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Elijah’s lips came together. He swallowed dryly and nodded.
“Because I spent two years working special ops,” Luca continued. “Scout sniper. Deep insertion, SOCOM reconnaissance.” He paused and scratched at his chin. “And while they didn’t always tell why we were going, or who we were supposed to kill?”
He paused and pushed a finger into Elijah’s chest.
“… wealwaysknew where we were.”
My ex-boyfriend coughed into his fist. He looked like he’d swallowed something unpleasant.
“You never finished BUDS school,” Luca seethed. “You rang the bell, didn’t you?”
Elijah was pale now. Almost white.
Luca however, was like a shark who’d swam a mile on the faintest scent of blood… and was only now getting to taste it.
“You rang the bell and quit,” he went on. “You didn’t even make it to hell week. You quit over something lame like sleep deprivation, first few days of training.” He flicked him in the chest. “Then you cried like a baby and ran home to daddy.”
My head whipped around, to look straight back into Elijah’s face. In the span of seconds he’d gone from white as a ghost to almost purple with rage.
“Know how I knew?” Luca asked, twisting the knife some more. “The pin in your shadowbox was a cheap fucking replica. And so was the—”
Elijah struck without warning, and to his credit he wasfast. I almost didn’t even see the punch. It rocketed upward in a tight arc, aiming to clip Luca straight in the jaw.
But Luca was ready.
Weaving backward with blinding speed, Luca moved just enough that Elijah’s blow caught nothing but air. His overcommitment cost him. As the momentum of his missed punch continued, it left him completely exposed on his right flank.
CRACK!
There was a sickening but satisfying crunch as Luca’s fist connected solidly with Elijah’s rib cage. It was followed by a strangled grunt, as all the air in Elijah’s lungs was forced outward in the span of a single second.
“UhhhFFFfff!”
Luca stepped back. Elijah fell. For a few frightening moments he floundered at the base of the sidewalk, clawing wildly at nothing as he gasped for oxygen that wasn’t there. Then, slowly, he got his breath back. His lungs rattled with a slow, steady wheeze, his face contorted in pain as he winced his way through every painful breath.
“You…” he gasped, turning murderous eyes Luca’s way. “YOU—”
Elijah reached across his body and pulled out his phone. In his haste he dropped it, but Luca picked it up for him.
“Here you go,” he said, holding the phone out to him. “Call the police.”
Elijah’s face contorted into a bitter scowl. Snatching the phone back, he began pushing buttons.
“We’ll go over the camera footage,” said Luca. “And I’ll have you arrested for assault.”
Elijah’s brows came together curiously. So did mine.
“Right there,” Luca said, pointing back to the house. “Those two cover the street, the sidewalk, and the walkway. The other ones cover the front entrance.”
Sure enough, tiny dark globes that represented cameras had been installed just below the home’s gutters, dangling from the soffits. They hadn’t been there the last time I was over, but they were sure here now.
“That stop work order your daddy paid for is a pain in the ass for sure,” said Luca. “But it doesn’t say anything about add-on surveillance.”
He crossed his arms and took a half-step back as Elijah finally got to his feet. He was moving slowly, though. He stood with his back arched, hunched forward in pain.
“Are we still making that call?”
Slowly, gingerly, Elijah returned his phone to his pocket. His face was placid now. His expression, almost terrifyingly calm.
