Page 73 of Cruel Love

Dante stares at me in annoyance. “We gonna rent a car?” he asks.

“Sure,” I say as I grab my bag off the floor.

Lucy crosses her arms. “Team Fox is looking pretty good right now,” she muses. “Just sayin’…”

I flash her a wink and step away as Dante’s nostrils flare out. He snatches her hand and pulls her to his left side, placing his form between us, as the three of us walk through the airport together.

I look over at Dante, catching his jealous glare again but he walked right into that one. He’ll be thanking me after the first time he whispers that into Lucy’s ear in private.

I loved you. And perhaps, I still do.

My chest twinges as I picture Dani’s smile. Her dimpled cheeks. That faint apple scent tickles my nose.

We step outside and a fist collides with my face.

“Fox!”

I shake off the distraction, dropping my bag as another hard fist punches my gut. Fully alert, I block the third punch and twist around to elbow the man in the jaw.

Dante grunts. I look over to see he’s in worse shape than I am. He has at least three men, all in black suits, grabbing at him and hitting him hard.

Another one comes at me, but I quickly jab them in the throat before they even get the chance to strike me.

My body stiffens, locked in radiant pain as volts fire through my back. I fall to my knees as another taser connects with my left arm.

I try to push up, but another jolt makes me stop resisting.

“Lucy, run!”

Dante shouts at her from the pavement, his voice quickly masked as they tase him, too.

Lucy twists around and manages a hard kick to a man’s unsuspecting groin. He tumbles to his knees and she backhands him down before she’s easily overwhelmed from behind.

They throw a scarlet red hood over her head just before forcing one over mine.

“Vstavay!”

They force me to my feet and fasten my hands behind my back with a zip-tie. A shuffle in my ears tells me that Dante isn’t done fighting back yet. I feel the warm tongs of a taser pressed against my neck, reminding me not to make the same mistake he is. I relax, deciding to save my strength. We’re too outnumbered and this is Moscow. No one’s going to intervene here.

Someone knew we were coming.

They shove me forward and push me into the back of a van. I stumble to the right and fall onto the bench against the wall.

“Fox?”

I hear Lucy across from me, her voice shaking.

“Yeah,” I say, sitting back.

“Where’s Dante?”

The door opens again, and they shove him inside onto the floor.

“Dante!” Lucy leans forward as they slam the doors.

“Lucy…” He coughs as he tries to right himself, but he’s too worn out.

I nudge him with my foot. “Take a breather, Dante. You’re no good to me fried out.”

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