Page 117 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

God, why the hell did I leave her? Why the fuck did I come out here tonight? I didn’t want Sage to feel like she didn’t matter. I knew how that felt, had grown up like that for so many years. I hated hurting people close to me.

My eyes widened slightly. Is Sage close to me?

“Your tits are pretty small, Laila.” Bethany giggled.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I glanced over at Bethany. “What?”

“Have you not been listening?” Gigi said with a playful smile. “Too busy thinking about Constantino?”

“Maybe,” I said, cheeks flushing.

Marcie sipped on her champagne. “We were talking about what guys in the family like.”

I glanced over at Bethany. “My tits are the topic of conversation?”

She smiled and playfully shoved her shoulder into mine. “They are.”

“You know the men in this family.” Gigi giggled. “All they see is tits, and they’re sold.”

“Constantino doesn’t seem like that,” Marcie said. “Refreshing for once.”

“Who knows though?” Bethany said. “He might be, but just doesn’t want to hurt Laila.”

“You think my tits are that small?” I asked, brow furrowing.

“Of course they are.” Bethany giggled.

They are?

Obviously, I didn’t have natural F-cups, like she did, but … I liked my Ds. I thought they were a manageable size, and as far as I knew, Constantino liked them too. But he didn’t say anything negative about my body—ever. Maybe he thought I could be even sexier for him.

“That isn’t a bad thing, but don’t you wanna keep Constantino’s gaze from … straying?” Bethany hinted at Sage catching Constantino’s eyes.

The girls suddenly became quiet, and I cleared my throat. I didn’t know what to say because, lately, my gaze had been straying. I had brought Sage into our relationship, and I wanted her to stay as my plaything too. It wasn’t only Constantino, but I didn’t want to tell her that.

“I need to use the restroom,” I said, excusing myself from the table as the waiter brought our entrées out.

Once I made it to the luxurious bathroom with a marble sink, I stared at myself in the mirror, the dim lights barely brightening the room. My gaze dropped to my breasts in my oversize shirt. If I had known Bethany wanted to go out, I would’ve put on something nicer, a push-up bra maybe.

My stomach tightened, and I held back tears. Do I look that bad? Is that what Constantino wants? What about Sage? Will she like me more if I have bigger tits, like Bethany suggests? Guys in this family sure like them, but … do I have to do that?

After pushing back the tears, I set my shoulders back, plastered a fake smile on my face, and walked back out to dinner with my friends. I wanted to leave and go home to see Sage and Constantino, who should be back by now, but I couldn’t leave in the middle of the entrées.

Bethany wanted the best for me and Constantino—that was why she had dragged me out to dinner tonight; that was why she had kept bringing Sage into the conversation. That was all. They were looking out for me. That was what friends did, right?

23

constantino

“Fuck,” I growled, standing on the elevator and running a hand through my hair.

Those FBI fuckers hadn’t left my club the entire night, had waited for me to leave and then followed me. We had lost them about ten blocks down through the traffic, but they were getting too close and way too ballsy.

When I reached my floor, the elevator opened. Riccardo stood outside the door, leaning against the wall, but Vincent wasn’t anywhere in sight. I pressed my lips together and nodded to Riccardo, wondering what the hell was going on.

After stepping into my home, I placed my jacket down on an island stool. Two wrapped and untouched burgers sat in the trash, along with a couple boxes of fries and a paper bag from a place called Burgerland. I furrowed my brow and walked farther into the penthouse, my home silent, except for a couple of sniffles coming from the living room.

Sage sat on the windowsill, staring out the wall-length windows at the city below us, with her arms wrapped around her knees. She rested the side of her forehead against the large window.

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