Page 16 of One Second After Another

All of this.

It was all secondary to the fact Penny was still gone, and he was sure an entire team of assassins would soon be hunting her down on top of the people that were already looking for her from an entirely different organization. At least, for Luca everything else was secondary to that. He couldn’t say the same for everyone else on that tarmac.

“Is even the suggestion of talking about what to do with the other situation on the—”

“It’s nowhere near the fucking table,” Dare interjected, stopping Cross from saying anything more. Luca had finally stepped out of his thoughts just long enough to realize he could hear some of the men’s conversation above the wind in front of the hangar. “The contract is clear, Mr. Donati. If your property remains under the supervision of The League while maintaining business for you, it is at our discretion to make final calls regarding disobedience. Especially at this level.”

“I just think there are other ways to deal with Penny than—”

“There isn’t,” Cree said, his words loud and clear but still somber. Like he’d accepted the decision that had been reached—one Luca wasn’t entirely clear on—but he didn’t like it all the same. “The last two years we have seen her reach higher and higher levels with each kill she made inside The Elite—she was nearly at the end. To have the chance to end it taken away when and like it was ... she won’t return to business with us. Or even you, for that matter. She’s fulfilling her own purpose. It’s beyond us, and it always will be. There is no going back.”

Cree stiffened at the sound of Dare’s sigh, but other than that, silence and stillness passed between the four men.

Luca was finally catching up.

Again.

Dare and Cree spoke to Cross about Penny and her business with The League like he was also a part of it. As if he had a right to know because the details were ones that should have already been understood.

He felt stupid.

So fucking angry.

All the time he spent trying to find why Penny left or even, who helped her ... adding it on top of the dozens of questions that piled up when he found her entangled with The League, and it was all for nothing. The man who made all of that happen had been in front of him—or pretty damn close—from the start.

Cross.

His godfather.

Naz’s dad.

He thought, of course.

But also, why.

“We’re here for one reason,” Dare said, the first to break the silence and restart the conversation. “I was gracious enough to at least allow you to make an offer ...” The man’s gaze slid Luca’s way before he added, “And I understand why, so do so before I change my mind.”

Cross dragged in a hard breath. “You won’t even entertain Penny?”

“No.”

“Cross,” Zeke said.

Now, his father was looking at him. The worry in Zeke’s eyes was clear—bright like the sun on a summer’s day when the sky was wide, and blue. If he regretted anything, it was that. Sure, they had their issues, but Zeke was still his father at the end of the day. He tried to keep that in mind now.

“I know,” Cross told his best friend, before turning back to Dare. “Fine. Luca is returned—he is off the market and not to be touched otherwise. In return, I don’t interfere with your business in New York or make any calls to make it harder for you to do said business.”

Wait—

“They’re going to go after Penny,” Luca said, the words bursting from his mouth before he could stop them. They had to understand what it meant to do what they were doing here. “You’re going to let them—”

“Exactly that, yes,” Cross told him, nodding once. Then, to Dare, he asked, “Does that work for you?”

“It does,” Dare replied.

That was that.

The men in black backed off. Dare and Cree had already turned to head for the private hangar while the team of men who had been watching Luca followed behind. The three men—including him—that were left outside said nothing as the wind picked up again.