Though Anicka went on more solo missions than not, solitude had never been her forte. She preferred the assignments that allowed her to recruit local crews, even when they proved entirely useless like the team on Palos. Something about having someone at her back satisfied a place deep inside her she let no one see, not even Mariel. But she worked well with a team when she had to.
Paradisus had been no exception. They’d had a rocky start, but since then the crew was exactly what she needed. All because of one Ares Gallo. Standing in his quarters, with the memory of those medals branded on her fingertips, and the sharp pain stabbing the back of her eyeballs again, she began to wonder if he really had been a stranger when she’d first spotted him in the bar on Tiessa.
“I…Anicka…”
“What if s
