Page 62 of Cruel Love

“And this Clark lady will be okay with us showing up unannounced?” she asks, chewing softly.

“I’m sure she will be,” I say, smiling. “She didn’t even blink when I showed up with Fox at five in the morning, bleeding and dying.”

She nods respectfully. “Sounds like my kind of lady.”

“Mrs. Clark is good people. We’ll be okay there.”

Caleb shimmies downward into her seat and reaches for her Kindle again. “Let’s get going, then,” she says. “Onward toward Iowa.”

I throw the car into reverse and nod. “Onward,” I repeat.

Chapter 17

Lucy

You know that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize you’re in way over your head?

Welcome to my life.

I’m used to change. You don’t get raised by a serial gambler without embracing change. Things go missing. Promises get broken. You learn fast how to roll with the punches but none of the shitty things my dad ever did compare to what happened to me three months ago.

Fuck. Has it really only been three months?

Marty Zappia killed my father and took my knee. Dante dragged me limping and screaming out of Chicago. From concrete jungle to lakeside paradise in a few short hours.

So, yeah. Change and I are buddies. Old friends. And yet, I can’t help but get sideswiped at every possible turn. I even have the audacity to be surprised.

At least, I have Dante.

But how long until that changes, too?

I look over at him from my seat by the window. He sits with his head back and eyes closed. At least one of us can relax.

I’m not a big fan of heights but Dante made me take the window seat with that protective look in his eyes. I guess it’s hard to attack the pretty dancer when there’s a giant hitman sitting between you and her.

I glance around the plane at the other first-class passengers. The red-eye flight to London was the only one available at such short notice. The lights are down low, giving everyone who can a chance to get some sleep. One or two lights stay on, softly illuminating the seats beneath them.

One of them belongs to Boxcar across the aisle. I watch his hands tap his laptop keyboard, moving so fast I can’t keep up with what he’s typing. Fox sits beside him with dark shadows fallen over his eyes, but I can see that they’re open. He stares straight ahead with the occasional glance at Boxcar’s computer screen.

Lilah and Archer sit behind us. Her head lies on his shoulder and his head sits on hers. Both fast asleep as if nothing is wrong at all, as if we all didn’t just commit passport fraud to flee the country under the Boss’ nose.

The plane lurches slightly and my stomach shifts. Probably shouldn’t have eaten that overpriced turkey sub at the airport.

“Lucy.”

I flinch. Dante’s right eye slowly opens and his magnetic blue iris peeks out at me.

“You should be sleeping,” he says.

I chuckle. “Yeah, okay. I’ll get right on it.”

He exhales and sits up. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing—”

I clench as the plane shakes again.

His head tilts with amusement. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of flying.”

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