Page 66 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

Sofia bit her lip and looked up at me through her lashes, and fuck me, but I couldn’t tell if she was doing it on purpose or not. I only knew that with one look, I was hard and aching for her.

I took one shuddering breath and then another before deliberately turning my attention to the adorable little girl who was cheerfully dropping rice all over herself and the sofa as she ate.

“Lizzie, you’re a mess,” I teased her.

“No,” Sofia corrected, her voice firm. “Lizzie is not a mess.” She looked at her daughter with affection. “But she sure did make one!”

“Why don’t you give her a bath while I clean up?” I offered, not quite ready to let go of this interlude with the beautiful, strong woman that I admired and missed so fucking much.

Sofia gave me a stern look, and I stood, regretting pushing so hard. “Okay,” she whispered. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Bath then book then bed, right kiddo?”

Lizzie giggled as I brushed rice off of her and onto the floor. “Let’s go, Mamma.” As they walked into the hallway, Lizzie dashed back to me and planted sloppy kisses on each of my cheeks. “Good night, Uncle Lorenzo!” My heart melted for this sweet child that deserved everything good in the universe.

Almost an hour later, Sofia emerged from the hallway, wearing jeans and a sweater, her feet in flats, and her hair pulled back in a neat ponytail.

“Thank you,” she said, dropping into the sofa beside me. Her knee knocked into mine as she relaxed. “I needed that.”

In response to my quizzical look, she bumped my knee with hers. “Good conversation about nothing at all, a quiet evening with Lizzie that didn’t involve temper tantrums.” She trailed off, then met my eyes. “Someone to look after me.”

My heart ached for her, ached to be that man, but now sure as fuck wasn’t the moment for me to try and rebuild the bridge I’d destroyed so thoroughly in the past. “Ready to talk?”

“Did you know?” she asked abruptly, “about the port?”

I shook my head.

“Good.”

“I go to the range regularly,” she said. “But I’ve been—“

“Spectacularly busy,” I finished for her with a wry grin. “Yeah, I can’t imagine you’ve had a moment to breathe.”

Ruthlessly, I suppressed my suspicions about her relationships with Dante Oscuro and Nick Lombardi, ignoring the ugly green jealousy choking me. Sofia didn’t need another man to tell her what to do. She needed someone she could lean on, and I was determined to be that man for her, no matter what.

She exhaled in an amused huff. “No time to breathe, no time to be a good parent, no time to cook healthy food—thank God Miss Carolina cooks when she’s here,” she tilted her head against the back of the couch, revealing her long throat, begging for me to kiss it.

“Thank you,” she repeated, “for staying this evening. You didn’t have to.”

If this was the first step toward repairing our relationship, I regretted not doing it earlier.

27

SOFIA

I couldn’t stopmyself from admiring Dante as he exited the hotel elevator and walked across the lobby, a lazy lion with his eyes intent on his prey—me. God, he filled out a suit well.

“Like what you see, kitten?” he teased me as he kissed my forehead, the gentle touch unsettling me more than his violence.

“You know you’re a handsome man,” I said dryly. “You don’t need me to feed your ego.”

He pulled me closer, cupping my jaw and turning my face toward his, peering at me through dark eyes that swirled with emotions I couldn’t identify. “I like it when you feed my ego, kitten.”

My breath caught in my throat. What was this man doing to me? He wanted to use me, humiliate me, and revel in my tears. Yet the merest hint of tenderness melted the icy barriers I’d erected in my heart. Shoring up the collapsing walls with a reminder that I was a tool to him at worst and a toy at best, I pressed my lips together. “You don’t pay me enough for that, Dante.”

He hummed, the sound deep and rumbly in his chest. “If I asked you to whisper sweet nothings in my ear, would you do it?”

Laughing bitterly, I rested my hand on his chest and batted my eyes. “Anything for Lizzie,” I breathed, stepping closer, widening my eyes, and licking my lips, knowing he’d see the sarcasm in my gestures. “You’re so handsome, Dante. You take my breath away. I love it when you whip me with your belt. You’re so dominant it makes my knees weak.”

He tilted my chin up, so I had to meet his eyes. “And what of that is false, kitten?”

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