any kind of way about her or before when she was living with you guys—”
“I know you. I know who you are. I don’t need to ask that. I already know the answer to that, Luca.”
He breathed easier ... because despite being who he was, he never wanted to be a monster, either. It was a lot harder to be the man he was—who came from the people and place he did—while also maintaining compassion. All of their moral compasses were a bit broken. That didn’t mean they always had to act like it.
“You said to start,” Naz pointed out. “So what else did you have to tell me?”
For a second, Luca hesitated.
He even started to ask, “Shouldn’t we go find Cross? The pool is—”
“It’s protected by a passcode. He’s probably staring at it through the glass doors, scowling and looking like my father, but a mini version that constantly mocks me.”
Jesus Christ.
“He also acts a hell of a lot like you.”
Naz’s lips dared to twitch with a smirk. “Yeah, well—”
“It was your father,” Luca decided to say with no warning. He said it when his friend was amused and slightly distracted because he hoped it would lessen the blow. He wanted to give Naz a chance to absorb the news without the hard impact. “It was your father that helped Penny get away all those years ago—he signed her contract with The League which included paying the millions for her training. Cross did all of that.”
And more.
But that wasn’t the important bit.
“He’s known where she was this entire time,” Luca added quieter.
Naz said nothing. His stare turned so cold, it burned. The way he stood a little straighter, jaw tensing like he might speak before he decided to say nothing telling Luca everything he needed to know. Naz was pissed.
“All this time?” his friend finally asked.
Luca nodded once, ignoring the way his mouth wanted to close around the words he spoke. “Since day one, man. I’m sorry.”
“When did you know?”
“The day I got back from Nevada.”
Naz blew out a hard breath and swung away from Luca, his hand coming up to cup his lower face as he growled something into his palm. Then, he turned back around, waving that same hand wildly when he snapped, “That’s why he did what he did ... all the things he did. Telling me to focus somewhere else but Penny—so my workaround was you. But then he made me so busy that you were basically out there on your own while I handled business. And just when shit starts to come to a head, when she’s getting closer, and I might stick my nose where it didn’t belong, he decided to put me into his seat to head the family. Because what boss has time to be everywhere when he can barely even be at home, right?”
Luca swallowed the uncomfortable knot in his throat. “I don’t think his intentions were bad—that’s not your father, you know?”
“That doesn’t change what he did!”
Naz’s shout had Luca quieting instantly. Because what else could he do? Sometimes, anger just was what it was. They had to treat it like it, too.
“Why didn’t you tell—”
“He asked me not to,” Luca replied, already knowing good and well what his friend was going to ask. “I didn’t make promises, but I also had to prioritize the shit I needed to handle. Penny needed to come first, and I was running out of time to—”
“Find her,” Naz finished for him, nodding. “Yeah, I know.”
“She’s being hunted from all sides and has a million-dollar bounty on her head. I keep trying to figure out the way this is going to end ...” Luca trailed off, laughing dryly before he added, “But every end I imagine is never a good one, Naz.”
“You don’t know that. She’s a ghost—to the world, she doesn’t exist. Just because she’s real doesn’t mean she’s already dead. They haven’t even come close to catching her yet.”
“And that doesn’t mean anything,” Luca said.
Naz shrugged. “It also hasn’t meant a bad thing.”
Well ...
“HE DIDN’T BELIEVE ME.”
Luca didn’t move from his spot at the rear of the foyer where he leaned against the wall. “What do you mean?”
Penny shook her head, the wavy strands of her white-blonde hair moving with the action. “Cross. I told him I would see him soon. He didn’t say that he thought I was lying, but—”
“He rarely has to.”
The kid just had a ... look.
The goodbyes hadn’t been easy, and Naz also hadn’t lied. His sister