Page 97 of Second Chance

Tony wants, more than anything, to reach out, to support her. She’s not looking at him right now, though, she’s looking at Lily.

“It wasn’t fair of him to put that on you.” Lily is quiet, but her voice is steadier, less panicked than before. “She’s his kid too. Even if he didn’t want to be involved, it wasn’t just you.”

“It wasn’t just you who was interested either.” Gianna says it matter-of-factly, as if it doesn’t hurt that the man she loved was busy seducing other students at the same time. “It wasn’t your fault he was flirting with you, and it wasn’t all in your headeither. I don’t think you’re broken or an idiot for falling for him. I think that’s what he wanted you to feel.”

Lily wraps her arms around herself. She’s so skinny, her black and gray striped shirt clinging tightly to her narrow frame. She must be freezing. August might be muggy and awful in the Hudson Valley, but it’s also cold at night, and the old theater is drafty and unpleasant.

“I will think you’re an idiot if you still let him ruin your lifenowthough. He’s not making you do any of this. This is all you.”

“Gianna,” Daniel hisses.

Internally, Tony cheers. Finally, someone isn’t treating Lily with kid gloves. It’s risky, maybe dangerous, depending on where Lily’s hiding the rifle and how drugged-up she still is. It’s also absolutely what Lily needs to hear.

“Seriously, you’re better than this,” Gianna insists. “You made it through Mario. You made it through what he did to you. Don’t let it ruin you now.”

None of them say anything, but Gianna stares Lily down.

If Gianna does end up becoming a psychologist after all of this, Tony is never going to let her forget that what convinces Lily to give them a chance, to leave this building, isn’t any of Gianna’s well-thought-out arguments, it’s her death glare.

They get Lily and Gianna situated in the back seat of Tony’s car. Thankfully, Tony remembers to toss Gianna the roll of hefty bags in glove compartment in case Lily’s nausea returns.

The car’s not big enough for everyone to have enough leg room, but the drive is short. In the open on the parking lot, Tony feels exposed and rushed as if the minute some commuter sees them, they’ll all get arrested. He wants to get this over with as quickly as possible.

“For the record,” Tony mutters to Daniel before they get into the front of the car, “you know we could both get in trouble for this? Real trouble? With the law? This is technically aiding and abetting a criminal.” Guiltily, he thinks of the murder weapon, now in police custody. Even if this plan weren’t enough to get them all in trouble before Tony handed the knife over to Detective Taylor, it sure is now.

“The law isn’t always right.”

“Damn it, Daniel, we aren’t actually onBones. Actions have consequences.”

Daniel doesn’t answer, but his jaw is set, so there’s nothing left to do but get in the car and leave.

Tony slides the key into the ignition, and the engine sputters.

“Come on, not now.” He tries again.

Dawn is breaking behind the empty shell of the movie theater, illuminating the door they left open, the broken bike lock on the ground.

The car still won’t start.

“Should’ve taken my car.” Gianna’s not wrong, but she’s also not helpful.

Lily shifts nervously in the back seat, looking around as if she’s waiting for someone to catch them.

Tony pops the hood and slides out of the driver’s seat. At a glance, he can’t find anything wrong, all the cables where they should be, the tank still half full. The car is just being dramatic.

If the battery isn’t dead, of course—a problem Tony has no hope of fixing, not without a donor car in the vicinity.

On the 9G, headlights sweep across the street in the predawn light. Rush hour, such as it is in this part of the world, will start soon, all the people driving from here out to their jobs inHudson, Catskill, Poughkeepsie, and Albany. Tony doesn’t want them to be seen here, not before Lily’s ready, before she’ssoberand able to talk to the police. Selfishly, it’s nothing to do with Gianna and Daniel’s priority to protect Lily. Tony really, really doesn’t want to try explaining to anyone why he put a murderer and her kidnapping victim in his car with his sister. The only explanation is that it would have made his boyfriend sad to do anything else.

He gets in the driver’s seat and tries the ignition again.

Nothing.

“Fuck.”

“What do we do?” Daniel tries to sound in control and not like he’s been made very nervous by this development. He’s probably fooling Lily, maybe Gianna, but Tony can hear the uncertainty in his voice.

It’s a great question.

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