Cruel Love Page 13

  Dante guides her backward away from me. “It was nothing,” he says.

  “Old love poem,” I answer. “One of Dani’s favorites.”

  She spins in his direction. “He speaks Russian to his girlfriend.”

  Dante stares at me in annoyance. “We gonna rent a car?” he asks.

  “Sure,” I say as I grab my bag off the floor.

  Lucy crosses her arms. “Team Fox is looking pretty good right now,” she muses. “Just sayin’…”

  I flash her a wink and step away as Dante’s nostrils flare out. He snatches her hand and pulls her to his left side, placing his form between us, as the three of us walk through the airport together.

  I look over at Dante, catching his jealous glare again but he walked right into that one. He’ll be thanking me after the first time he whispers that into Lucy’s ear in private.

  I loved you. And perhaps, I still do.

  My chest twinges as I picture Dani’s smile. Her dimpled cheeks. That faint apple scent tickles my nose.

  We step outside and a fist collides with my face.

  “Fox!”

  I shake off the distraction, dropping my bag as another hard fist punches my gut. Fully alert, I block the third punch and twist around to elbow the man in the jaw.

  Dante grunts. I look over to see he’s in worse shape than I am. He has at least three men, all in black suits, grabbing at him and hitting him hard.

  Another one comes at me, but I quickly jab them in the throat before they even get the chance to strike me.

  My body stiffens, locked in radiant pain as volts fire through my back. I fall to my knees as another taser connects with my left arm.

  I try to push up, but another jolt makes me stop resisting.

  “Lucy, run!”

  Dante shouts at her from the pavement, his voice quickly masked as they tase him, too.

  Lucy twists around and manages a hard kick to a man’s unsuspecting groin. He tumbles to his knees and she backhands him down before she’s easily overwhelmed from behind.

  They throw a scarlet red hood over her head just before forcing one over mine.

  “Vstavay!”

  They force me to my feet and fasten my hands behind my back with a zip-tie. A shuffle in my ears tells me that Dante isn’t done fighting back yet. I feel the warm tongs of a taser pressed against my neck, reminding me not to make the same mistake he is. I relax, deciding to save my strength. We’re too outnumbered and this is Moscow. No one’s going to intervene here.

  Someone knew we were coming.

  They shove me forward and push me into the back of a van. I stumble to the right and fall onto the bench against the wall.

  “Fox?”

  I hear Lucy across from me, her voice shaking.

  “Yeah,” I say, sitting back.

  “Where’s Dante?”

  The door opens again, and they shove him inside onto the floor.

  “Dante!” Lucy leans forward as they slam the doors.

  “Lucy…” He coughs as he tries to right himself, but he’s too worn out.

  I nudge him with my foot. “Take a breather, Dante. You’re no good to me fried out.”

  “Who are these people?” he asks, dry-heaving.

  “I don’t know,” I answer.

  The van starts and quickly speeds off. I try to orientate myself to feel which direction we’re headed. East? No, north…

  “Dante…” Lucy says. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m all right, Luce,” he replies, catching his breath.

  I smirk. “Nice moves back there, Lucy.”

  “Thank you,” she says.

  “Fox…” Dante growls. “If we get out of this, I’m gonna kill you.”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, I know.”

  Chapter 22

  Boxcar

  “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Lilah asks. “Satellite shows nothing here.”

  I stare ahead through the woods, biting my tongue a little too hard but my love of snark wins out in the end. “Wouldn’t be much of a secret hideout if you could see it, would it?” I answer. “It’s here. Just can’t remember how far in…”

  She lets out an impatient breath but says nothing else as she quickens her stride up ahead. Archer glances over his shoulder at me and shows an apologetic shrug that I instantly brush off. She’s not annoying me. I’m not even particularly mad at her at the moment. I just prefer to suffer silently.

  I can’t believe I agreed to come back here. I probably shouldn’t have. Breaking into this house changed my life and not in good ways. One could argue that I never would have met Caleb if I didn’t, and I yield to that argument, but I also never would have gotten caught. I never would have been dragged into the desert to commit treason against my country. I wouldn’t have gotten so obsessed with any of this.

  And yet, here I am, walking right back into the belly of the beast instead of being at home with my pregnant wife.

  I am not a smart man.

  “It should be just up ahead,” I say.

  Lilah’s red head flicks back. “What? You recognize a bush or something?”

  “Actually, yeah.” I point to the left. “I stopped to take a leak on that tree.”

  She rolls her eyes.

  “Children, behave,” Archer says, his voice low.

  “You know,” Lilah spins around to walk backward while speaking, “I call shenanigans.”

  “Shenanigans?” I repeat.

  “I think you’re taking us on one long goose chase,” she says.

  I exhale. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Lilah…” Archer tilts his head.

  “He didn’t deny it,” she says. “Come on, Archer. Isn’t it a little weird to you that in all the time you spent hanging out with Snake Eyes you never heard about this place either?”

  “Wait…” I pause, staring up at Archer. “You hung out with Snake Eyes?”

  He flexes his jaw. “It’s complicated.”

  I grunt. “It’d be awfully nice if I could meet people who haven’t colluded with a criminal organization at some point.”

  Lilah scoffs. “Good luck, Scratchy.”

  “Sparky,” Archer says.

  “Boxcar,” I say through my teeth.

  “Idiot with the laptop,” she says. “Whatever.”

  “So, are you ever going to get over the anger stage of grief? Because this shit is getting really old.”

  Archer sighs as Lilah digs her toes into the grass. “Bloody…” he whispers.

  “Listen, Bartholomew Eugene Carson,” she growls at me, “you say one more thing about my brother and I’ll string you up from your little piss tree.”

  I smirk. “Hey, bargaining! That was quick.”

  Lilah lunges at me but Archer grabs her by the arm before she can get close.

  “That’s enough,” he barks. “Both of you get your shit together. Now. I don’t care who’s right or wrong — and I’m sure as hell not getting killed today over either one. Got it?”

  She yanks her arm free and spins away silently. As she stomps off, Archer glares at me again.

  “I know,” I say, raising my hands. “I know.”

  “I admire and respect you, Boxcar,” he says, “but if I have to choose between you again—”

  “I know…” I point upward. “Piss tree.”

  He nods.

  I gesture forward. “It should be just up ahead.”

  Archer walks off, following Lilah through the woods. He catches up to her and lays a comforting hand on her shoulder. She accepts it, reluctantly, and I hear her biting words echoing through the wind.

  I hang back for a moment. My arm instinctively reaches behind me and I graze the grip of Caleb’s revolver poking out of my belt. I’ve pointed it at Lilah Hart before.

  I’ll do it again if I have to.

  Chapter 23

  Caleb

  A soft zipping noise wakes me up. I twitch awake and look around, taking a moment to remember that I’m in a dingy mot
el room on the outskirts of Vegas. A wad of used tissues lies crumbled on the pillow beside me. My eyes feel stiff and my lashes tug a bit as I open them a little wider.

  I sit up, feeling emotionally drained, but well-rested. That’s the power of a crying oneself to sleep, I suppose.

  Dani pushes her small suitcase to the side and sits down on the edge of her bed, facing me. “You okay?” she asks, cautious.

  I rub the crusty bits out of the corner of my eyes. “Yeah,” I answer.

  She grabs the bottle of water from the table between our beds and holds it out to me.

  “Thank you.” I twist the cap off and take a bland, flavorless swig.

  “Did you sleep?” she asks.

  I chuckle. “Not really.” I squint at her perfectly-combed hair and easy-going make-up. Damn movie stars always looking so pretty all the time. “How long have you been up? And why didn’t you ask the woodland creatures to stick around and do my hair?”

  She chuckles. “A few hours, I think.”

  “Couldn’t sleep either?”

  Her head shakes. “Coffee is fresh.” She winces. “And caffeinated. Sorry, I don’t know the rules about that…”

  “Neither do I.” I set the bottle down on the table. “But I’ll risk it.”

  I pull myself out of bed and wander over to the tiny coffee station next to the TV. I fill the second mug nearly to the brim and turn around just in time to see Dani’s eyes flick away from me.

  “Well…” I say, breaking the tension as I sit back down on my bed across from her. “I call dibs on the award for Most Immature Freak-Out.”

  “It’s all yours.” She smiles. “Actually, watching you freak out makes me feel pretty good about myself, so if you’ve got more freaking out to do…”

  “Hard pass.”

  “Fair enough,” she says with a chuckle.

  “I don’t know what happened,” I say, holding my coffee up to my nose. “I guess… I wasn’t ready to be back here again.” Dani’s head tilts. “The last time I was in Vegas, me and Box—”

  “Got married!” she finishes. “Of course.”

  I nod and take a sip. “Those memories plus, well…” I point at my stomach.

  “Massive freak-out.”

  “Right.”

  “Just try and relax,” she says, grimacing. “Take it easy. I know that’s the worst possible thing anyone could say, especially me. I’m barely keeping it together myself, but…”

  “It’s true.” I sigh. “Last night, I was all about just hitting that reset button.”

  “What are you thinking today?” she asks.

  I inhale a deep, steady breath as my lips curl slightly. “I’m thinking that my husband and I have been married for two years and maybe it’s time. Okay, sure, out of those two years, we’ve spent a grand total of about twenty days together, but…” I chuckle and Dani laughs with me. “I don’t know if that matters. We love each other, we got married because we loved each other, and this baby was conceived because we loved each other. What could be wrong with that, you know?”

  “I get it.” She nods. “Fox and I have only been together a few months but after everything that’s happened, it feels like a lot more.”

  “Honey, Fox has always been with you,” I say. “From the day I met him, it was all Dani all the time.”

  Her eyes fall to her lap. “Maybe,” she says.

  “Not maybe, Dani. Being away from you tore him apart. I guarantee he’s thinking about you right now and counting down the moments until he sees you again.”

  She stares downward, barely moving as a shadow crosses her eyes.

  “Dani,” I say. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she answers. She clears her throat and forces herself to look up but her eyes don’t reach mine. “Does he really want kids?” she asks.

  I study the worry lines on her forehead. “Does that bother you?”

  She pauses. “No, that’s just… not something I’ve ever had time to really think about.”

  “You still have plenty of time to think about that kind of stuff, Dani.”

  “You probably thought the same thing a week ago,” she says.

  “Okay, yeah. Sure. This was not planned but that’s me and Box. We don’t plan shit,” I joke. “Things just happen with us. I follow him outside the barracks to scold him for wandering off and his tongue ends up down my throat. He shows up out of the blue with assassins on his ass and the next thing I know, he’s got me propped up on my kitchen counter and my panties are somewhere across the room.”

  She snorts.

  “That’s just us, Dani,” I say. “You and Fox have that soulmates never die, reach across the cosmos, love can move mountains, Disney-magic thing going on. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “So, you’re not nervous about him?” she asks.

  “Of course, I am. But he’s coming back. Fox always comes back. That’s what he does and when he does…” I gesture to the rock on her finger. “You guys are gonna have the rest of your lives to figure it all out together.”

  Dani looks down again, this time focusing on her left hand. She nods slowly and smiles, though I’m not sure she believes me.

  “Want to stick around here for a while longer?” she asks. “Get some extra sleep and drive through the night? We should be in Iowa by Monday at this rate. Tuesday, at the latest.”

  I nod. “Sounds good to me.”

  Hell, I’m not even sure I believe me.

  Chapter 24

  Fox

  The van rocks back and forth for several miles and the ride gets bumpier the farther we travel outside the city. I’ve lost my bearings completely. I can’t say for sure how far we’ve gone or in what direction. Dante can’t either. We won’t be able to tell anything until we get outside again, assuming they don’t shoot us before we get the chance… but I don’t really like to think that way.

  Eyes open. Senses sharp. Don’t try and change the past. Try and alter the future instead.

  I made a promise to Dani. I don’t intend on breaking it.

  Finally, the van comes to a sudden stop. I dig my feet into the floor to keep from tumbling over, but Lucy’s reflexes aren’t as sharp from the sounds of it. Her body slaps against the wall and she yelps.

  “Ouch…” she murmurs.

  “You okay?” Dante asks her.

  “Getting pretty pissed off, actually.”

  The back doors swing open. A strong hand takes my arm and yanks me out onto the concrete ground. My boots echo slightly. We’re inside somewhere. The air smells like rotting wood and dried blood. It’s cold and stale.

  I tune my ears, trying to count the number of people and create a map in my head of where they are. One with me. Two with Dante. Another with Lucy. About a half-dozen voices on the other side of the room.

  We’re outnumbered and — if my sense of smell is correct — out-gunned.

  Someone kicks the back of my knees, forcing me down to the floor. They plunk Lucy down to my left and I hear Dante putting up a struggle on the other side of her. A few punches and the sound of bullets sliding into chambers makes him sit still again.

  A man stomps in closer, his heels grinding along the floor as he slowly passes each of us. The gang leader or maybe the low-level man assigned to torture us. I can work with either one. Just have to get him talking.

  “Eti grebanyye zmei…” he growls softly.

  These fucking snakes…

  My lips curl as I recognize his old, dry voice.

  “Markov?” I ask, raising my head. “I thought I smelled cheap vodka.”

  There’s a short pause as his feet shift back in my direction.

  “Fitzpatrick?”

  He grabs my hood and pulls it off. I look up from into Markov’s milk-gray eyes as they shift with amusement and he laughs out loud from the bottom of his gut.

  “Fitzpatrick!”

  “Hey, Markov,” I greet.

  He waves to dismiss the guards around us. “What are you doing her
e?” he asks.

  I slowly rise off the floor. “We came to talk to Luka,” I answer.

  “We?”

  I look at the others and he sidles toward them. He yanks the hoods off Dante and Lucy’s heads. She flinches with fear while Dante sits there, calm as stone with a furrowed, bruised brow.

  “This is Lucy and Dante,” I say. “They’re with me.”

  Markov immediately walks around and leans down to cut Lucy’s hands free. “They are snakes? Like you?” he asks, extending his hand to her.

  Her eyes bounce from his to mine and I signal for her to take it. She does and he helps her off the floor.

  “Yes, but I give you my word,” I say. “I wouldn’t bring them here with me if they meant trouble.”

  One of his men steps forward and slices my zip-tie open before doing the same for Dante.

  Markov chews on his lip. “What do you want?”

  I glance at his men standing all around the warehouse. “It’s sensitive,” I say. His brow twitches. “Just let us talk to Luka. He’ll want to hear this.”

  Markov hesitates for less than a second before nodding. “Okay. I’ll take you.”

  “Thank you.”

  He rubs his stubbled chin. “Eh, sorry about this...” He gestures around innocently. “They bring me a snake, I kill it.”

  I pat his shoulder. “It’s all right, Markov.”

  He waves the three of us along and points toward the black car parked outside. “Follow me,” he says.

  Dante steps over to me and exhales hard. “That was close,” he says.

  “Yeah.” I nod.

  “How’d you know he’d be the one to pick us up?”

  I shrug before stepping forward. “I didn’t.”

  He reaches for Lucy’s hand and squeezes it tightly as we follow Markov outside.

  * * *

  “Bozhe moi!”

  The voice cries out from the top of the stairwell the second we step into the foyer of the Lutrova estate.

  I look up at Nina Lutrova, feeling an instant smile stretch across my face as she stares down at me with a sagging jaw.