Page 49 of Cruel Love

Blunt and honest. That’s Fox Fitzpatrick.

I look at Lucy again. “I was working for the Zappia family in Chicago,” I tell him.

His head tilts in curiosity. “Really?”

“Myra sent me in to find out if you leaked the file to anyone else.”

“I didn’t,” he confirms. “Not the Zappias, anyway.”

“Well, I know that now,” I joke. “After a few months of taking out Antony’s trash, I met Lucy. Two days later, Snake Eyes was exposed and, long story short, we ran off-grid.”

“After two days?”

“A lot can happen in a day. Even more in two.” My gaze falls to Lucy’s right knee. “Marty Zappia killed her father.”

“Is that right?”

“He beat her,” I continue. “Left her there to die and she would have if I hadn’t…”

Fox follows my stare with trained eyes, easily seeing the straight and stiff way Lucy holds her leg out. The difference in air pressure must be giving her trouble. My instincts tug me to call out to Elijah and his medkit full of painkillers and healing aids, but I bite my cheek.

I bite it until I taste blood.

“I shot him in the face.”

“Really?” Fox asks, his voice perking up.

“Twice.”

He nods. “I threw Gio out of an airplane.”

My lips twitch. “I drowned Enzo in my backyard.”

Fox snorts, his face softening as he laughs. “Small world.”

“Only good Zappia’s a dead Zappia.”

He raises his cup. “I won’t disagree.”

We both take a drink and succumb to a heavy silence for a few moments.

“I am sorry,” Fox says, his tongue loose with booze. “I often wonder how many lives were destroyed that day, but I’ll never really know. Not sure I even want to know.” He pauses, inhaling deep. “I still think, even with everything that’s happened, that I did the right thing.”

It’s a hard truth to swallow. The right thing? That’s debatable. Eleven innocent people, Lucy’s father included, were murdered because of what Fox did. I killed Spencer to keep him from killing Lucy. He was a mentor to me since the day I first picked up a gun.

Thousands of agents were outed that day. The damage of exposure still ripples throughout the world, destroying lives every single day.

Actions have consequences.

I look over at Lucy again. She rests her head against her hand, softly balanced on the armrest beside her with closed eyes.

In the end, I found life in this tragedy. I’d hate to think I was the only one.

“You know what, Fox?” I say. “I think you did, too.”

He nods slowly and exhales the breath he was holding. “Does that mean I don’t have to worry about you making good on your threat to kill me anytime soon?” he asks.

“Not today,” I say. “Lilah, however, she’s still pretty raw.”

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