Page 83 of Cruel Love

Her lips curl and she exhales hard, making the tears in her eyes disappear. “Felt good,” she says with a chuckle.

“Looked good, too.”

“Are you okay? They tased you a lot.”

“I’ve had worse, believe me.”

“I’ll bet…” She glances around. “Damn, this is nice.”

I smirk as she slips from my hands to wander around the room. “Mafia families always go overboard like this,” I say. “The Zappias have a similar place back in Chicago.”

Lucy hops up to sit on the bed, bouncing it beneath her to feel the mattress. “So, these people really like Fox.”

I walk over to kiss her again, mostly for my own comfort. I still haven’t quite shaken off the black void in my gut from watching her get torn away from me.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Is that good?”

I nod. “Should be for you.”

She grabs my arm. “Wait, what do you mean?”

I take her hand. “The Lutrova crime family have made a name for themselves hunting down and killing Snake Eyes agents.”

“I know that, but… they wouldn’t hurt you, would they? We’re here to help them, for Christ’s sake.”

“There’s a chance they won’t care.”

Her brow furrows. “And when were you going to tell me about this chance, Dante? How big of a chance are we talking about here?”

“Luce…” I cup her face, feeling the warm anger flood her cheeks. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How big, Dante?”

“I don’t know,” I say, lowering my voice. “We just have to play it by ear.”

“And what happens when they shoot you in the ear?”

I kiss her again, enveloping her lips. She tries to jerk away but I hold her in place. She doesn’t try it again.

“Lucy Vaughn,” I say. “I’ve spent over a decade of my life as a professional killer. I’ve lived through moments that I never should have seen the other side of and I did it without you standing beside me. Trust me when I say that having you here gives me a whole lot more incentive to see the other side of this. I’ll kill all of them to keep you safe if I have to. Fox included.”

“You sound like Lilah.”

“She’s been right before.”

“Has she ever been wrong?”

Someone knocks on the door.

I loosen my grip. “It’s going to be okay, Lucy,” I say again.

She presses her lips together, her face growing hard with that locked, determined stare that I’ve always found equally admirable and frustrating. I walk to the door and open it with my other fist rolled and ready at my side.

Fox stands in the hallway with one arm casually leaning against the wall. I look behind him. He’s all alone. Not even an escort or a lingering guard peeking around the corner. They trust Fox Fitzpatrick enough to let him wander through their home by himself.

“You’ve got a meeting,” he says.

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