Page 187 of Star Claimed Omega
Santi pinged Miral through his comm.
.:: We have a new sec team recruit to onboard to The Sombra: Davon Reitz and his family. Send a Skiff, priority passage ::.
She responded.
.:: On it. I’ll have a runabout to pick them up in 72 hours ::.
Santi passed on the news to Davon, who was still shaken at the unexpected change to his fortunes.
With a side hug, Davon walked off to make the call that would transform his family’s life. ‘My woman will be over the moon,’ he muttered, his eyes shining.
Santi’s gaze tracked him, thinking how a man like him was wealthier than most, rich in love.
Davon had no clue how blessed he was.
Santi, for all his command and fire, would’ve traded a thousand skiffs to be the man his woman loved.
Over the following days, Santi got into the rhythm and flow of his two-fold purpose on Cybele.
Santi sent Kaal and Miral back to HQ, telling them, ‘I’ve got it from here.TheSombraneeds you more than I do.’
Kaal, sensing his pack mate’s need for space, didn’t argue.
Neither did he nor Miral mention Soleil, aware they needed to give Santi time to work through his inner hell and a possible reconciliation with the woman he loved.
Miral cloned herself, leaving a node version of her mind behind on Cybele.
‘So you don’t wreck the station without adult supervision,’ she said with a wink.
The recruits worked hard, hungrier for more than just rations.
Santi noted how the jobs restored a measure of dignity they’d long been denied.
He doubled their pay, depositing half into accounts marked for their families’ passage to Pegasi.
He flitted in and out ofEl Lobo, eating and showering on it, but he never slept in the generous captain’s quarters.
Each night, he sat outside her door, in the corridor corner, away from foot traffic, back against the cold wall, hood drawn over his face.
Waiting for Soleil to decide iftheywere still anus.
The uncertainty tore through him, but he didn’t push.
He guarded from afar instead.
He kept his eyes on her when he traveled back and forth from work every day.
One time, when akokohigh addict tried lunging at her in her maglev carriage, he appeared in seconds, silent and lethal, the air shifting around him like a warning.
The man backed off before a word was spoken.
Soleil hadn’t even glanced at him, but her breathing had hitched, then relaxed when he drew near.
She might have ended the threat in an instant with her own power. Instead, she chose restraint.
So he bore that liability for her.
He stood guard, fought the unseen fights, and protected her from the darkness, the pickpockets, the thieves, and the drunks who were almost always drawn to her beauty.
