Page 75 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

I nodded, trying to show I understood, but not quite able to make my limbs work to stand up and walk. With a sigh of disgust, Dante scooped me up and carried me to the same bland bedroom we’d used earlier that week. He dropped me on the sheets. A minute later, he returned with my phone.

Still not entirely in control of my shivering, twitching body, I curled up around myself. When the lights switched off, I let the tight fist around my control go, and sobbed into a pillow, my soul bruised and bloody.

I didn’t seeDante when I woke the next day, but I did find a note folded in half beside a muffin, a small bowl of yogurt, and a handful of berries.

Eat every bite. Don’t forget your punishment.

-D

My stomach roiled with upset about the conversation I’d have to have with Nick in a few short hours. Tears pricked at my eyes. Holding them back was harder than I expected—my nerves were stretched tight after the events of last night.

I picked at the food, wondering if Dante would make an appearance. After a few moments, I stood, finished with the breakfast. A coffee revived me enough to ensure that I wouldn’t shatter into a million pieces when I stepped out of the hotel suite.

When I opened the door, Tommaso greeted me. “Good morning, Miss Russo.”

“Good morning, Tommaso,” I answered. He offered to take my overnight bag. “Thank you.”

We rode back to my apartment in silence, my thoughts churning a million miles a minute as I tried to figure out how to break the news to Nick. How would he react when I told him I was selling my body in exchange for 24/7 protection for Lizzie? How would he respond to Dante’s insistence that he join us Tuesday? I steeled my heart for the breakup that would surely follow.

Breakup,I laughed to myself. We’d barely been on proper dates, much less started a relationship.

When the elevator doors swooshed open to my penthouse apartment, Lorenzo stood outside, chatting quietly with the guard outside the door.

Shit.

“Good morning, Miss Russo,” he purred, looking me up and down, his face tight with fury.

Just what I fucking needed.

I slammed down the pleasant and tranquil mask I presented to the world. “Good morning, Lorenzo.” I nodded to the guard outside my door. “Good morning, Vito.”

I swiped my card and held the door open for Lorenzo. “Please, come in.”

He stalked me inside, then slammed the door shut and shoved me against it, caging me with his arms.

“What are you doing, Sofia?”

My eyes met his and almost drowned in the maelstrom of emotion I found there. Lorenzo stopped calling me by my first name almost five years ago, when he’d found me trying to cover up bruises from Sergio, and I confessed my pregnancy.

The heat of his body warmed mine, and I had to resist softening against him, taking comfort in his strength. I couldn’t do this today, not after last night, not before what I was about to do to Nick.

“Let me check on Lizzie and let Miss Carolina go home, please.” I lifted a hand from his chest to his cheek and stroked my thumb against the rough stubble. “Please, Lorenzo.” For years, he’d guarded my vulnerability, my hopes and my dreams, while Ginevra disappeared to the West Coast, and my father groomed Luca to take over the family business. I’d thought there was something more there. I’d hoped for it.

Then he turned me down, and I got knocked up. That was the end of that.

He pushed back from the door, and I caught a whiff of his vanilla cologne, wrapping me up in memories and longing.

I dropped my tote on the couch and then checked on my daughter. She slept soundly. “Good morning,” I whispered to Miss Carolina.

“She was a dear,” her babysitter and sometimes nanny answered. “An angel, as always.” I kissed Lizzie on the forehead, careful not to disturb her, and walked Miss Carolina to the door.

“Thank you,” I said, pulling an envelope out of my bag and handing it to her.

Lorenzo watched me, puzzled. “Where do you get cash to pay her?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to tell him I scrimped and saved cash back from my grocery and drug store purchases.

“What do you need, Lorenzo?”

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