Page 122 of Liar

Immediate silence. Like I’m the bearer of bad news ruining their fun. Or the fool who dares to question the Boss.

“Nothing in life is absolute.”

I blink at his response. “That’s not true. What about love?”Like my love for you? Like your love for me?

Diego snorts.

Javier coughs.

Manuel is silent.

But everyone is struck dumb by Hayden’s answer. “Except maybe love.”

I swallow hard.Say it. Please.I want to hear you say it.

“Since you’re so good at disrupting things,” he says, and I struggle to hold back my disappointment. “Come help me interrupt the electrical connection.”

* * *

Ayoung boy on his bicycle rides by our car a second time while we wait. Innocent, with not a care in the world. Just as it should be when you’re that age. I watch him with a soft smile on my face.

Next to me, Hayden tracks him. Not so innocently. With the weight of the world on his shoulders and a huge frown on his face.

“I need to take care of him.”

“Take care of him? What do you mean?”

Hayden sighs. “Too much is at stake. And the kid keeps looking at us.”

I shake my head. “Of course, he does. He likely knows every person, house, and stone on this block. We’re out of place.”

“I won’t hurt him. A little tap on the head; he’ll wake up after we’re long gone.”

“No,” I burst out. A little tap on the head, coming fromhim? “I know exactly how to scare him away.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” I smile broadly then climb onto my knees on the seat and lean in toward my husband. His eyes flash, catching on to my intent, seconds before my lips crash against his.

I kiss him like he’s a cool drink of sugary limonada. Bitterness and uncertainty of everything that has happened between us is replaced by a kind of sweetness that makes you giddy and light-headed.

He places his hands on my face, makes a noise in his throat, then deepens the kiss.

When we finally break apart, the boy on the bike is gone.

“Letting him go could be a mistake.”

I sigh. “We’re a horny couple looking to hook-up. Nothing more.”Except there is more, I think, as reality sinks back in. “How long has it been?”

“One minute longer than the last time you asked.” Hayden places a kiss on my forehead. “Relax. Worrying will get you nowhere.”

“Says the man who blew up my brother’s phone because his wife made him frantic.” I wait for him to deny it at the same time waiting for him to admit why he was worried about me. If you’d asked me a month ago if I could ever have imagined Hayden doing anything so obvious, I’d have laughed. But he pulls away and goes back to keeping watch over the streets.

Everything unfolds as anticipated; the electricity goes off then on, my brother, Javier, and Miguel enter the warehouse and do what is necessary to secure the facility. Diego reports he’s located the tunnel and the entrance hidden beneath an ornamental rug that has no business being strewn across the floor of a place like this.

“What happens after the tunnel explodes?”

“We return to Loreto and wait for Ignacio to retaliate.”