let me fly when I witnessed just how smooth he was with the controls.

He handled the ship like an expert.

As we turned and the stars streaked with movement, I couldn’t help but ask the one question on my mind:

“When you came here and found Lizzy was gone, why didn’t you just take off and leave me here, unconscious? If you rescued her, she might want to be with you more than me.”

Uhti looked over at me. “Because the best chance of rescuing her relies on the two of us working together. And you’re Joisa mates. I want her to be happy… even if that’s not destined to be with me.”

I nodded with respect at his response.

It took courage to say those words, never mind mean them.

When I pictured myself in his place, I wasn’t sure I could do the same.

And that made me frown with thought.

“I know how much she means to you, too,” Uhti continued. “You would have caught up with me eventually. Besides, you’ve got a set of skills I don’t possess… and they might come in very useful for what we have to do next.”

“What skills?” I said impassively.

He arched an eyebrow at me. “Do I really need to describe them to you?”

His expression left little to the imagination as to his meaning and my jaw fell open. “How do you know about that?”

He gave me a level look. “You don’t think I would let justanyoneget close to Lizzy, do you?”

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