This is the Rock, sweetheart,” the owner added. “There’s no tragedy you can’t profit from.

I have a hard time trusting a person without a couple of murders on his record, Mr. Draedax.

She paused and saw him tense in expectation. He wouldn’t like to hear this, but better from her than one of the others. “You aren’t the only pilot I have in my service. And you aren’t the only person with a dark past, though the illegal things that you did, you were forced to do by the Core. But I will tell you what I’ve told the others. This is your last chance. You screw up with me and you get shipped up river. I don’t offer second chances—I offer last chances.”

Nope, he didn’t like it. She saw the hand not holding the bottle of beer curl into a fist.

Sin and Del, from Sunscapes Trilogy, Book 1: Last Chance

You know what, Michael? I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship of loathing.

Alex peered behind her to see Noah fussing over a scrape on Kennedy’s cheek. “Unless someone’s bleeding to death, first aid will have to wait. You’ll want to strap into the jump seats.

“This could get interesting, and that’s before we get clear of the station.

Relax,” the woman said. “It’s just me.”

“Just you?” Hale asked with heavy irony, remembering the black leather and predator’s eyes with a stab of heat. Dangerous beauty had always been his downfall.

“I’m watching your back.”

“Sure you are,” he snorted. Beauty or not, he wasn’t stupid enough to trust. Screw, sure. Trust, no way.