Page 197 of Star Claimed Omega
His broad shoulders brushed against the ceiling’s rusted panels and worn beams, tidying the place for its next renter.
They stepped out together, locking the door for the ultimate time.
The air outside was damp with mist from the port vents, curling around Soleil’s ankles.
Down the hall, the caretaker, Old Thari, waited by the front desk.
‘Leaving for good?’ she murmured. ‘With your prince charming, too? Don’t think I didn’t spy him watching over you every night.’
‘I’m nothing special,’ Santi rasped, kissing the back of gnarled hand, ‘not when I’m in the presence of a beauty such as yourself, Thari.’
The woman simpered. ‘If you ever get tired of him, bring him my way.’
Soleil laughed. ‘Not a chance, but I’ll keep it in mind.Santefor helping me get the room and for your kindness.’
She slipped a bundle of schill notes into Thari’s hand.
The woman blinked, then pocketed them without a word, her thin mouth twitching into the closest thing she had to a smile.
‘Go well, Soleil. I’ll miss your sunshine and your delicious vanilla cakes.’
As the couple tracked to the elevators, Santi adjusted the bags over one shoulder, the other arm sliding around Soleil’s waist. ‘You ready?’
‘Almost,’ she said. ‘I want to stop byKahawa Metro. Just one more time.’
Santi nodded and shielded her on the maglev and through the foot traffic at their stop, his towering presence a silent ward against the crowds.
The moment they stepped into the café, Kharon spotted her.
His frame blocked the swinging kitchen door, his eyes bloodshot and lips curling.
‘You’re late, again,’ he snapped. ‘ You think just showing up whenever you like, bitch? You won’t get paid today!’
‘What did you call her?’
Santi strode around his woman as his aura flared, just enough. Lycan menace rolled through the room like heat off asphalt.
The overhead lights buzzed and dimmed, causing Kharon to pale as his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
Soleil pulled her work badge from her vest and set it on the counter beside her faded apron.
‘I’m quitting. This is permanent, and I want my full wages. No stalling, no deductions.’
Kharon’s hand shook as he swiped over credits to her wrist comm, which she checked, nodding at the right amount.
She turned to her coworker, Lina, a soft-spoken woman with burn scars on one arm and the best laugh in the whole station.
Soleil flicked half the earnings into Lina’s wrist comm and smiled. ‘Consider a thank you for helping me learn how to make a mean macchiato.’
Lina gasped, and her lip trembled as she hugged her friend. ‘Soleil,sante.’
Santi flicked a small holo card to her. ‘If you want off this terminus and a job onThe Sombra, let Miral, the ship’s Synth-AI, that Santi, the XO, sent you.’
Lina’s eyes dilated.
She gazed at the couple, speechless.
Kharon, finally catching onto the drift and awed by Santi’s credentials, plastered on a syrupy smile.
