Free Smugger's Virtue (Lathos Galaxy Chronicles Book 2) by Luke Darko

about?" asked Matt as he watched the general walk away.
    "He’s going to try and convince the General Assembly to keep me here on Earth while he sends a ship to contact Lathos and check on my story. He seems to think that if they can be made to question my story, it might buy him some time to get rid of Ragen without either of us having to go back to Lathos with him."
    "Brian Weathers may be a pain in the ass, but he’s a smart man," said Matt.
    "He’s been nothing but nice to me," Xandra scolded.
    "Either way, I’m glad he found a way to keep you away from Ragen. If anyone can figure out how to keep you safe now, it’s him."
    "Even if he does, it still won’t get you out of this cell," she pointed out. "At some point I’m going to have to go back to Lathos and convince my father to submit an official request that you be released. You wouldn’t be in this mess if you weren’t trying to save my life."
    "Your life wouldn’t have needed saving if you weren’t with me in the first place," he reminded her.
    "I was exactly where I wanted to be. My only regret is that now you’re in here and I can’t be with you."
    "Xandra, this was going to happen to me eventually anyway. You’re a smart, beautiful woman. Take the chance General Weathers is giving you. Let him find a way to get you away from Ragen once and for all and start a new life for yourself. The truth is that I would have gotten bored with you eventually anyway. You deserve better than a common smuggler."
    "Don’t do that, Matt," said Xandra, and Matt could tell by her tone that she was hurt. "It won’t work. I know you’re trying to find a way to get me to distance myself from you because you think it’s for my own good. I told you back on your ship that your past doesn’t matter to me. Like it or not, I’m in love with you, and that means I’m going to do everything in my power to be with you, even if that means risking my life to get you out of there."
    "Okay, fine," he said. "The truth is that I do love you and the thought of not getting to be with you is killing me, but there’s another thought that’s even worse. If you try to go back to Lathos as long as General Ragen is around, then you’re going to be killed. I can’t live with the thought of that happening just because you were trying to help me."
    "And I can’t live with the thought of you spending the next thirty years of your life in prison, or worse, knowing I could have tried to help you and didn’t."
    "Will you look at the two of us?" said Matt, rubbing his thin beard as he sat down on the cot. He turned his blue eyes on Xandra as she sat next to him. "All my life, all I cared about was myself. All I ever wanted was to make a quick buck, have some fun, or preferably both at the same time. That was my entire reason for being on Lathos and at that party where we met. You only cared about finding your own excitement and escaping your miserable existence. We both had selfishness down to an art form, and now here we both are, willing to sacrifice ourselves for the other one."
    "I’d say we’ve both come a long way in the past few weeks, but the truth is that I feel like I’m right back where I started. I selfishly want you in my life because you are exciting and you make me feel like I’ve found a part of me that’s missing.
    "My father helped to start a revolution on Lathos, not because he wanted power but because he wanted a better life for his people. He hasn’t always made that happen, but he’s always tried to put their needs above his own. I want to believe I’m following his example by trying to help you, but in reality it’s all about me and wanting to be with you."
    "I guess I’m the same way," said Matt. "My father spent his life in service to his people. His final act was ensuring the safety of others. I’m telling everyone that I’m willing to give up my life if it means you get to live yours, but the truth is that I’d let Weathers and Ragen blow each other to