Page 106 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

I blinked back angry tears, furious at myself for forgetting the parameters of our relationship. I was nothing to him, a tool to catch Sergio and a toy to amuse himself while he did it.

Once again, he brought my fingers to his lips and cleaned off the evidence of my arousal with his tongue, humming his appreciation, turning me on despite my hurt. I closed my eyes at the humiliation of how easily I’d given in to him, how I’d hoped to turn him on, and how desperate I was for a sign that I was anything to him beyond amusement.

“Kitten, look at me.”

I refused, squeezing my eyes tight to stop the tears from brimming over.

“Sofia,” he said quietly, grasping my chin with his fingers and turning my face toward him. “Open your eyes.”

I stared into his dark eyes, almost black. His pupils were dilated, and his face was etched into hard lines. His eyes softened as we stared at each other. When he cupped my cheek, I refused to nuzzle it like I wanted. Enough was enough.

“God, you’re gorgeous when you’re about to cry,” he said, sliding his thumb over my cheekbone, searching my eyes for I didn’t know what. “Come on. Your boyfriend and your puppy are waiting for us.”

I jerked away from Dante, slamming my body into the leather seat. He watched me silently as I searched my tote for tissues to clean my face, then fixed my hair the best I could.

When I peeked out the window, I groaned. Baldino’s. The Italian restaurant in the middle of my father’s territory would be full of gossips ready to report my every action to my family.

To my surprise, Dante opened my door, holding his hand out for me to take. When I reached to grab my tote, he took it out of my hands, rifled through it for my phone, then returned the bag to the front seat. Still off balance and horny as hell, I took his proffered arm, after collecting my phone from him, wrapping my fingers around his elbow. When I would’ve strode toward the restaurant, he looked down at me for a moment, his brow furrowed.

“I didn’t stop you from coming to be cruel. I stopped you because I intend to keep playing with you at lunch.”

Was he trying to console me? To rub away the sharp edge of hurt? I laughed at the idea of Dante worried about hurting my feelings. Still, as I gazed into those fathomless brown eyes, I wondered.

“Lunch at Baldino’s. A very public lunch.”

His eyes crinkled with amusement. “A very public lunch with three men who can’t keep their damn hands off you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I exploded, uncaring that we were on a public sidewalk. I was so fucking done with this asshole. “Lunch. With the three of you. While you fucking edge me. You don’t think that shit will draw Sergio to Lizzie and me like a moth to a goddamned flame?”

Dante looked at me, as if I were a bug stuck to his shoe. “Is that not the point, slut?”

The three of them made this decision last night, and they didn’t tell me. They picked the one restaurant in town guaranteed to send the whole fucking city into a tizzy, and they couldn’t be bothered to tell me the plan in advance.

This was a shot across my father’s bow as well. It was one thing to date Nico Lombardi and go to sexually charged dinners with Dante fucking Oscuro. It was quite another to make a public declaration that I was sleeping with both of them at the same time.

“Kitten,” Dante tried to placate me, “I haven’t seen you yet today.”

“Did my phone stop working?” I snapped. “Since there was an attempt to kidnap Lizzie yesterday? Were we not just in a car together? Five minutes of conversation instead of satisfying your fucked up need to own me—you could have told me! You should have asked!”

He held up his hands. “I’m telling you now, and we have more plans that we’d like to discuss with you inside.”

“Inform me or discuss with me, Dante?”

He shrugged, a graceful movement of his shoulders that emphasized the cut of his suit over his muscles.

Dante’s deal with me didn’t require him to get my permission. Ever. What he wanted, when he wanted it, how he wanted it, right?

Right.

The sounds of the city intruded on my anger, the sharp honks of car horns, the rumble of trucks, and the hum of voices on a busy street.

“I need a minute,” I said, finally.

“Take as long as you need, kitten.”

“A minute alone,” I snapped, turning on my heel. Dante snapped his fingers, and a bodyguard fell in behind me, a nameless suit waiting outside the restaurant for our arrival. I spun around. “That’s not alone, Dante.”

The warmth in his eyes stunned me. “Come here, kitten,” he ordered me, then softened it with a quiet, “please.”

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