Rox bent over, choking and gasping for air.
He came after her again, limping on his bum leg, wrapping the belt around his fists with purpose.
She looked up at him through tearing eyes, holding up a hand to ward him off.
“Now who’s the sore loser?” he taunted, his mouth twisting into a cruel approximation of a smile.
Rox pulled a Ruger Mark III from her boot as she rose, but she wasn’t quite fast enough. Lightner snapped the end of the belt at her hand, the buckle painfully rapping her knuckles. Rox dropped the pistol and they lunged for it simultaneously, cracking heads.
“Motherfucker—” she groaned.
Lightner responded by head-butting her again, breaking her already bruised nose. “Shit!” she cried out, barely able to see through the blood and tears, her head and nose pounding. During their skirmish, they knocked the gun under the bed. Rox dove for it, her arm sliding under the heavy wrought-iron frame. She reached deeply, stretching her arm out, fingertips only just touching the butt of the handle. She scissored her legs violently, partly to get her arm farther under the bed and partly to protect herself. When she wrapped her fingers around the grip of the .22, she swung her arm out in an arc, aiming, but the room was empty.
She sat up, disoriented, blood pouring down her mouth and chin. She wiped her sleeve under her nose as she stood and stumbled out of the bedroom. Rox made it down the stairs to find that the front door still closed. Wheeling around, she ran to the back of the row house.
The backdoor stood wide open.
Rox heard a car engine being gunned before the harsh, high-pitched squeal of tires came from the detached garage. She only just made it down to the alleyway to see the tail-lights disappearing around the corner.
“Goddamn it!”
The sonofabitch got away. And now that he knew who she was, it wouldn’t just Sam and Jack he’d be after.
In the blink of an eye, a woman who surreptitiously made her way in life through a labyrinth of secrets and assumed identities, had now become the quarry.
Rox didn’t care whether Sam wanted Lightner alive anymore. The longer he walked this earth, the more danger he posed.
She turned back to the house, determined.
It was just a matter of finding him again.
Before he found them.
Notes
1. Russian for, “Trouble never comes alone” or the English equivalent, “Misery loves company.”
2. Russian for, “While sinking, he promised an ax if I saved him, but when we pulled ashore, he begrudged even an ax handle”; the English equivalent, “People often don’t keep their promises.”
3. Italian for, “No news is good news.”
4. Italian for, “What a woman wills, all will.”
5. Italian for, “What is done, is done.”
6. Italian for, “Fear makes one do anything.”
7. Italian for, “Idiot”
8. Italian for, “I don’t understand a thing.”
9. Italian for, “I could never stop loving you.”
10. Italian for, “Until the end.”
11. Albanian for, “Good Luck!”
12. French for, “How can I help you?”
13. French for, “Can you help me find Samantha Wyatt please?”
14. French for, “She is a guest.”
15. French for, “But of course!”
16. Italian for, “For severe ills, severe remedies.”
17. The unofficial U.S. Navy motto, “Not for Self but Country”
18. Spanish for, “Fucking gangster”
19. Italian for, “What a pain in the ass!”
20. Italian saying for, “Wind, time, women and luck—first they turn away and then they come back, like the moon.”
21. Italian for, “Stop!”
22. Italian for, “You’re the only one for me. You’re everything I need.”
23. Persian for, “Good luck”
24. Persian for, “Poppy”
25. Persian for, “Come in”
26. Persian for, “Father”
27. Persian for, “Whore”
28. Italian for, “You miserable piece of shit”
29. Italian saying for, “Climbing on mirrors.” Meaning to try and make up imaginative explanations.
30. Italian for, “Please accept my apologies”
31. Spanish for, “Really hot”
32. A mental disorder characterized by extreme indecision
33. French for, “Conceal not the truth from thy physician and lawyer.”
34. Persian for, “How are you?”
35. Persian for, “I’m good and you?”
36. Persian for, “See you later!”
37. Spanish for, “What’s going on, bro?”
38. Spanish for, “Asshole”
39. Italian for, “Chubby”
40. Italian for, “Pain in the ass”
41. Italian for, “Leave him alone”
42. Italian for, “What the fuck?”
43. Italian for, “Brother”
44. Italian saying for, “In war, hunting, and love you suffer a thousand pains for one pleasure.”
45. Italian for, “My life”
46. Arabic for, “God willing”
47. Persian for, “You dirty piece of shit!”
48. Persian for, “Fuck off!”
49. Persian for, “Whore”
50. Italian for, “I made a big mistake.”
51. Italian for, “Go face the difficult task.”
52. Italian for, “Let’s hope for the best.”
53. Spanish for, “The phantom woman.”
About Alexi Lawless.
A year. That’s all it takes to completely alter the course of your life. A year ago, I did it—took the dive into the great unknown, leaving behind my cushy corporate existence for a life on the road with a laptop and an idea.
The idea was simple: I would write about characters I wanted to have dinner with. Ceaselessly fascinating, remarkable, flawed, and beautiful people I’d revel the night away with over a bottle of good bourbon and hand-rolled Nicaraguan cigars. The dialogue would be fast-paced, witty, and acerbic. Each character would bring something unique and extraordinary to the table, and yet, somehow, remain completely relatable.
And so it began… a series about Complicated Creatures; characters I created. But somewhere along the journey, these individuals began to take on a life of their own, so that I merely became a conduit, jotting down their tales.
I thought Complicated Creatures would be a single novel when I began, like one glorious evening spent at the dinner party of my dreams. But now it’s become an obsession, an odyssey—and I see it’s my calling to do their stories justice.
Did you like Complicated Creatures: Part Two?
If you’d like to share your thoughts and post a review, I would be incredibly grateful. Just click on this link and it will take you to the reviews page: http://amzn.to/ZgdV9e
Want to Read What’s Next?
Be the first to know when Part Three and the Prequel to Samantha’s story comes out; click here to get the free novella, access playlists, and be one of the first to know about cover reveals and launch dates: alexilawless.com
One More Thing…
When you turn to the last page, you’ll see a request to rate this book and post your thoughts to Facebook and Twitter. Please take a moment to tell your friends to check out the series! I, for one, would be eternally grateful. Spread the love, darling. Spread the love:
TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOOGLE+ | TUMBLR. | GOODREADS
Thank You…
It takes a village to write a novel. At the beginning, I imagined I’d be sequestered away somewhere typing madly by my lonesome until I hit the “publish” button and the book miraculously generated itself, but this experience has proven to me again and again that no writer is an island.
Major thanks to my editing team: Brenda Errichiello, Dave Bruce, and Mike Dimock for making the Complicated Creatures
series that much better and reminding me that writing under the influence of excellent bourbon can actually be a good thing with the help of a fantastic editor.
I am especially grateful to my consigliere, therapist, publicist and friend, Shadra Bruce, for being my biggest fan, promoter and counselor.
Big ups to Regina Wamba for her brilliant cover art and to Paul Salvette for taking my ridiculously messy manuscripts and whipping them into line, each and every time.
Thank you to my family and friends, for remaining supportive even while they were thinking, “What the hell is she doing?!?” I know I throw some wicked curve balls. You catch each and every one of them, and I am grateful for that enduring love and support.
And finally, to Lori, Casey, Krissy and Tiff, my entrepreneurial crew—Thank You for telling me I’d be crazy not to do this, and for giving me the courage to walk my own line.
Complicated Creatures: Part Two Page 38