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“Why don’t we go back into my bedroom and start the day off right?” he asked, his eyes

burning with seductive sensuality.

“Devlin, not that I am disgusted by the thought but I have to behave myself. Trust me, if

I ever want to play the naughty tango with you, I’ll definitely let you know.”

“And I’ll be waiting for you to let me know.” He stepped toward her. Despite being

barefooted, he still towered over her. Electricity crackled between them. She wanted to kiss

him. He leaned down and gently brushed his lips against her. Yearning flared throughout her…

she fought against falling into his arms.

Without waiting for her to lean toward him, he put his arms around her. She let him pull

her close. For one scant minute, she almost allowed him to kiss her again. If she made that error

in judgment there would be no coming back from it. Tyler and she would be irreparably

damaged. She knew that if Devlin ever seduced her, she’d never want to leave his bed.

“I have to go,” she muttered.

“No, you don’t,” he insisted, his eyes boring into hers. “You can keep fighting what

simmers between us until the end of days, Samantha but you will always be wrong in doing that.

We belong to each other. The sooner you admit that and give in to us, the sooner your life will

be what you want it to be. Tyler will never be able to make you happy as I can make you

happy.”

“Please, just drop it. I made a mistake spending the night here. I never should have let

myself be in such close confines with you. I never wanted us to get this close.”

“I know. The barricades you erect when you’re around me are almost impenetrable, but

someday, I’ll get past your walls, and when I do…you’ll be the happiest woman in the known

worlds.”

She slipped out of his embrace. “This is why people always think you have an inflated

ego, Dev. You always think you can achieve the impossible.”

“But that’s just it, Samantha. We are not the impossible. We have always been meant

for one another and deep in your heart you know that.”

“I can fight fate,” she muttered, dashing toward the door. She had to escape from Devlin,

if she stayed for one minute longer, she’d be a goner.

“No one can fight fate, not even you.”

“Don’t bet on that one,” she muttered, listening to the door swish shut behind her. God

give her strength to resist Devlin. She was after all only human.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 78

Chapter Fourteen

“We’ll be within New Beijing’s orbit within the hour.” Johanna turned to look at

Samantha.

Devlin stood over by the weapons locker. “I wouldn’t suggest that you enter New

Beijing’s orbit. The Anasazi Triad more or less rules the entire planet. They are BAD ASSED.

My advice would be that we leave a skeleton crew aboard the
Excalibur
, and take
Eleanor
down to the surface.”

“Why do you think we need your advice?” Samantha demanded. Right now, she wanted

to piss Devlin right off and get him out of her way. She hated having him so close to her, even

though inwardly she loved having him with her. It was as if two sides of her warred and she

didn’t know which side would emerge victorious.

“Samantha, behave. Devlin is talking the God’s honest truth. From what everyone has

told me about The Triad, we want to be totally prepared for anything they might dish out at us.

We can’t risk getting blown off of the planet before we rescue Rory.”

“Johanna has a definite point.” Quinn walked toward Samantha. “I’m already taxed to the

limit worrying about Rory. The sooner we get in and get her out…the better.”

Samantha heaved a great sigh. “Fine. We take
Eleanor.
Tyler, Johanna, Quinn and I will

go down to the surface.” She wanted Tyler where she could keep an eye on him, and she didn’t

like the way he continued to act. He was giving her goose bumps and not the good kind.

“Bad idea.” Devlin coughed.

“What now?” Samantha demanded.

“Johanna should stay here. We need a fancy flyer back onboard the
Excalibur.
Tyler

isn’t needed either. I’ll go in his place. There’s limited room in
Eleanor
and Charlotte has

already made it crystal clear that she does not want to be left behind.”

“Look, Dev, you don’t run this ship. I know you have a holier than thou complex but as

far as I’m concerned you can go blow it out your ass!”

Johanna snorted. “But he does have a point, Samantha. Devlin has more experience than

we do when it comes to dealing with The Triad.”

“Fine, if Johanna stays here, then Tyler so do you. Just stay with Johanna as much as you

can.”

“I’m not staying behind.” Tyler looked angry.

“And I’m not giving you room to argue in this. You remember what happened the last

time Johanna was alone on the bridge. I don’t want anyone sneaking up on her. You stay here,

end of story,” Samantha said.

Everyone let out exasperated sighs, and even Tyler seemed surprised by Samantha’s

adamant announcement. “I’ll go tell Charlotte that she can drive
Eleanor.
Devlin, you’re with

me.”

“What the hell am I?” Quinn asked.

“You already commandeered
Eleanor
once and she didn’t feel comfortable with you

driving her. So, Charlotte gets the seat of power, you can ride shotgun.”

“Yeah, and I’ll just sit happy in the back seat.” Devlin grumbled.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 79

“That’s right...though to be fair, Devlin, I don’t really give two hoots in hell where you

sit.” She flashed him a grin. On the other hand, maybe she could use him out of the hover car....

“Johanna, you are in full control of the
Excalibur
until we come back.”

“You got it, Samantha. Be careful. And try to think before you act.”

“You know it.” Samantha heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Ever the worrywart she is.”

They stopped just outside of Charlotte’s quarters. Tyler, she noticed had followed them.

“Don’t worry, when you leave I’ll return to the bridge like a good little soldier,” he said

sarcastically.

Reaching out, Samantha pushed the ring chime. Seconds later, the door opened.

Charlotte was sitting on the edge of the bed. Or rather, she was levitating herself in the

air just above the bed. Her hair was flowing out around her and her skirt was billowing out

around her.

She put out a restraining arm on Tyler’s midsection when he went to move forward.

“Don’t startle her. The ring chime might have broken her concentration…she’s

obviously in the middle of something or she would have already been talking to us.”

Tyler looked uneasy. His eyes darted longingly to the door. “I really hate not knowing

what to do.”

“Well, let me guide you. I might have turned my back on Charlotte’s world, but I still

know the ins and outs of how it works.”

“Thank God for that. Sometimes blessings come in small packages, right?” Tyler backed

up so that he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Samantha.

“Right. Charlotte should only be a few more minutes,” Samantha whispered.

“You know, her resemblance to you is especially uncanny this morning.”

“Thanks. It’s just like looking in a mirror.” Samantha shrugged her shoulders and looked

around the room. Charlotte had already unloaded her luggage. How she could pack so much

into two large pieces of luggage was beyond her. The room was personalized from head to foot.

Family pictures were arranged around the room. Samantha’s heart stopped for a moment

when her eyes flittered onto a family photo from fifteen years ago. Her mother had her arms

wrapped around Johanna, and the rest of the family seemed so content. Even Quinn who stood

behind their mother looked thrilled. Charlotte and she sat in the front row in front of her father

and mother. The rest of the faces in the pictures blurred. Blinking furiously, Samantha hoped

that the water in her eyes would dissipate. She wiped the back of her hand across her cheeks to

get rid of the evidence before anyone could notice the tears. Tyler also seemed absorbed in

scouting out Charlotte’s personal touch. Samantha had to hand it to Charlotte. Charlotte

certainly had claimed the quarters as her own.

“She really made this room hers.” Tyler glanced briefly down at her. “I especially like

that tapestry she hung on the wall over there. Quite lovely. Does she have any idea of its worth,

I wonder?”

“Oh, I’m sure Charlotte does. She’s quite the art connoisseur. What is that English or

French?”

“English, circa 1540, I’d imagine. But that’s only an offhand guess,” Devlin remarked,

finally making his presence known.

“I used to have some clients that were in the market for that. How the hell did she get it

stuffed into two suitcases?” Tyler mused.

“She’s a wonder woman when it comes to packing. If she told Tyler how Charlotte really

managed to put large things into small places he might get really freaked out. They walked over

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 80

to study the tapestry.

“Amazing what can be done with a needle and thread.” Tyler looked like he was in

heaven. She was just happy that Tyler would never get the inclination to go back to his thieving

ways. He was definitely
The King Of Thieves
when it came to stealing rare and priceless art and

jewels. He was your man if you wanted something nicked quickly and without any fuss or muss.

Samantha felt Charlotte walk up behind them. “Lovely, isn’t it?” Charlotte murmured,

startling Tyler out of his reverie.

“Yes. You could get one hell of a good chunk of change for that,” Tyler remarked.

“I know. But it has personal sentimentality to me. I’ll never part with it.” Charlotte

stepped between them and wrapped her arms around them. “So, to what do I owe this honor? I

thought you were going to get Johanna to page me.”

“I was, but certain circumstances have arisen. You’ll be driving
Eleanor
down to the

surface.”

“I see.” Charlotte walked away from them. “Are you sure you trust me with that

responsibility, Samantha?”

“Devlin and I will be rendezvousing with you guys on the surface. No need to worry, I

have a plan.”

“Ah. I see. Well, you do realize I’ll be taking point once we get down there, right? I’m

the only one that can lead a clear path to Rory.”

“I can do just as good of a job locating her.”

“Maybe.” Charlotte looked uncertain. “Anyway, why don’t you just let me take this on

this time?”

“We’ll all work together. With everyone pulling their own weight, we’ll have Rory back

in no time.” Samantha knew it was the only way. Besides, she wasn’t good at making

compromises. Charlotte really had to learn to take what Samantha offered.

Tyler cleared his throat. Samantha looked at him. “I was just thinking.”

“Oh, no, get the fire extinguisher,” Samantha quipped.

Tyler deliberately ignored that smart-ass remark. Too bad.

“Do you know what I was thinking about?” At this question, he trained his eyes on

Charlotte. Her cheeks went a little pink and she threw her hands up in the air.

“Search me. I’m too busy trying to keep a distance eye on Rory. It’s no walk in the park,

you know.”

“Oh. Well, I was thinking that Rory is one hell of a lucky little girl.”

“How do you figure that? She’s down in hell central right now.” Samantha snorted.

“Yes, she is. But she’s got an awful lot of people rushing to her rescue. Not everyone can

say that when they get in trouble.”

Samantha’s stomach fell. She knew what Tyler referred to, and she felt for him. When

Tyler had been waiting to meet his fate in Lord Devlin’s gallows, the only family that came for

him, were Johanna, Dylan and she. None of his ‘other’ family gave a rat’s ass. They had to have

heard about his fate through the grapevine. After all, the Cassidy Empire ran deep throughout the

galaxy. They were one of the, if not the richest families in Earth’s illustrious history. Tyler had

once been treated like a little prince, and now he was married to her. Maybe that’s why he had

been so off with her in the last few months. Maybe he wanted out. Maybe he resented her and

wanted his old life back.

“Rory is loved. That’s one of the certainties in this crazy life.” Charlotte moved to her

wardrobe. “I’m going to change into something more suitable and then I’ll be down in the

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 81

docking bay to get this show on the road.”

“Okay,” Samantha hesitated. “You should take a trip past the weapons locker before you

go to the docking bay. You’re going to need to be armed for this mission.”

Charlotte tapped her temple. “I have every weapon I need right up here.”

Samantha gave Charlotte a stern look. “Just humor me, okay? I have two pistols in the

weapons cabinet that should do you just fine.”

“I don’t carry guns.”

“Well, normally you might not. But for this mission, you will go armed.”

“Samantha, you are so pigheaded. You know as well as I do that you can’t make me do

anything unless I want to.”