Page 133 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

The way she had let Bethany toss my food out, then left with her. The conversation she’d had with Constantino last night. The slipping into my room and lying with me, just to touch me this morning …

What if Laila hadn’t done anything about Bethany because she liked her, even more than a friend? What if Laila was using me until she finally found the courage to ask Bethany out? My hands balled into tight fists, and I gritted my teeth.

“No,” I growled.

“What?” Poppy asked.

Eyes widening, I snapped my gaze to hers. “What?”

“You said something,” she said.

“Oh,” I responded, cheeks flushing. “Sorry.”

What the hell was I even thinking anymore? Why was I jealous of Bethany? It wasn’t any of my damn business, and I had to stop thinking this shit or else the next twelve months were going to be agonizing hell for me.

Maybe I needed a boyfriend … or a girlfriend to stop myself from having these stupid feelings because, now, I was jealous out of nowhere. Nowhere! I needed help. And a lot of it.

Is having an emotional relationship outside of our thing allowed in the contract?

Hell, maybe I should ask.

When we reached the end of the street, where the vendors stopped, I paused and finished off my ice cream. Poppy bounced on her toes and glanced around for a trash can to dump the rest of her half-drank soda.

“Where do you think—”

“You little bitch,” someone said to our right.

I snapped my head toward the voice and spotted Bethany barreling toward us from a tinted black SUV. Heart pounding, I grabbed Poppy’s hand and glanced around for Riccardo, who stood near the last vendor, silently watching us.

After giving him the eyes—the eyes that begged him to save us—I turned back to Bethany, who had closed the distance. I didn’t know what the hell I had done to her, but she looked ready to kill me.

“If you’re going to sleep with Constantino, you need to learn your fucking place,” Bethany growled, snapping Poppy’s soda from her hand, tearing off the top, and hurling it toward us. It sprayed all over my shirt and Poppy’s, drenching us in sticky Coca-Cola.

“Stay away from my best friend and her husband,” Bethany growled. “Or I will kill you.”

32

sage

“I’m sorry,” I apologized to Poppy for the fiftieth time while on our way up to my apartment. When the elevator dinged, I grabbed her hand and hurried down the hallway toward my door. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said, glancing down at her clothing that Bethany had stained with that soda. Because Bethany had the worst aim in the fucking world, she splashed the soda more on Poppy than on me. “It’s just a shirt.”

“It should’ve never happened,” I muttered.

But while Bethany might’ve been a bitch to me, I wasn’t the wife of a Mafia don. I had no room to put anyone in their place. I could do nothing but sit back and take the ridicule. After all, I had signed up for it.

Even if I had tried to defend us, Bethany would have cried to Laila. Or worse, hate Laila.

After what Constantino had told me about her being rejected for so many years throughout her childhood, I could feel nothing but pity. I understood why she did it all, and if I caused Bethany to break up with her, then I would loathe myself. Still, that didn’t mean I didn’t want her out of Laila’s life. But maybe that was the jealousy talking again.

Once I quickly typed my pin into the keypad to unlock the door, I shoved it open and ushered Poppy into the apartment. When Riccardo walked into the room after us, I glanced back at him quizzically as I guided her to my bedroom.

“I don’t know her,” he said blankly, referring to Poppy.

“Well, you knew Bethany,” I hissed. “And you didn’t stop her from doing what she did.”

Riccardo pressed his lips together, and I rolled my eyes. After shutting Riccardo out of my bedroom, I walked to the closet and began digging through my old clothes. I doubted that Constantino would appreciate it if I gave her something expensive.

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