Page 29 of Star Claimed Omega
He was the XO ofTheSombra.
The smooth-talking enforcer who never lost his shit.
He wasn’t a man undone by a girl with doe eyes, honey skin, and a past she was uneasy about.
Yet no matter how much he told himself otherwise, he was already halfway gone for her.
The boardroom’s double doors hissed open.
Santi sat at the long table, elbows on the sleek, black-glass surface, head bent over a comm tab whose screen had long since dimmed.
Boots hit the floor in steady succession, familiar, heavy strides.
Boaz barged in first, as always, never relinquishing his title as the unofficial battering ram of their group.
He led with broad shoulders, a stern, humorless face, and eyes canted to thekahawastation, for he was a beast without his mandated dos.
At his rear, prowled siblings Kaal and Mak.
Zev sauntered in next, casual as always, chewing on a matchstick.
Finally, Rigo, quiet and calm, the money man, reluctant as always to spend on any mission.
He paused just inside the doorway with his usual measured gaze.
‘Ready, XO?’
Santi blinked.
‘Fokk,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘The meeting.’
‘Give the man a gold star,’ Zev grinned, sliding into a chair with all the grace of a lazy tiger.
Boaz dropped into the seat beside him, cracking his knuckles like he was prepping for war. ‘Invites got sent hours ago.’
‘I didn’t see them.’
‘You didn’t look,’ said a smooth, dulcet voice from the door.
Miral.
She walked in last, her arms folded, an elegant silhouette in a matte graphite suit, her expression cool with disapproval.
Her comm chip blinked once in her ear. ‘I messaged you. Four times.’
Santi looked up at her and offered a vague shrug. ‘Got busy.’
She arched one brow. ‘Busy staring at the wall?’
Nada, busy fantasizing about one woman.
Mak snorted.
‘Someone’s distracted,’ Kaal said under his breath.
‘Or hiding something,’ Zev added, mouth twitching.
‘Why don’t we start the interrogation after the threats to our operations are dealt with?’ Santi bit out, his utterance clipped.
