"So what exactly is the business you need help with?" Ryder asks as they walk together to Kralla's. Reyes had kept too quiet about it and Sara wanted to know what she was getting herself into.
"A business rival, Zia Cordier. She's a fellow smuggler who always had a stick up her ass about me getting the better jobs." Reyes let Ryder go first through the main doors to get back to the main port. "She lifted cargo for a client I was moving."
"And you want my help getting it back? What do I get out of this?" Ryder asks with some attitude to her question. Reyes looks at her with furrowed brows, and then smirks at her.
"You won't get punished as hard next time?" Ryder shook her head, refusing to move from the spot she currently stood in. Reyes sighs, "fine. We split the profits. 70/30."
Ryder laughs, very loudly as well. "50/50," she says. Reyes moves closer, grabbing the front of her shirt.
"60/40 and I won't make you scream," he growls at her. Ryder felt hot to the cheeks. She slowly nods at him. "Good," he mutters as he lets go. He knew she wasn't scared, but flustered. Ryder was easy to control when he'd already made her scream and beg his name. Though he wouldn't do it if she really was uncomfortable.
"What's the cargo?" Reyes shrugs his shoulders.
"I don't know, the buyer paid extra for the concealment of it. I guess weapons or drugs to say how much I charge," he answers. Ryder rolls her eyes, then looks to see if he caught it, luckily he hadn't.
"You ever thought about going ligament?" Reyes laughs.
"No one goes legit on Kadara, Ryder. I will say I'm a fair smuggler, I don't rip people off. But, no that'd never happen," he explains. They both got to Kralla's they headed down the stairs together. "Zia drinks here all the time. Umi might know something."
They both lean against the bar top, waiting for Umi to finish with her current customer. Reyes couldn't help but stare at Ryder as she bends over the bar. "God, you have a great ass," he whispers.
"It hurts because of you," she mutters back not making eye contact. Umi was far too close to hear. She makes a yuck sound as she walks over.
"You two want a drink or a room?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. Reyes leans his hip in the bar, smiling at her.
"Information actually," he says. Umi drops her arms, moving closer.
"That'll cost you more than a round of drinks," he points out. Reyes turns to Ryder, smirking at her and winking.
"My friend here is good for it," he says. Ryder scoffs at him, looking at Umi and then back at him.
"You're such a cheap bastard," she shouts in annoyance. She gets her omni-tool up, sending one hundred credits to Umi. She nods that credits are received.
"I will pay you back, you know that," he winks. Ryder ignores him, looking to Umi. She clears her throat at Reyes who was still gawking at Sara's ass. "Sorry," he whispers. "Zia Cordier, has she been around lately?"
"You mean your ex?" Umi asks, looking at Ryder.
Reyes laughs nervously. "She's your ex?" Ryder asks.
"Ex is such a strong word." He quickly looks back at Umi, "so she," he clears his throat. "Been around here?"
"She was having drinks earlier with some shady Salarian. Maybe it was the Charlatan." Ryder caught Reyes raising his brows in surprise, she wondered if he actually knew who the Charlatan was.
"Anything is possible," he says. "You hear what they spoke about?" Umi nods, crossing her arms again.
"She talked about meeting someone near Spirits Ledge," she answers. Reyes nods and smiles.
"Thanks, Umi." Ryder smiles as Umi walks away.
"Whatever, you didn't hear it from me," she reminds him before going to her busy bar. Ryder looked at Reyes, he was contemplating something.
"You check out the Spirits Ledge location, I'll work my contacts," Reyes says. Ryder looks at him with lazy eyes, not impressed with Zia being an ex.
"Is this about getting the cargo or one-upping Zia?" Reyes laughs, scratching the back of his neck.
"Why? Are you jealous, Sara?" he asks in a husky voice. His charm didn't work this time, Ryder leans back, narrowing her brows.
"Just answer the damn question," she sternly says. Reyes chuckles, shaking his head as he stands up straight.
"It's about the cargo," he answers. "You're cute when you're jealous." Ryder tries to be angry, but he nips her ass cheek as he wakes away. Ryder can't help but giggle.
"This guy," she mumbles as she heads towards the Nomad. "Liam, Drack. Meet me at the Nomad in twenty, need to head out," she says to her crew over the comms. They both quickly confirmed they'd come and she ended the call. She only hoped Zia didn't give her a reason to kill her, she was actually jealous. Thinking of Reyes with another woman pissed her off, she shook the thought off and decided to just see how the mission would.
Zia was smart, she used Spirits Ledge as a decoy. Luckily for Ryder, she was smarter and she found the lead that ran through the grass, it blew a boulder back. SAM decrypted the nav point. It was coordinated for a shack about three miles down the steep hills.
"Reyes, this isn't the right spot, it's a decoy," Ryder says through the comms.
Reyes sighs, "sounds just like Zia. She loved to play games. Have you gotten the correct nav?" Ryder looks at Drack, he's was for some reason poking the Eiroch they just killed. The massive blue like gorilla was a good twelve tall and weighed around four or five tons. Ryder hated those things.
"Yeah, I'll send it to you now. Be about ten minutes," she says.
"I'm leaving in the shuttle now, I should get there before you," he says hanging up. Ryder shakes her head, that man couldn't just wait for her, could he? She looks at Liam, waving her hand for them to move out.
"What's the deal with you two?" Liam asks as they head to the Nomad that was parked at the bottom of the hill. Ryder looks forward, not letting him see her warm cheeks.
"Nothing why?" She hears Drack laughing from behind her.
"Kid, you know Krogan has great senses of smell right?" Ryder stops, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, and?" Drack looks at Liam, she was testing the old Krogan.
"I can smell Reyes all over you, kid. You were with him last night." Liam almost falls over as he watches Ryder's face drop, she throws her face into her hands, groaning loudly.
"I can't do anything without someone butting in, can I?" she moans as she walks off. Liam jogs to catch up.
"Hey, we don't care. It's Cora having a stick up her ass. If you're happy, we are happy." Ryder stops just by the doors of the nomad, smiling at him.
"Thanks, Liam. That does make me feel better," she says getting back in the car. They needed to get there before Reyes rushed in alone again.
Ryder, Liam and Drack check the surroundings of the shack, but it's deserted. They see Reyes' very expensive looking shuttle outside. They park the nomad next to it before heading inside.
"Reyes?" Ryder calls as they enter. She hears someone moving crates around.
"Back here," he calls. They go to the far corner of the shack that was filled with the crates. Reyes was bent over looking into the empty crates. "There... empty," he says standing up.
"Pathfinder," SAM says sternly through their private channel. "Be aware, I detect other heat signatures, at least a dozen." It finally clicked for Ryder at that point.
"The cargo was meant to be empty," she says aloud. Reyes scrunched his face up at her, shaking it slightly.
"You mean this was a trap?" His head snaps behind Ryder's shoulder when he hears footsteps.
"Bravo, I knew you'd figure it out eventually," Zia says as she sways her to them. She wore an Outcast armour set for some reason. Reyes knew Zia hated Sloan. "You could never resist the big payout," she says. Ryder felt envious of the woman, she was gorgeous. Her accent was not far off the same as Reyes'. Her short red hair, perfect chin and cheekbones, even long lashes. It all made Ryder's stomach churn.
"What can I say? I'm a greedy man," Reyes chuckles. Ryder looked at him, but he had his eyes glaring at Zia's.
"You were always selfish," she says with a pointed finger. Ryder steps forward, feeling her biotics react to her anger.
"Reyes is a better man than you think," she says with a stern tone. Zia laughs at her, shaking her head in denial.
"Oh, honey. You're wrong, he will use you. Just as he did the others," she says looking at Reyes. He grabs Ryder's arm, pulling her back behind him.
"You leave her out of this," he almost growls. Ryder feels her stomach blow with beautifies.
"You must really like this one, Reyes," she smirks. Reyes steps forward, throwing a finger at her.
"Cut the shit, why are you here?" he asks.
"You've been taking all the good jobs in Kadara. It's gotten more than just my attention," she says. Ryder knew where this was going. SAM warned her the other heat signatures were moving in.
"So what? The local smuggling union has banned together to take me out?" Before Reyes could stop rubbing his head in agitation, Zia tried to fire a bullet at him. Ryder reacts faster, throwing a barrier around them all.
"You did not just shoot him did you?" Ryder asks in anger as she stalks towards Zia, her body flaming blue. Zia backs away, her men then move in, forcing Ryder into cover.
They all fought Zia's men, which was probably the easiest fight Ryder ever did. Reyes held his own just fine as well. Zia was the last one left, Ryder found her hiding under the stairs. "Come here, bitch," she shouts as she biotically pulls Zia out.
Reyes gets between them both as they both try punching each other. "Girls, come on. We don't need to fight," he says with a laugh.
"She tried to fucking kill you," Ryder shouts. Zia pushes Reyes away, she knew she was outnumbered and outgunned.
"You like them pretty, don't you... master," she whispers. Reyes grabs her throat, holding it tightly.
"Don't fucking call me that," he spits in her face. Zia can only laugh as he grunts and drops her to the floor. That name... it was too many bad memories for Reyes.
"What now?" Zia asks, she knew she'd die here. Ryder stalks over to Zia, pulling her pistol from her waist holder and holding it under her throat.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't blow your brains out," she snarls. Zia just stands perfectly still, not caring anymore.
"He fucks you very good," she comments. Her chuckle was stopped with blood gargling as Ryder pulled the trigger. Reyes whips his head around at the bullet sound, he watches Zia fight for air as she slowly crumples to the ground, bleeding to death.
"I hate that bitch," Ryder shouts as she walks off. Reyes follows, and Liam and Drack know to stay behind, giving them both some space.
They get outside, Reyes tries to touch Ryder but she brushes him off. "Why the hell did she call you master?" she asks in annoyance.
"It's... a long story. I will tell you sometime," he says. Ryder shakes her head, Reyes was so used to being alone, that he hated sharing his own secrets. Even if he trusts her, he struggles to lean on someone for support.
"Fine. What are you going to do now?" Reyes looks at Zia's body through the opened doors, he felt bad that she had to die like that.
"I know they're coming now, they won't get the jump on me. I'll stay here, she doesn't deserve to be left like this." Ryder just nods, calling for Liam and Drack to follow. Reyes had pissed her off, this whole mission was just a waste of her time and efforts. She needed to get to Voeld. "Leaving already?" he asks, pulling her arm to stop her from leaving.
"I need to get Voeld, I can't wait to find the Asari ark," she says, pulling her arm away. Reyes narrows his eyes at her.
"What's wrong?" he asks. Ryder looks away.
"Nothing, just tired. I'll speak to you later," she says, turning on her heel and leaving. Reyes watches her storm off, her fists closed tightly. He scratches the back of his head, confused about what was wrong with Ryder.
Ryder stands by the nomad, her foot tapping against the grass. She needed a moment alone to think. She understood Reyes liked to be alone and they weren't dating, but she shared everything with him and he barely gave her anything in return. She shrugs the feeling away and gets in the nomad, she doesn't have time to think about petty feelings. She had the Asari to save.