Page 8 of Badass Alien Boss

“You can count on it.”

He entered the lobby, and she followed him.

He halted. “No. You are not coming with me.”

“I live here, too.” She smiled sweetly. The lobby made a grand, artistic, museum-like impression with gleaming glass walls and dark marble floors, but it lacked residential appeal. It was beautiful, but in a cold, hands-off way, not in a homey, warm way.

“Of course you do.” He refused to even look at her as they boarded the booster and shot up to the eighth floor. He turned left. She did, too.

“Phuk me,” he muttered.

“Out of curiosity…do you speak that way around ladies all the time?” She wasn’t offended; she just wanted to yank his chain. Having been in the military and around men her whole life, she’d gotten accustomed to raw language and had said a few choice words herself a time or two or ten.

“You’re no lady—you’re my bodyguard.”

Touché.

He stopped outside his unit, palmed himself into the apartment, and slammed the door in her face.

She’d arrived on the planet two days before reporting to the office. While he was out, she’d swept his place for bugs, found none, and then planted her own so she could keep tabs on him.

The unit adjacent to his hadn’t been available at first. There’d been no vacancies on his floor. However, a generous financial inducement had convinced the gracious former tenant to vacate and sublet his unit to her.

She entered her unit and switched on the camera feed to verify no intruders had lain in wait for him. Ruyn stalked into the kitchen where he poured himself a beverage—alcoholic, no doubt—and leaned against the eating counter while he drank it. For the first time, she saw his expression unguarded. He looked disgusted.

Sorry, not sorry. I have to do my job.

Having confirmed his main living areas were safe and clear, she switched cameras to check out the bed and bath. Both appeared undisturbed, so she turned off the surveillance equipment to avoid invading his privacy. There was a fine line between guarding and spying. His rigged door would warn her if he left the unit or someone entered, and that would have to suffice.

Gingerly, she settled onto the armless sofa, having learned a painful lesson when she’d flopped onto it, hit the rock-solid surface, and nearly broken her ass. The only thing harder thanthe sofa was the bed. She’d never imagined she’d miss her Army cot, but she did.

Artistic asceticism seemed to be the theme. Nothing about the décor addressed comfort or function. The stiff seating was unforgiving, and the odd-shaped tables had jutting, decorative legs that got in the way. She might have blamed the questionable taste on the previous tenant, but he’d informed her the place had come furnished, and Ruyn’s unit had the same stuff.

In keeping with the ascetic minimalism, storage was negligible—not that she had much with her, just clothes, some family photos, weapons, which she mostly kept on her person, and surveillance equipment. It had taken forever to locate the minuscule closet hidden behind a solid-appearing bedroom wall.

If there were other closets, she had yet to find them.

At least the unit had a decent-sized hologram-viewing platform. She connected her comm device to it and opened the holo-vid.

A piercing alarm stabbed her eardrums.

Quickly, she decreased the volume and surveyed the scene on the platformOh, god.She covered her mouth with her hand.

The screeching wail came from the drone flying overhead. A masked man lay unmoving on the ground.

Three other hooded men converged on Ruyn, punching and kicking him. So much blood covered his slashed face, he was unrecognizable, but the injury didn’t deter him. He fought hard, getting in solid punches, but it was a losing battle.

His assailants reminded her of a pack of jackals working together to take down their prey. One of them produced a pipe and swung it at Ruyn’s head. As he jerked away to avoid the blow, another darted forward and stabbed him in the abdomen.

“Oh, god!”

He kept fighting, landing some bone-crunching blows.

Then an assailant knee-capped him, and he went down. He covered his head with his arms, and she had to force herself to watch as they kicked him, the one with the pipe striking him over and over.

The siren continued to wail as the drone circled, recording the attack from all angles.

Ruyn stopped moving. Michaela couldn’t breathe.