Page 30 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

I will not reach across the table and strangle her.

I will not reach across the table and strangle her.

I will not reach across the table and strangle her.

“Anything’s possible,” I said, grinning through my humiliation but unconvinced of my own words.

A movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Something wasn’t right, and didn’t fit into the casual college dining hall full of students. My shoulders tensed. Ana caught it too, the same finely honed sixth sense that had gotten her through a childhood surrounded by violent Made Men.

“You armed?” she asked, her voice quiet and intense.

“Yes.” I slid my tote back over my shoulder and reached my hand in, wrapping my fingers around the icy grip of the weapon I definitely didn’t have a permit to carry. “You?”

Ana nodded. “Let’s move outside. We need to get into the open.”

We rose from the table, not bothering to discard our trash, scanning the area as we left. The moment we were outside, the itch between my shoulders faded.

Ana and I looked at each other, eyes wide, frightened, and struggling to put our masks back into place.

“What the fuck was that?” she asked.

“You felt it, right? Someone was there.”

She nodded. “I wonder if trouble was looking for you or me.”

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my tote. Nick had sent me a picture of a cute puppy with giant eyes.

Nick

Can’t stop thinking of you.

Sweet warmth shot through my chest and settled into my stomach. Ana snatched my phone out of my hand and crowed with delight. “Sofia! This is so fucking cute.”

I grabbed my phone back and took a quick selfie, letting my natural smile shine through my mask, then sent it to him before I could change my mind.

Sofia

Don’t stop thinking of me.

Ana stood with her hands on her hips, grinning. “You have it bad.”

I grinned back. “It’s been a shitty couple of days, and he’s so damnnice.”

She slipped her arm around my waist, pulling me in for an awkward side hug. “You deserve this, Sofia. You deserve the best.”

My phone buzzed again.

Dante

A car will pick you up at 7 tonight.

The butterflies in my belly went wild. Ana snatched at my phone again, but I deftly maneuvered out of range so she couldn’t see Dante’s text. I shook my head. “You don’t want to be part of this one.”

She understood exactly what I meant, exactly the kinds of secrets we had to keep from each other.

Professor Campbell droned on—no,that wasn’t fair. He was an engaging teacher, and it wasn’t his fault that I had a million things on my mind unrelated to empirical methods in finance. I spent the lecture hyper-focused on what would happen when Dante’s car picked me up at seven.

I didn’t even know where he was staying. This was so stupid, so dangerous. I hated myself for how turned-on I’d been when he treated me like dirt on his shoe. As I shifted in my seat, annoyed at the soft ache between my thighs that hadn’t disappeared since Dante left my apartment on Saturday night, my mind drifted elsewhere. Nick’s kiss the night before hadn’t helped either, both men awakening a long-dormant need in me.

---