Page 44 of One Second After Another

“Just drive, don’t look anywhere but the street ahead of you—drive fast,” she said.

“Who are you going for?”

“Anybody. A face I recognize. My mother if I get the chance through the windows but that’s unlikely. I don’t care. She’ll know I was here.”

“Are you—”

Before he could even finish his question, Penny reached over and poked the tip of her finger against Luca’s visor. She couldn’t see his face through the dark tint, but she would have given anything to in that moment. Her left arm, even.

“Help me and drive, Luca.”

Maybe there was a hint of a smirk in his tone when he replied, “Drive—got it, babe.”

It was the second time he called her that tonight.

She was starting to like it.

Sticking the gun into the holster at her chest, Penny used a bandana that had been tied to the handlebars to wrap up her hair as Luca’s Ducati Superbike roared to life. Matte black like his helmet, the beast would do just fine for what she had planned. It moved like lightning but with the gracefulness of shadows.

What more could she ask for?

The first jerk of the bike sent Penny leaning in close to Luca. She didn’t need to look up to see where they were—she had tracked these streets and alleys—even the buildings—from the moment she knew where Allegra would be having her engagement party in the city.

She also didn’t need to see to know what was happening. From the road of the bike and the pressure that sent her body leaning back a bit said when Luca was speeding up—probably to miss the set of lights that might possibly be turning yellow. They couldn’t stop. Not once they left the alley.

The bike leaned hard to the right when they took the turn at the lights while Penny leaned with Luca, one hand wrapped tight around his waist while her other grasped firmly to the butt of the gun inside the holster at her chest. Tucked down like she was, someone might not even notice her on the back of the bike until they passed.

It all worked.

But then she counted the seconds when the bike roared and darted forward with more speed—one, two, and then three ... Penny leaned up from her tightly tucked position, already pulling the gun from the holster as the Ducati growled past the restaurant on the other side of the street. She aimed the gun, gaze already scanning as the black bandana pulled away from her hair in the wind.

It was better than she ever imagined.

Her grandfather had just arrived.

It took all of a second.

Less, even.

The League would never forgive her for what she had done to them, but at least they trained her to be one hell of a shot on the back of a moving vehicle.

Charles Hatheway saw her—their gazes locked as the bike passed—when she pulled the trigger. She didn’t get to see it hit the intended target before they had already gone by, but she heard the screams.

Those were beautiful.

12.

Luca

“IS it appropriate for me to say a small prayer?”

Penny shot Luca a look from where she stood behind his beloved Ducati. He didn’t get to drive the machine nearly enough for his tastes. He’d spent a crazy amount of money for the bike and on it to get it customized just the way he liked. The damn thing even had its own storage unit in the city because he absolutely refused to drive it in the winter, or on any road that wasn’t pristine.

He loved the bike.

If he had a baby, it was it.

“Thought we agreed getting rid of it was the only option?” Penny asked.