Page 54 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

Tony looked discomfited, and Luca, enraged. His brown eyes darkened, and he fingered the gun I knew he had in a holster under his suit jacket.

“Sweet Sofia, didn’t you know? Half of your father’s shares of the port are in a trust for Lizzie. Your future husband will control that.”

I ignored the tension in Sofia’s shoulders to stare straight into Tony’s eyes. “Although it’s unclear to me why you’d let Sergio marry her. I wouldn’t let the controlling interest in the company that manages the port out of my family if I could get my hands on it.”

If a butterfly flapped its wings, it would’ve made more noise than the two families silently staring at me.

“Sergio is like a son to me,” Gio growled. “And I would be pleased to welcome his wife into my family as a daughter.”

“Just so,” Sofia said, leaping into the breach. “Luckily, we’re not here to discuss my marriage prospects, are we?” She angled her shoulders toward me, trailing elegant fingers down my suit jacket, as if her pulse weren’t pounding out of her throat. Astonishing that the others in the room didn’t see her panic, her rage. “Dante, do you have plans in Yorkfield that don’t entail hanging Sergio up by his intestines?”

Luca snorted into his whiskey, and once again, I didn’t bother to hide my admiration for the woman whose tears I owned.

Gio Costa took up the conversational baton with amusement. “I believe she means to ask, are you looking at other business opportunities while you’re here?”

“Sofia doesn’t need a translator, Gio,” I answered, holding Sofia’s eyes. The warmth that suffused them chipped away at the ice in my chest. “Of course, I’m looking for business opportunities,” I answered, letting my amusement color my voice. “Aren’t we all?”

Tony Russo turned the conversation to lighter topics. Listening to these men chatter about business was a treat—they were sharp and delightfully American in how they cheerfully bulldozed over every obstacle. Had I not had more nefarious objectives for the evening, I might have enjoyed every moment of it.

Like their Italian counterparts, the Russos and the Costas raised their families with excellent manners, courteous and charming, able to carry a conversation about any subject. Sofia and Ana worked together to keep drinks filled, turning lags in conversation into opportunities for light flirting. Patti fluttered in and out, presumably supervising dinner.

Not once did Sofia let on her devastation from the information I’d dropped on her. I hated the tendril of worry threading through my lungs at the tension in her eyes or the waver in her hands when she served drinks.

No, this was the right path. It was slowly destroying Sergio to know that I was fucking his future wife, that I’d turned her into my toy, and I couldn’t let myself forget that. His unhinged messages in response to the obscene photos I shared of Sofia reassured me that I had his full attention.

More than once, I caught a glint in Sofia’s eyes as she registered information. The ease at which she drew out Gio, getting him to talk about his businesses and the locations of his family’s many properties confounded me.

She pumped him for information, and he gave it up willingly as she batted those gorgeous blue eyes and trailed a finger down his arm. Furious jealousy threatened to ruin my mood, and I ruthlessly quashed it. I would take it out on her hide later. In the meantime, watching her work the room was a fucking delight.

Just as subtly, Ana flirted with Luca and Lorenzo, although less successfully. Those two men allowed her to charm them but redirected the conversation to lighter subjects each time it touched on business matters.

These men were fools if they didn’t see what treasures they were wasting in their daughters.Could Ana be an ally in the hunt for Sergio?As quickly as I considered the idea, I discarded it. Ana wasn’t innocent, but putting her in the crossfire would expose her to danger she hadn’t asked for.

22

LORENZO

HearingTony confirm he was using the port as a dowry to marry off his daughter was a punch to my gut. After all these years of protection, of caging her in and the Irish saving his ass over bad real estate investments, he’d tied the ports to Lizzie as marriage bait instead of setting up a fucking trust to let Sofia live independently. Sofia thought she appeared calm and composed, but I caught the shake in her hand when she poured a drink, the way she leaned on Ana to keep the conversation moving.

This goddamned family. I scoffed, seeing them with clearer eyes than before—the machinations to retain power, to preserve Tony’s legacy for Luca. Did Luca know? No, he couldn’t have. He’d never leave his sister hanging in the wind like that, as bait for assholes like Sergio. Would he?

And Sofia.Jesus.I understood now, better than ever, why she was made up of beautiful lies. It was clear now why she pretended to her father that she wasn’t aware that Accardi was back in town.

She knew.Fuck.Even if she didn’t have all the details, she knew Tony would be delighted to marry her to Accardi if it’d end the economic battle with the Costas. An alliance between the two families would protect everyone from the violence constantly threatening to spill over from their cold war. It would end the violence looming from the spat between Accardi and Oscuro over the missing million euro.

Oscuro’s fingers swirled lazily on her hip, sending red-hot jealousy sweeping through my chest. I didn’t understand that relationship either. Sofia was so damn composed. She worked too hard to be the perfect daughter to Tony and Patti. Why was she throwing all that away for a quick fling with this Italian gangster?

I watched the two of them more closely. Or was Oscuro’s spat with Sergio over something less tangible than stolen money? My heart thumped out of my chest as I made the connection.

When Patti invited us to move into the formal dining room for dinner, I trailed behind, waiting for Sofia, intending to escort her before Oscuro could grab her.

With a polite smile that revealed nothing of her feelings, she curled her fingers under my arm, heat sizzling between us through the layers of my clothing. “Why are you lying to your father, Miss Russo?”

She looked up at me through those gloriously long lashes. “Gonna rat me out, Lorenzo?”

“What will it take to trust me again, Miss Russo?”

Her abrupt stop yanked me backward. “Oh, Lorenzo,” she said softly, gazing up at me with eyes so blue and clear a man might believe he stared directly into her soul. I knew better. “I trust you to protect my family, no matter what. I just don’t know what you’ll do when you’re forced to choose between protecting me the way my father wants and allowing me to make my own choices.”

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