Page 56 of Luka

My head whips searching for Luka in the lit foyer, but he’s nowhere to be found.

“Luka?” I call, panic taking hold. I wrap my arms around myself and tiptoe forward. “This isn’t funny!”

A horrifying thought stops my steps along with my breathing.

What if he never planned on helping me? What if this is some sick, sick joke? What if I just walked into the trap of adifferentcrime organization?

I suck in a breath and hurry forward, my heart beating fast, my breathing erratic. When I move past the foyer, finding two sets of stairs on either side of me, a hand reaches out and grabs my arm.

I let out a shriek but am quickly silenced as my back slams into the wall and a palm presses over my mouth. Luka’s body flattens against mine, his low laugh making him shake. He puts his mouth to my ear. “Got you.”

When he removes his hand from my mouth, he’s still smiling victoriously while I can barely breathe.

“Relax, Peach.” He laughs. “It was a joke. You’re safe.”

I blink at him, wondering if I’ve ever met a person so comfortable in their cruelty. “Ihateyou.”

His smile widens, and he taps me on the nose before taking my hand and pulling me up the stairs. “Come on, quit messing around,” he tells me. “You smell. Let’s get you upstairs before someone thinks I’m banging a hobo.”

“Luka?”

I tense at the woman’s voice carrying down the opposite staircase, and although I’m certain Luka heard her by the brief pause of his movements, he carries on like he didn’t. In fact, his steps quicken.

“Stop,” the woman calls, now hurrying up the staircase after us. When we’ve reached the top, Luka pauses, his back tensing as he sighs. He turns just as the woman approaches and gives her a tight smile.

“Hey, sis.”

“What’s going on?” she asks, pushing short brown hair behind her ears. She pulls her robe tight and crosses herarms over her chest as she stares at Luka expectantly, tossing me a concerned look when he doesn’t answer right away. The wrinkles around her eyes deepen with worry when she locks onto my bruised neck.

He gestures to me. “This is the girl Leo told you about.”

The woman looks between us, her eyes wide. Even if he hadn’t called hersis, I would’ve spotted the similarities in their features. They have the same nose, the same heart shaped face, hair the same color.

I turn to watch Luka as his sister does, waiting for an explanation. Leo told her about me?

But instead of giving it to her, he turns to me and points down the hall. “Every empty room has a ribbon on the doorknob. Pick one. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Luka

As soon asthe door to Lucia’s chosen room shuts, Mila starts grilling me.

“What thefuckare you doing?” she growls with a self-righteous glare pinned to me.

I suppress the urge to roll my eyes and instead run my hand through my hair like I’m distressed. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“What did you do to herneck? What iswrongwith you?”

She’s always asking this, isn’t she?

“That wasn’t me.” Rubbing at my jaw, I sigh. “Look, I’m storing her at your place, so obviously I have to tell you. But please promise me you aren’t going to freak out.”

She barks out a laugh. “You really are insane. You arenotkeeping a kidnapped girl here. How could you even?—”

“Her boyfriend killed Piper.”

Mila’s contempt sobers, her mouth closing. “What?”

I nod. “Yeah. Leo suspects it but doesn’t know for certain yet. I got it out of that girl.” I nod toward the room Lucia entered. “Her boyfriend wasn’t really her boyfriend. He was more like her captor. She’s a cartel princess, and he’s, I guess, a soldier from a rival cartel who was transporting her.”

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