Page 120 of Sin & Sapphire

“Blonde hair, green eyes, looks like a princess?”

“And legs for fucking days.” The man grinned lasciviously. Ana had better appreciate that I didn’t knock his fucking teeth out for looking at what wasn’t his.

“Luca,” I said, sticking out my hand with a smile that bared my teeth.

“Chad,” he said. Of course he was a fucking Chad. “I can get you to the twentieth floor, and then there’s a service stairwell that’ll take you up to the penthouse. But you’ll have to get past the bodyguards on your own.”

“Thanks, man.”

He swiped his card, pressed the button, then stepped out on the next floor. “Good luck, buddy.”

Yeah, fuck you.Moments later, as promised, I exited the service stairwell on the penthouse level. The bodyguards on either side of the door immediately drew their weapons. Good fucking thing. Security up to this point had been a joke, and I hated the idea of Ana sitting up here, defenseless.

I put my hands up because I wanted to see her, not to die.

“Luca Russo,” I said. “I’ve got a gun in a shoulder holster under my jacket.”

One of the bodyguards approached me, gun pointed at my head, while the other kept his aimed at me from his place at the door.

“Hands on your head,” one of them barked.

I obeyed, and the man closest to me yanked the gun out of my holster.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked.

“Checking on Ana.” I kept my hands glued to the top of my head.

“Does Valentin know that?”

I scoffed. “He’s pretty fucking busy right now, but sure, go ahead and ask.”

The bodyguards exchanged a long look.

I softened my expression. “Or ask Ana.”

“Your funeral.” He shrugged and pressed the doorbell.

“Who is it?” Ana’s disembodied voice crackled through the speaker.

“Luca Russo is here to see you.”

Her silence breaks my heart all over again. “He can’t come in,” she says, finally. “But?—”

I strode up to the speaker. “Baby, are you okay?”

Her bitter laugh cut through me. “As fine as I can be.”

Longing filled me, and I slid my hand up the door, imagining her doing the same, as if I could touch her through the walls between us. “Please, baby, let me in. I just need to see that you’re okay with my own eyes.”

“I promised Valentin I wouldn’t let anyone in but him and Angelo,” she whispered.

“Since when do you listen to an order like that?”

“Since—” She cut herself off.

“Ana,” I said softly. “You can tell me anything, you know that, right? That hasn’t changed. I promise.”

“I know, Luca.” Her voice came through the door rather than the speaker, like she was sitting on the floor, leaning against it.

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