Lucas Pov

She kisses me in return, and I pull her in so we can kiss longer. I feel like my breathing is finally returning. I have the impression that the hole inside of me has closed once more. Slowly, I pull away and look at her, seeing the same emotions I am experiencing on her face. I smiled at her and started talking. "Well, I should have done that, and all of this fighting could have been avoided," I say to her, and she smiles. I reunite our faces and give her another kiss. I was about to press the kiss deeper when someone cleared their throat. I retreat and give whoever interrupted us a lethal glance. "Lucas, we have to leave. Nick was employed by Maxim and Nikol. They now have your location, Rayne, as well as Dante's." Korey addresses us. Glancing at Rayne, I shake my head. "Amore, please go pack some clothes for Dante and you. Move quickly." I say to her before I kiss her forehead that she shakes her head and heads upstairs.

After observing Rayne go upstairs, I look at Frank, Mykel, and Korey. "How the hell did this happen? How were they able to locate her?" I yell at them. "You were meant to keep an eye on her. It was your responsibility to protect her." I continued to yell.

"Lucas, calm down. We were all unaware of Nick's existence and his involvement with the Russians. Nothing raised red flags or concerns during his background check." Frank says. Frustrated, I start pacing the room and running my hands through my hair. I say, "I need a smoke," and I turn to leave.

I take out my lighter and a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. I bring the cigarette to my lips and light it. I take a hit off of it, and my muscles slowly begin to loosen up. "Those will kill you, Luke; you know that right." My gaze shifts to my son as I hear him say it. I smile and shake my head. "You did a good job in there; you displayed no fear. "Why?" He shrugs his shoulders when I ask.

With my attitude and temper, Mom always said I was destined for the life of a tiger. Plus, she says, I'm fearless." Dante says as he takes a seat. "Luke, do you care about my mom?" He just asked me this question. "Talk about dejuv," I chuckle. "You know, you asked me the same question the first time you met me when you were younger. I seem to remember that you asked if I loved your mother." I laugh and raise the cigarette to my lips.

"If you loved and cared for my mom, why did you cheat on her? Where are we not enough for you?" Dante asks me. I avert my gaze, unsure of how to respond to this inquiry. "Dante, please do not think that; it had nothing to do with you. For me, you are enough, always. As well as your mother, but I was naive and young at the time, and I was angry with her for wanting to partake in the crap I am involved in when all I wanted to do was protect her. I then did what I always do, which is push people away." I state I give my 9-year-old a shocked look as Dante says, "Well, you are a dumbass." This boy most definitely has a mouth. "Dante James, what did I say about that language? "I cannot help but laugh when I hear what Rayne says as she leaves. Lucas, do not laugh. His mouth reminds me of yours! I have been attempting to fix it for more than a year, and it is terrible." Rayne remarks while biting her lip. I walk over to her and capture her mouth with mine. I kiss her, then pull away to meet her eyes. "It is a bad habit, Amore. I will be the only one biting those juicy, plump lips." I trace my thumb over her lips as my eyes follow the path, tempted to go in for another quick kiss.

There is a gag sound coming from the side of the house, and we both turn to look at Dante. "Eww, for fucks sake, get a room and NOT IN FRONT OF ME AND NOT OUTSIDE! EW GGGHH BLEGHHH! Luke and Mom, bad habit! I need bleach!"

I glance over at Rayne, and we both chuckle and shake our heads. Frank says, "The boy has a point; come on, no PDA," as he leaves the house carrying bags for Sarah. I see bags on the ground belonging to Rayne and Dante. I reach down to get the bags for them. I turn to see Rayne walking with Dante in tow to her truck. As Mykel and Sarah enter, so do they both. Rayne is in the driver's seat with Mykel and Sarah and in the back with Dante in the middle. After throwing the bags in the back, I strolled to the driver's side door of the truck. Rolling down the window is Rayne. "Are you riding with or are you taking your little bike over there?" She moves with her head. "Mykel, come help; I am going to load it up." When I say it, he leaps out.

Why don't you correct Dante when he refers to you as Luke or Lucas? Why don't you tell him to call you dad since you are his father?" When Mykel asks, I take a deep breath and turn to face him. Since the time he was four years old, I have not been in his life. I will allow him to call me whatever it is he feels comfortable with. I am not going to push a relationship on him. When he is ready, I want it to come naturally to him. I am Luke for now. At least he is not referring to me as Lucky like he did when he was four." I say this and chuckle at the last part.

I hear Frank pulling up to Rayne's truck, so I turn to face him. "Rayne and I are traveling to Okaholma's safe house before boarding a plane to return to Italy. Call Tina and Meliane to get on a plane and head there. We are leaving at the end of this week, but I need them to board the plane first thing in the morning." I say this, and Frank nods and walks away. Mykel and I shut the tailgate, retreating into the truck's cab. I moved to the door of the passageway, unlocked it, and got inside. As I turn around, I see Dante curled up on Sarah's shoulder, sound asleep. I turn to face Rayne. "Follow Frank, we will take turns driving; we are heading to Oklahoma," I say to her, and she shakes her head and puts the truck in drive, and we head out. It will take about 30 hours to get to the safe house in Oklahoma, so I am for sure going to have to drive part of the way so Rayne can rest. She turns and smiles, and then turns the radio on and starts singing Cowboys and Angels by Dustin Lynch. I smile, close my eyes, and just listen to her. I forgot how beautiful her voice was, and man did I miss it. I opened my eyes and looked over at her, then grabbed her hand, brought it to my lip, and kissed her ring finger.

"Rayne, why didn't you ever become a singer?" Mykel asked her, and Rayne just shrugged her shoulders, then Sarah spoke up. "Because of this guy right here." Sarah says, looking down at Dante. "She used to sing all the time; she was always the lead in the musicals in school plays and always had the solos in choir. She was working on a scholarship for the arts, but then she decided against it because she wanted to be a devoted mom." Sarah adds, and I look at Rayne, who is acting like she isn't listening and just singing to every song that comes on.

"Is that true? You lost your scholarship because of Dante?" I ask.

"No, I gave it up so I could be a good mom. I did apply for the voice when Dante was two but never heard back, so I said, Fuck it, I wasn't good enough." She says this, laughing, and looks out the window as she drives.

After that, she was quiet. We have been driving for about four hours. Everyone in the truck is sleeping but me and, of course, Rayne. I look at her, and she yawns and rubs her eyes. It's almost three a.m. "Amore, I can take over if you want to sleep," I say to her, She shakes her head no. "Im fine. I can drive a little longer. You go to sleep. I will wake you up when I'm ready. To switch spots." She says. I tell her ok and lay back in the seat. Try to get comfortable and sleep.