Page 22 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me. “He’s gone. He did something to the guard.”

He swore again. “Don’t let anyone in until I arrive.”

“I barricaded the door,” I whispered, staring at the couch and wondering if I needed to push more furniture behind it.

“Good girl. I’m coming.”

I grabbed my tote with my gun and sat on the ground beside Lizzie’s room while I calmed down. She didn’t need to know how scared I was, of how terrified I was of losing her, of losing everything I’d worked too hard to build over the last five years. She didn’t need to know how fucking furious I was. I’d given my body to Dante for his humiliating games, and he’d still failed to keep Sergio out of my apartment.

Once I’d reestablished a modicum of composure, I opened her door and sat down to play. “Lizzie, another friend of mine is coming to visit. When he comes, I need you to stay in your room until I come to get you. You can watch cartoons on my tablet, okay?”

What a treat—unlimited cartoon time! Lizzie was over the moon. I set her up with an endless playlist of her favorite British piglet and ruffled my fingers through her hair.

We lay on her bed together, watching cartoons, my heart slowly calming and my breath returning to normal. When my phone buzzed, Dante’s name flashed. “Remember, sweetheart, stay in your room, no matter what, okay?”

“Let me in, kitten,” Dante said over the phone at the same time that he rapped on the door.

I hung up and dragged the couch away from the door. He pushed in and took me in his arms, pinching my chin between his thumb and forefinger, turning my head, as if he were inspecting me.

“I’ve got two men with me. Can they come in?”

My surprise at his solicitousness elicited a tiny upturn of his lips that almost resembled a smile.

“Yes, of course,” I said. “They need to stay out of Lizzie’s room, though.”

He nodded. “Understood.”

He barked orders for the men to come in. They moved quickly, checking each room before announcing that the apartment was clear, then left.

“I could have told you that,” I said wryly.

“I know, kitten, but I had to be sure.”

“Is the guard okay?”

“Is your daughter okay?” he asked instead of answering.

The shards of my broken heart shattered as I realized how much danger she was in, how useless the Faustian bargain I’d made turned out to be.

“No thanks to you,” I answered, pulling away. “You promised to keep her safe, Dante. It’s been less than two fucking days.”

For a moment, his face was stricken before hardening into its familiar cruel lines. “And she is safe.”

“Only because I was home!” I cried, so angry at myself, him, and the situation.

“Kneel, slut,” Dante snapped at me.

My wide eyes shot to his, shocked and hurt that he thought this moment was appropriate for his games.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Dante sprawled on the displaced couch. Guess that was the seat for the men who barreled in and out of my life without so much as a by-your-fucking leave.

“Now,” he snapped.

Aghast, I dropped to my knees, bare and aching against the cold tile of my common room.

“Come here.”

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