Page 52 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

I reminded myself that Dante had promised me that any kindnesses would only make the later cruelty more delicious.

“On the table by the entrance.”

Dante untangled himself from my grip. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

21

DANTE

I eased openthe door to the small bathroom. With no prying eyes to see me, I slipped out and walked to the entrance of the house. Sofia’s designer purse sat on the table, but Lorenzo stepped out of the shadows before I could grab it.

“What are you doing with that?” he asked.

It wouldn’t do for her family to interfere in the delightful game I played with my kitten, not now, not this early, not when I was exhilarated from the exquisite pleasure she’d given me, and certainly not when I was about to up the stakes with the Costas.

“She’s in the restroom and asked for it.”

Lorenzo narrowed his eyes, suspicious but unwilling to push a guest of Tony’s too far. “I’ll take it to her,” he said, holding his hand out.

“No,” I answered, curious how he would react to my swift refusal.

Surprise washed over his face, quickly hidden by anger. “What do you want with her, Oscuro?”

I tilted my lips into a half-smile, hiding the shard of protectiveness that stabbed me deep in the gut when I thought about what would happen if her family discovered what she’d just done.

“The same thing any red-blooded man wants with a beautiful woman.” I inclined my head toward the restroom. “Let me give this to her, and then we can walk together to where Tony is hosting theaperitivo.”

That would give Sofia time to repair her face and remove any suspicion of us arriving together.

Gently knocking on the door, I angled my body to block Lorenzo’s view, in case Sofia opened it wide. “Sofia, Lorenzo and I are here with your purse.”

She cracked the door open and stuck her hand out. “Thank you, Dante. I’ll join you all in the study in a few minutes.”

The door snicked shut. I smiled at Lorenzo. “Shall we?”

With another agonized look at the door, he jerked his head in the opposite direction. Would his obvious affection for her help crush Sergio into dust? Or would it get in the way of my plans? I filed it away to examine later.

I followed him through the house into Tony Russo’s study, where the Costas and Russos enjoyed cocktails and finger food. Ignoring them, I strode over to Tony to shake his hand. He pulled me in for air kisses. “Thank you for coming.”

He’d given me a gift, inviting me to this dinner with Gio Costa so soon after Sergio set my clubs on fire, particularly given the bomb I intended to drop about Lizzie’s ownership of the port.

Tony looked around, frowning. “Where’s Sofia? She usually serves drinks at these things.”

Lorenzo walked up with glasses and a bottle of whiskey. “Let me help,” he said. My respect for him inched up a notch. Silently, I moved him into the ally column.

A blonde woman watched the exchange with narrowed eyes, then slipped out the door.

Tony walked me around the room to an older gentleman whose hair was more salt than pepper. His skin was weathered with age, but his posture remained ramrod straight.

“Dante, I’d like to introduce Giovanni Costa. He’s the head of another family here in Yorkfield. Gio, this is Dante Oscuro.”

Costa shook my hand. “The infamous Dante Oscuro. Amazing. I thought you a myth, tales of a boogeyman told to poorly behaving Made Men to keep them in line.”

I smiled and let his charm wash over me. “Alas, I am all too real, but, I suspect, not nearly as frightening as the stories make me out to be.”

“What brings you to Yorkfield?” Costa asked, sipping his whiskey, his eyes sharp, as if he weren’t sheltering Sergio and arming that fucker against me. This was a test. Too bad for him that the families here in Yorkfield were small fry compared to the power I wielded in Europe.

“Someone stole a great deal of money from me, and I intend to punish them for the offense.”

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