Page 120 of The Boss

I look from the chopper to the man I’m leaving behind. He hands Marlon to me, then scratches his head. He leans in and says“Tabhair aire do do mham domsa, a dhuine bheag.”I frown. “Told him to take care of you.”

I laugh, “What’s he going to protect, my pinky toe?”

He almost grins, “If it needs protecting.”

I roll my eyes. Then Van just watches me, waiting. I look at the purple sky around us, the tree tops, the gravelly rooftop under my feet. Finally, I look up at him. My eyes burn.

“Listen, I—”

He kisses me. Hard. Hands cradling my head, tongue invading all my thoughts and feelings. He releases the most heartbreakingguttural moan into my mouth, into my soul. Then pulls away. He rests his forehead on mine, eyes shut.

The chopper starts up.

We’re frozen in the wind and the sound. Heads together.

“You’ll have my six,” he finally shouts over the noise.

“I will,” I shout back. We open our eyes and as he starts to release my head, I panic. Where the hell am I going? What will I do? What if I suck at it? What if I have to—

“I love you. Give ‘em hell, Mancini!” He says before he gives me one last hard goodbye kiss. Then he turns and stalks away. I watch his back for a beat, then force myself to turn away.

I don’t want to turn away from that man. Truly, I don’t.

But I do want to get on the chopper. I want to see what’s next. Figure out what this new world is and who I am in it. So, Marlon in my arm, I go toward Allie’s smiling face in the open door way.

I climb in and force myself not to think about the house we’re leaving—my two favorite people inside—as the chopper propels upward. I’m given a headset but Allie says nothing. I hear the air traffic control chatter. Allie speaks to the captain in Russian once or twice. Then the ride is over.

We’re at an airfield not far away.

We climb out of the chopper, my hip exploding with pain at the motion. I ignore it.

In front of me is a huge ass plane, the kind of jumbo jet with the bubble on the top used for international flights. But it’s all black. As we walk closer, I see it’s covered in the reflective stuff just like the chopper.

Allie still says nothing, just watching me take it all in as we reach the steps.

“So, we’re taking this thing to command?” I ask her, bracing myself for some ungodly eighteen hour flight.

“No, Luna,” she smiles wide, “Thisiscommand.”

CHAPTER 51

Luna

What it is, is a fucking space ship!

Screens. So many screens, everywhere. There are no passenger seats, not even couches like the private jets I’m used to. Desks, buttons, and people, I can see at least four, three guys, one girl, wearing headsets and doing…stuff. Moving satellites, shooting missiles? Fuck if I know.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

“I’ll say,” I mumble, still a little too shocked to think straight.

“In your father’s operation you saw patterns, sequences. You moved pieces around on the board to benefit the Mancini objectives. Here, you’ll do the same. It’s just a much bigger board.

“I’ll fucking say!” I’m not murmuring anymore.

Allie chuckles, “I know it can be overwhelming but we’ll start simple. We’ll need to write an opp to stage your death, of course. I also want you zeroed in on your father’s properties, the routes you already know. Since we’re here, we’ll oversee Quinn’s retaliatory attack against Volotov.” I nod absently. Trying to keep up.

“So, where’s my desk?” I joke.