Page 122 of Cruel Love

“Gio Zappia.”

“What would he want with her?”

Another painful shriek rattles my ears.

“We’re working on that,” he says. “So far, we haven’t gotten much. This squad was kept in the dark. They didn’t even know they were sent on a possible suicide mission against me and Fox. They were just a transport team. There’s only one person I know who could connect the dots.”

I look back down the stairs. “And we’ve got her tied up here.”

“Archer, if Lilah finds out about Lucy...”

“It’s going to be a lot harder keeping her from ripping Myra’s tongue out,” I say with a nod.

“Myra needs to be questioned but I don’t trust Lilah to do it. Her state of mind right now...”

“I agree.”

“I know protecting Myra is probably low on your list of priorities.”

I breathe a heavy laugh. “You ain’t kidding.”

“But...” He exhales, pain in his throat.

“It’s Lucy,” I say for him. “I’ll do everything I can, Dante.”

“Myra is a master manipulator and Lilah’s just vulnerable enough to fall for it. Keep Lilah away from her. I don’t care how you do it.”

“I’m sure I can think of something.”

“I’ll keep you posted.”

He hangs up and I drop the phone back into my pocket.

Lucy Vaughn. The lover of the man who murdered Gio’s brothers. I didn’t want to point out the obvious — Dante’s surely realized it by now. There’s a clear motive here.

The question isn’t why. It’s where.

And how much longer she has left.

Chapter 36

Fox

I’ve been here before. That dark, cold look in Dante’s eyes is more than a little familiar. It’s not a headspace I ever want to experience again. I’ve spent the last few months making sure I never do.

Every waking hour. Hell, even when I manage to sleep at all, I’m plagued by nightmares.

Dani with Mercer’s gun to her head. A knife to her throat. My hands stained with her blood as she struggles to stay alive in the backseat of that car. To this day, I still can’t wash it off. Not completely.

All a man ever wants to do is protect his woman. No matter the cost.

For men like me and Dante, that cost is our humanity. Judging by the screaming coming from this warehouse, his is ripping apart at the seams. I can’t say he’s in the wrong.

If it were Dani...

I walk down the road from the warehouse and look up into the Russian night sky. We’re far outside the city, so the stars show easily. It’s a nice view. On one hand, it’s pleasant and hopeful. On the one other, it’s the perfect, secluded spot to do what needs to be done.

The agent lets out a scream from the center of the warehouse. I keep walking toward the tree line, getting as far away from the crumbling humanity as I can.

---