Page 101 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

“May I begin now?” Sofia asked, one eyebrow cocked in amusement. I couldn’t get over her comfort with these men. Nick was a fucking puppy, but Dante was scary as hell, and she treated him with the same ease and comfort, as if she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. I wasn’t so sure.

“Sergio Accardi found Lizzie and me at the pediatrician’s office a few weeks ago. I hid in Nick’s office—that’s how we met. That night, Dante found me and told me he intended to use me to get to Sergio, who stole a million euro from Dante. Sergio has been laundering that money through bank accounts under my name, and Lizzie’s.”

She took a deep breath and steeled herself for whatever bomb she was about to drop on me next. “Dante offered protection for Lizzie in exchange for my body.”

“No, kitten,” he interrupted. “In exchange for your tears.”

“In exchange for my tears,” Sofia agreed softly. “I couldn’t go back to my family—they’d lock me up again like they did when I was ten, after Ginevra was kidnapped, like they’re trying to do now. And the last time I asked for help, Ginevra ended up married to those Irish gangsters. I couldn’t—” She broke off and pressed her lips together.

“I couldn’t ask for help. And it’s a good thing I didn’t because it turns out that Lizzie’s the heir to the goddamned port.”

Sofia was dead on in her evaluation of her family’s reaction. If she didn’t tell them about Sergio’s violence, they’d marry her to him to end the cold war with the Costas. If she did tell them, they’d lock her up and marry her off to someone else. Hell, if she’d come to me a month ago when Sergio first arrived, I’d probably have agreed with them.

“Here’s what I need from the three of you. I need a plan to keep Lizzie safe. I need my textbooks and Lizzie’s stuff from my old apartment. I need a way to access the funds in the accounts Sergio opened in my name. And I need a plan to draw Sergio out so Dante can collect what he took and get him out of my life.”

Dante’s body tensed. “Get who out of your life, slut?”

She cocked her head and looked at him oddly. “Sergio.”

He relaxed, the smile curling over his lips predatory and dark.

She stood. “While you all work on that, I’m going to study.”

38

NICK

I curledmy arms around Sofia, lifting her from Lizzie’s bed. When she whimpered in protest, I brushed my lips across her forehead. “I’m moving you into your own room,” I murmured as I carried her.

Thrilled with the presence of not one, not two, but three “uncles” in the apartment that evening, Lizzie had refused to go to bed. Finally, exhausted and frustrated, Sofia crawled into her daughter’s tiny twin bed and snuggled up with her to calm her down. They were both fast asleep when I peeked in an hour later.

Sofia reached for me when I laid her on her bed. As much as I wanted to take her in my arms, it wasn’t the time. “One of us will spend the night on the couch, all right?”

She blinked away the sleep that threatened to pull her under. “Or with me here.”

God, if only I could, but I knew she’d regret it in the morning. I knelt beside the bed and took one of her hands in mine, rubbing my thumb against the hard ridge of her knuckles. “Babe, have you thought about what you’ll say to Lizzie if she wakes up and comes in for a hug?”

Instantly, she stiffened, her face stricken with guilt and hurt.Dammit, dammit, dammit.I didn’t want to make her feel like a bad mother, just didn’t want her to have regrets the next day.

A single tear streaked down the side of her face.

“Hey, hey, hey, baby, it’s okay. I’m here, so you don’t have to worry about that right now, okay? You don’t have to carry all of that alone.” I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her palm. “I’m here for you. Lorenzo’s here for you. Even that asshole Dante’s here for you. Get some sleep, okay?”

She sniffed, then rolled over in the bed, her back to me. I pulled the blankets up over her shoulders. She didn’t respond when I kissed her head and wished her sweet dreams.

Fuck.

“Five minutes,” I said, closing my eyes against the deep ache in my heart that her misery caused. Kicking off my shoes, I sat on the bed beside her, knowing I’d doze off, knowing she’d be pissed at herself if she woke up in the morning and she was still in my arms.

I leaned against the headboard and dragged her up between my legs until her head rested on my shoulder and I could wrap my arms around her belly. Overwhelmed by the protectiveness that shot through me when she snuggled tight, I fought the need that shot through me at the same time.

I took her hands in mine, holding them tight where they rested against her chest, stroking my thumbs along her fingers. I didn’t know what to say, how to reassure her that everything would be okay, or even if I believed that this would end up all right.

Three fucking men, I thought to myself as she snuggled up to me, wrapping my arms around her. It shouldn’t have surprised me. After all, her older sister had three husbands, although her men had been in a relationship long before they met her, unlike us. God, how did Ginevra even manage it? Relationships with three separate people?

Unaware of my musings, Sofia turned onto her side, nuzzling her face into my chest, her eyes drooping shut as I held her. In my entire life, I’d never been as content in life as I was at that moment, with this beautiful woman in my arms, trusting me to hold her as she drifted off to sleep.

When her breath evened out, and I was confident she wouldn’t wake if I moved, I gently extracted myself from the bed. “Sweet dreams, baby.” Shoes in hand so I wouldn’t make noise, I switched off the light and shut the door.

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