Page 37 of One Second After Another

“Penny,” Cross said. “That’s what you’re doing, right? You’re looking for her. I saw her—she promised. She’ll come back. But I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”

Fucking hell.

Luca swallowed hard, realizing he was right—he needed to think like Penny—as he told little Cross, “Keep that promise—nobody but me, okay?”

“Okay.”

9.

Penny

THE rapid flicker of the overhead light setup in the busy, popular Brooklyn club moved to the beat of the same music that vibrated the floor under Penny’s combat boots. In black cargo pants and a tight long sleeve in the same color, she certainly didn’t fit in with the crowd around her, but that wasn’t the point. She wasn’t trying to blend in with the people when she didn’t intend to stay long enough to need to.

Not that it mattered.

She hadn’t even come through the front—instead, she used a knife and pick to bust out one of the older locks on a side exit door when the drunks stumbled out of the alleyway long enough for her to get the job done. It wasn’t like the security at the front would let her in looking like she did—guns and knives strapped into the holsters at her chest and thighs—and she thought the thirty-dollar entrance fee was a little steep.

But that was none of her business. She wasn’t here for any of that.

Penny could, however, see her current target on a platform that rested higher than the rest of the dancefloor. Metal stairs led up to where rope sectioned off the setup filled with red leather booths and black tables. Two men in suits waited at the velvet, braided rope. Their presence and posture was more than enough to tell her there were likely guns under their three-piece suits.

They wouldn’t be a problem.

Knowing better than to linger—with a live bounty on her head, even being in a packed club with hundreds of faces all around her was dangerous—Penny headed for the platform VIP section. Unsurprisingly, she caught the eye of the man sitting in the booth alone before she had even managed to reach the stairs.

He didn’t stand. His dark gaze didn’t show surprise. Almost like ... he expected to see her there.

“Take a break,” she heard him tell the two guards who had finally noticed her approach. “It’s fine. Go have a smoke, and take him with you.”

“But, boss—”

“Go.”

They didn’t question the order again. Penny wondered, as the two men took the metal stairs down and passed her on the way, how many times they dared to question Cross Donati even once. By the look in his eye as he followed their retreating backs, it wasn’t very often. So was the life of a mafia boss, or that’s what she had come to learn.

The older man—with hair as dark as tar and only a whisper of gray despite the years that had left crow’s feet at the corner of his eyes—didn’t bother to stand even when Penny stood on the other side of the table from him. He tipped his head to the side, taking in her getup and the long white braid that she had flipped over her shoulder to at least keep it under control for the moment.

“Plans tonight?” he asked.

Penny shook her head. “Being cautious.”

“Yes, I suppose you have to do that now, don’t you? Comes with the territory of having a million-dollar bounty on your head.”

“Semantics.”

Cross gave her a look.

Penny only shrugged back.

Where was the lie?

“How did you find me?” he asked. “Tonight, specifically.”

“I know the right people. And I’m good at making phone calls.”

“And you’re here because—”

“Out of respect,” Penny told her former boss. “In case you had something to say to me, or you wanted to make a request. I thought it was only fair, considering ... well, you know.”