Page 59 of One Second After Another

Penny stiffened as the sound of tires rolling against the gravel driveway leading up to the lodge reached her spot. She only needed to glance to the side to look out the windows on either side of the lodge’s French front doors to see the approach of the black BMW. Tinted windows and distance kept her from seeing beyond the front windshield.

Her attention went back to Luca.

“What the hell did that shot about your loyalty mean?” she asked.

Luca was unphased at her attitude. “Wasn’t a shot. Wasn’t even a blow. It’s the truth. I’m here because of you—I’m going to stay that way.”

Well, then ...

She still wanted to be mad. A part of her thought he was lying about Naz and Roz’s arrival at the lodge. But nothing he said was a lie, and she knew it. It would be a low blow for her to push the line and call Luca on it when—above everyone—his intentions were always the best when it came to her. He didn’t even try to pretend otherwise.

Not that she had the time to consider it. The approaching car was now parked twenty feet away from the front of the lodge, right beside the slate gray Vanquish.

“It’s not safe for them to be here,” she told him.

Penny headed for the front door to pull it open. Luca followed close behind, murmuring, “I know, and so do they. It’s clearly a risk they’re willing to take.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Too late, Penny.”

She didn’t need to be told.

Silence settled over the property when they stepped out on the lodge’s front porch. Across the gravel drive, Naz had already stepped out of the driver’s seat and rounded the BMW to open the passenger door. Penny was stuck in place; frozen like a statue. She couldn’t take her eyes off the woman who exited the car using her husband’s hand to help.

Roz didn’t look away from her, either.

Penny hadn’t expected the moment when she came face to face with Rosalynn to be so ... quiet. Or that her heart would feel as heavy as it did when Roz swallowed hard, and swiped away a stray tear that dared to fall down her cheek while her husband murmured something next to her. Roz nodded, glancing away from Penny for the first time to turn around and open the back door.

Naz leaned inside the vehicle, and Penny sucked in a shaky breath, asking, “They brought him, too?”

Little Cross, she meant.

Luca only shrugged. “Guess so.”

God.

She wanted this.

She also knew it could be bad. Especially if someone followed them or—

“Just ... say hello,” Luca said softly, his hand finding the small of her back. It took nothing more than his touch for her to lean closer. “All you have to do is say hi.”

Right. Of course, he would take her silence as a sign of nerves. He also wasn’t wrong even if she was trying to deal with far more than her emotions.

But what about the rest?

Penny didn’t have time to consider it. The second the Vans of a little boy hit the gravel, the rest disappeared. Little Cross walked just beyond the rear passenger door, laid eyes on Penny, and that was it for her. The kid beamed—his smile grew faster than her own, if she were being honest.

She was sure the rest of them hadn’t been expecting the kid to look at her and immediately shout, “Penny!”

He darted away from his parents before they could even consider capturing him. His navy blue windbreaker matched the color of his khakis. He was a tornado of energy coming her way—without any care at all—and she couldn’t help but laugh.

The two met at the bottom of the steps. She bent down with open arms that he rushed into for a hug, but then just as quickly pulled back to stare at her with those dark, familiar eyes.

“You’re back,” he said.

Penny smiled. “Not technically.”