Page 79 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

My heart cracked in two, in four, and then into a million pieces as it shattered at my feet. I didn’t know Sofia or the trials she faced at all, and the first time she came to me with a hint of unpleasantness, I as good as called her a whore, and stormed off because my ego was hurt.

All the therapy and good intentions in the world hadn’t transformed me into a better man than my father, not when it goddamned counted.

Oscuro watched me in silence as I worked through my anguish. When I finally lifted my head to look at him, he handed me a finger of whiskey.

“You think Lizzie’s father called in the bomb?” I asked finally, avoiding the subject of Sofia for a moment.

“Tony Russo signed over controlling interest in all his marine importation companies to Lizzie. Sergio thinks he’s entitled to that because he stuck his dick in Sofia a few times and knocked her up.” His voice was tight with rage, as if Sergio’s attitude toward Sofia offended him personally.

Unreasonable fury at every man who continued to treat her poorly washed through me. My self-loathing must have been evident on my face because Oscuro laughed. “Sofia’s specialty appears to be fucking men up good,” he said, a wry smile lighting up his eyes for a moment.

“You and me included,” I answered.

He clinked his glass against mine. “I’ll drink to that.”

“Why did you invite me to join you?”

He cocked his head and looked at me curiously, his expression inscrutable. “Because it’ll both hurt her and please her, and that’s delicious to me.”

“Please her?”

“She wants you, Nico, or she wouldn’t have gone out with you the first time, or dared keep you a secret from her family and me.”

“You’re a fool if you think the Russos don’t know exactly how many dates she and I’ve been on.”

“You’re husband material,” Oscuro said softly. Was that envy cutting through the dark rasp of his voice? Couldn’t be. Oscuro was using her.

Sofia wanted me, but did she want me to play Dante’s games? To watch as he humiliated her?Fuck.All this time, I’d been prancing about, proud of myself for respecting her boundaries, and here I was about to smash through them so I could indulge in some kinky play with a handsome Italian psychopath.

“Why are you in Yorkfield in the first place?” I asked him.

“Accardi stole money from me, and I intend to make him pay.”

“By punishing his daughter’s mother.”

Oscuro’s smile was sharp and angry. “By making her scream my name instead of his, filling her head with thoughts of me instead of him, making her obsess over me instead of him.”

“Careful,” I warned him. “You’ll find yourself caught in the same web I am.”

He laughed, a genuine expression of amusement that softened the lines of his face from cruelty into breathtaking beauty. “It’s far too late for that, Nico.” When he leaned forward, his eyes were warm and amused. “Come back tomorrow at eight, ready to play.”

Jealousy streaked through me, hot and unwanted. He had her full attention. Nevermind he’d coerced her and taken away all her choices in the name of protecting her child. When Dante snapped, Sofia came running, and I hated that.

“I need more than ‘ready to play.’ What does this look like?”

Oscuro tilted his head as if weighing me. He frowned and then drained his whiskey in one sharp movement. “Show up tomorrow at eight,” he snapped.

Realization dawned on me. This asshole didn’t just want to make Sofia cry. He wanted to fuck up my relationship with her too. Determination sliced through me, stiffening my spine.

“Fuck you, Oscuro. Tell me what your plan is, or I’m out.”

Oscuro’s eyes flickered with respect before his cynical mask slammed down again. “We hurt her, we make her cry, and then we make her come.”

We. I exhaled in a whoosh of surprise as I worked through the implications. It’s not like I’d never shared a sub before. I was a kinkster through and through, and it wasn’t unusual for multiple doms to work with a sub during a scene. The idea of sharing Sofia, though, that the first time I made love to her would be with an audience ate at me.

“I—”

Oscuro cut me off. “Let me be very clear, Lombardi. If you touch her again without my permission, I will cut off your dick and mail it to your mother before slicing you into a dozen pieces and feeding you to the hogs my operation keeps a few kilometers outside the city.”

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