Zaia stood, stony-faced as Bri revealed the hilt of her saber to the Rodian. Though she had to admit that the fear that appeared in his eyes made her smile just a little bit. He’s persistent. I’ll give him that much. She looked back at Bri, giving her a shrug. She’d been expecting this type of reaction from him anyway.
“Arrested? You can’t do that,” he spluttered to the Jedi, scrambling to his feet. “What are my children going to do without their father?” Zaia rolled her eyes from underneath her helmet.
“You’re getting this,” he gestured at the pendant, “over my dead body.” She exchanged an exasperated glance with Bri and pulled out a blaster. If he wanted to do this the hard way, fine.
“I’d be happy to oblige.” One look at her unmoving stance and Aldo immediately backtracked.
“Ah, on second thought…” The Rodian hurriedly removed the pendant from his neck and held it out, looking pleadingly at Bri. Zaia had a feeling that the Jedi, while acting cool on the outside, was probably as frustrated with Aldo as she was.
“How about I give you this, and you forget what you saw today?” Zaia nearly laughed out loud at his offer.
“So you admit it.” Aldo turned to look at her, realizing his mistake. What a di’kut.
“I mean— I’ll have my own men rescue them.” Then he frowned at his own words. “I meant I’ll hire some. I, uh,” he let out a nervous chuckle as he withdrew his arm, “don’t have any men. Got a little ahead of myself there.” Zaia shook her head at Aldo’s fumbling. That arrogant demeanor he’d shown her and Bri earlier had completely disappeared, and right now he was only falling deeper into the hole that he’d dug for himself. It would have been funny to watch if she wasn’t so short on patience at the moment.
“I don't think so. Hand it over,” she said, holding out a hand. Aldo didn’t budge, and she extended her fingers just a little bit. “Well?”
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