Page 58 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

“Eat,” I commanded softly.

That was the wrong thing to say.

She pushed her food away. “I don’t need more men in my life telling me what to do, Nick.”

I grabbed her hand, shocked at the sparks that crackled between us as I held her. “Sofia,” I began, “You didn’t agree to meet me today without looking into my previous relationships.” Hopefully that meant she knew I was kinky and a dominant. Hopefully.

I’d looked into her too, and the fact that her sister was married to three men. Hard to wrap my head around how the Russos were so casual about Ginevra’s polyamory but locked Sofia down tight.

She licked her lips but didn’t remove her hand from mine. “I like you, but this?” She gestured between the two of us. “This can only last if it’s uncomplicated.”

I dragged her palm to my mouth, where I held my lips against her skin, inhaling the feel of her. “Then let’s not complicate it.”

I could worry about tomorrow when it came and live in the moment with this glorious woman. Our stolen kisses, the heat of her gaze, and her unsteady pulse against my lips, they all told me she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

“Okay,” she whispered.

I weighed the insane pull to this woman against how broken I suspected she was, and how much work it would be to build trust with her. It didn’t matter how I put my thumb on the scale. Sofia won. Something about this stubborn, gorgeous creature who protected her daughter so fiercely drew me to her like an addict to a hit, and I wasn’t ready to give that up yet.

“Okay,” I answered with a smile. “What classes do you have this afternoon?”

By the time we finished eating, I’d coaxed Sofia into a full meal by getting her to try some of each. I might not be able to tell her what to do like my inner dominant wanted, but I could certainly indulge my desire to take care of her.

“Walk me to class?” she asked as she stood, vulnerability flashing in her eyes before she covered it up with cool politeness.

I slipped her bag from her shoulder and over mine. “It’d be my privilege.”

The quiet pleasure on her face disarmed me entirely. Sofia Russo was her family’s lucky rabbit’s foot. They threw her at men they wanted to do business with to smooth the way with her smiles and charm. The rumor mill couldn’t decide if she was a frigid bitch who iced out anyone who tried to get close, or a slut, whoring herself out for her father’s gain.

Either way, I suspected the men in her life didn’t bother with the niceties very often.

24

SOFIA

Dante openedthe door and inspected me from top to bottom, heat searing my skin. He traced a fiery path with his eyes, from my sneakered feet, up my bare legs to the hem of the T-shirt dress I wore, and over the curves of my hips and my breasts. When he finally met my eyes, his expression was inscrutable.

“I see you’ve given up on formality when it comes to our relationship,” he said, his lips twitching.

I hated how that made me want to turn his expression into a genuine smile, how the mere possibility of his joy tugged on something in my chest.Dammit.Dante was an asshole, abusing my body in exchange for protecting my child. Nothing more.

“I came straight from a study group,” I answered, shrugging off my tote full of textbooks and notes as he closed the door behind me with a quiet snick. “Where do you want me to put my bag?”

He took it from me in a move that reminded me of Nick’s courtesy the day before. “Jesus, woman. What’s in here?”

What did he want me to say? Our arrangement might be filthy, but I still needed to look like a perfect princess when I left his hotel room tomorrow morning. The tote held my books, supplies, and a fresh set of clothes and toiletries.

“Everything I needed for school today and until I get home.”

Anger swept through him like a thunderstorm. “I’ll provide everything you need here.”

A matching storm raged inside me. What did the arrogant son-of-a-bitch think I needed? “Like my makeup? The creams I use to take it off before bed, so I don’t wake up with puffy eyes? Foundation to cover the bruises you leave on my neck?”

Dante growled. “Shower, slut. Now.” Triumph speared through me when he lost his cool. I knew I’d pay for it later. Dante was the same as any other man in that way.

I reached into my bag, ignoring how the movement brought me flush with Dante. His heat soaked into my skin, even through the layers of his suit. When I pulled out my toiletries bag, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and removed the bag from my hand, examining it.

He grunted and then shoved me away. “Shower.”

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