Page 146 of Lethal Legacy

Anything but the inside of that goddamn penthouse, with Lucia sleeping one floor beneath me.

“I’ll just be a minute.” Dimitry pulls up beside a crumbling apartment block in a run-down part of town and grabs the bottles he just picked up at a corner store. Crossing the road, he presses a buzzer, and a few moments later, Abby opens the door. The way she wraps herself around Dimitry annoys the hell out of me.

I’m just contemplating leaning on the car horn to make my point when a movement in a lit window above the doorway catches my attention.

Behind a flimsy curtain, a woman is dancing. Her arms are raised, every sensual curve silhouetted perfectly by the light behind her.

And I know exactly who it is, since those exact curves have been torturing my every dream for the past fucking two weeks.

What the fuck is she doing in this part of town, dancing like that where anyone could see her?

I’m out of the car and across the road before I’ve even thought it through.

“What the fuck,” I bark at Abby. “What is Lucia doing here?”

“Hey.” Dimitry glares at me. “You don’t talk to her like that.”

For the second time that night, I’m tempted to take a swing at him. But by the rather dangerous gleam in his eye, I’m guessing that would cause the kind of scene none of us need. “Then move,” I say curtly, glaring at Abby. “I need to talk to Lucia.”

She folds her arms and glares right back at me. “Not a chance.”

I almost laugh. Even Dimitry looks uncomfortable. “Abby,” he begins.

“Uh-uh.” She shakes her head, still staring me down. “It’s taken two bottles of wine and some solid hours of crappy Spanish rock to make that girl stop crying. There’s no way I’m letting you undo all my good work.”

That pulls me up short. “What do you mean, stop crying?” I frown at Abby. “What’s she crying about?”

She looks at me like I’m a particularly imbecilic toddler. “What the fuck do youthinkshe’s been crying about, you idiot?”

Dimitry shoots me a worried look. “Hey, Abs—”

“No.” She holds up a hand to stop him. “Don’t get in my way, Dimitry. This idiot needs to realize what he’s done.” Her death stare could almost rival my own. “I’ve known Lucia for more than two years,” she says fiercely. “In that time I’ve seen her frustrated, annoyed, exhausted, and occasionally angry. But even at her most desperate, do you know what I’ve never seen? I’ve never seen her cry. Not until tonight.”

She prods me in the chest with an accusing finger. “Not untilyoumade her feel scared. I told her to trust you, did you know that? I thought you could be trusted. But now she’s in there with red eyes and a broken fucking heart, terrified she’s going to have to run again. All because you got what you wanted and then kicked her to the curb. And let me tell you, Mr. CEO Man.” She hiccups. “If I lose my best friend because you’re a selfish prick, I’m going to come for you. I don’t care how—hic—scary you are.”

I’m stunned into temporary silence.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Dimitry says, slipping his arms around an unsteady Abby. “I think maybe you’ve had enough to drink.” The worry has gone out of his face, though. The motherfucker is actually struggling not to laugh.

“He’s not—hic—going upstairs,” Abby says belligerently, staring at me.

“Yes, he fucking is,” I mutter, casting Dimitry a look. “Please remove her.”

“I know that look.” He grins as he lifts Abby and places her carefully below the steps. “He’s going in, Abs, even if it means going through you. Sorry.”

I wait until she’s out of the way and leave her arguing with Dimitry as I climb the stairs. I take them slowly, trying to make sense of what the fuck Abby just said to me.

Lucia—scared?

Crying?

Planning to fuckingrun?

Because Ibroke her fucking heart?

Does she honestly believe that I “got what I wanted, then kicked her to the curb”?

Or is this just another game?

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