Page 14 of One Second After Another

Finally, the conversation between the men in the room caught Luca’s attention enough to drag him away from the images on the screen.

“Another pet project for Cree to get under control,” the man behind the desk said. “At this point, I’m starting to think taking these on aren’t worth the trouble they cause us.”

“Dare—”

The man behind the desk held up a single hand, his steely gaze looking over every man in the room except Luca where he still stood just a couple of feet inside the doorway. “She was given directions, Cree. An order. One she didn’t follow. We only have one option, and I can’t help that you don’t like it. She’s put The League in danger of The Elite being able to trace and track us like we’ve been doing to them for years. Every single member of this organization is an asset. Ones we cannot afford to lose given the nature of this work, and you know it.”

“That doesn’t change that she’s only doing what we told her she would—”

“She was given orders!”

The shout silenced the room.

The man they called Dare regained his composure quickly, and finally glanced Luca’s way when he said, “Circumstances and loyalties change all the time. A by-product of the business. You don’t need me to tell you. She’s gone AWOL. We react accordingly and protect what we’ve built. This is your mess to clean, Cree.”

Were they talking about sacrificing Penny?

Dare pointed at Luca, saying, “Including that mess there.”

But what did that mean?

Luca wasn’t given the chance to ask, let alone speak before the man behind the desk nodded at him, drawing every gaze in the room to him when he said, “And you.”

“What about me?” Luca asked.

At this point, what did he have to lose? He only needed to get out. He just didn’t know what out meant or looked like.

“A request to make an offer for you has come through from New York,” Dare said, folding his arms across his silk-covered chest, making the fabric of his button-down strain from the action. Then, he added, “We’re at least willing to hear the offer from the Donati family.”

“An offer—”

“For your life.”

Well, then.

4.

Luca

“HE blames me for this.”

Luca looked away from the glowing lights of his favorite city down below only to find the man who had spoken wasn’t even looking at him. Directly in front of his seat was another where Cree had taken a spot when they boarded the private jet hours ago. The flight attendant on board opted to stay with the pilot after the assassins on the jet made it clear they weren’t interested in being attended to for the flight’s duration.

He might have liked something.

Nobody cared to ask.

“Who?” Luca asked.

Cree’s dark gaze shifted subtly from the window to Luca, then to the man a couple of seats back with—Dare—and then back to the window again. It was so fast it was almost like it hadn’t happened in the first place. “My ... partner.”

That had Luca’s brow furrowing while he put together what the other man was trying to tell him. It seemed like Cree did that a lot—talked just enough to be interesting while letting those around him figure out the rest for themselves.

Luca couldn’t say he liked it.

This was, however, the most conversation he had been able to gain from anyone since leaving The League’s grounds. He wasn’t about to waste it. Despite their flight starting to come to an end with New York below them, he figured Cree wasn’t the type to talk just because he could. It always seemed to serve a purpose.

So, what was it this time?