Page 97 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

“Laila!” she called from the closet.

Cursing to myself, I jogged into my bedroom and then into the closet, spotting Bethany staring, wide-eyed, at Sage and Constantino, who stood at my floor-length mirror.

Fuck, Sage can’t be here while Bethany is.

Standing in one of my dresses that hugged her curves, Sage gulped, chewed on the inside of her cheek, and glanced over at me, cheeks red as a tomato. My breath caught in my throat as I remembered those damn pictures she had sent earlier.

I had meant to get back to her, but Bethany …

While the dress looked to be a size too small around the waist, her breasts were pressed together in the halter-top. My gaze dropped to them, and I pressed my thighs together, wanting to rip off her clothes right here and now.

“Who is this?” Bethany asked Constantino, wrapping her arm around mine.

“Our housekeeper,” Constantino said. “She spilled something on her dress.”

Bethany pursed her lips. “So, you let her wear your wife’s skimpy clothes to clean your home? Why are you in the closet with her? That close to her?”

Constantino clenched his jaw and glared at Bethany. They had never gotten along, and I didn’t want Constantino to shout at her. Out of our entire friend group, I was closest with her. She had been there since I’d joined the family.

“Bethany,” I said, tugging her closer, “it’s fine. She really is our housekeeper.”

Sage looked away from me, her expression dropping slightly, and nodded. “Sorry, Mrs. Buratti.” She bent down to pick up a green dress off the floor, her cleavage even fucking better from this angle. “I should get going.”

When she walked past me, I grabbed her wrist, my fingers tingling on contact. “No, stay.”

Bethany would stay for a drink, and then I’d kick her out as quickly as I could because I hadn’t been able to get Sage out of my fucking head. She couldn’t leave now. Those pictures and the way she looked in my dress …

Fuck.

“Okay,” Sage squeaked, then hurried out of the closet.

Constantino stared at me and tied his tie, jaw clenched. “I’m leaving for work,” he said, but his eyes told me that he wanted Bethany out of here. Now. Then, he turned his gaze to Bethany. “Go to the kitchen.”

“You can’t do—” Bethany started.

“Go to the kitchen now, Bethany,” Constantino growled at her. “Don’t argue with me in my house.”

Bethany gave my hand one hard squeeze—as if to tell me to really give it to him, as if he had done something wrong—and marched out of the closet to the kitchen. When the door shut, Constantino looked back at me with hard eyes.

“She can’t be barging into our bedroom, Laila,” he said harshly. “What if I were changing or preparing the bed for you and Sage? I know you don’t want her to know about Sage, but it’s going to be hard if you let her walk all over you.”

“She doesn’t walk all over me,” I said, shaking my head and looking away. “But I’ll make sure she doesn’t do it again. She just needed to get a pair of pants. One of her buttons had popped off today.”

After letting out a low sigh, he stepped closer to me and took my face in his hands. “I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you, doll. I’m sorry. I’m trying to protect you. You know how I feel about Bethany.”

“I know,” I whispered, gazing up at him. “But you don’t even know her that well. All she wants is the best for me.”

He stared at me for a few moments, inhaled deeply, then nodded, the way he did when he didn’t agree with me, but didn’t want to fight.

“I have to go to work,” he said, dropping his hands from my face and grabbing his suit jacket.

“Please, be careful,” I whispered.

“I will, doll,” he said, pecking me on the lips, and then he was out the door.

I inhaled deeply and glanced in the mirror, trying to come up with a plan to kick Bethany out as soon as possible so I could have some alone time with Sage before Constantino returned from work. I didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to wait for her to sit on my face again.

When I went into the kitchen, Sage struggled to carry a huge basket of folded laundry to our bedroom. I wanted to help her or to tell her that she didn’t really have to do work around here—that wasn’t her job—but she kept her gaze focused on the floor as she walked by.

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