Page 38 of Mafia Toy

“She doesn’t need your permission.” Bethany dragged her out of the penthouse.

Laila gazed back at me, hurt spread across her face, brows drawn together, raspberry-painted lips tugged down. “Sage, I’ll order you something. I …”

Bethany pulled the door closed just as Laila mouthed the words,I’m sorry, to me.

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laila

After searchingthrough the App Store, I found Uber Eats and downloaded it. I had never used one of these apps, but I needed to buy something for Sage to eat tonight after Bethany completely trashed her dinner.

“Okay,” the waiter said, setting down plates of appetizers on our table. “Caprese and caviar and another bottle of champagne for the table.” He set a bottle of champagne, sitting in an ice bucket, on the center of the table. “Enjoy.”

I lifted my gaze while the girls each took some. “Thank you.”

Instead of grabbing some myself, I peered back down at my phone and frowned. A selection of restaurants popped up on the screen, and I scrolled through them.

Where did Sage buy those burgers from again?

Burger … World?

When no results appeared on the screen, I furrowed my brow and continued searching. I should’ve stayed home with her tonight. My chest tightened.Why the hell didn’t I? Why did I let Bethany drag me away?

“Come on, Laila.” Gigi giggled. “Get off your phone. You can text Constantino later.”

“One second,” I said, desperately searching through all the places that had burgers in New York City. I could buy her anything, but I wanted to send her something that she’d like, something she had gotten me.

Fuck, where is it?

Burger House.

Burgerside.

Burgerland.

After scrolling past it, I scrolled back up and clicked Burgerland. About a hundred different burgers popped up, all with different flavors, different types of meat. I didn’t know what Sage liked, so I opted for a regular cheeseburger.

She would like that, right?

Once I checked out and paid with Apple Pay, I gazed at the delivery time.

An hour and a half.The food won’t make it back to the skyrise for an hour and a half?!Sage hadn’t answered my texts that I sent her on the way to dinner, and she had seemed so hungry when I left.

She would starve. Or maybe she wasn’t even at our home anymore.What if she went out to get her own food, pissed off at me for leaving her?My heart pounded against my rib cage, and I shook my head.

Me: I’m sorry.

Me: Please don’t be angry.

Me: I ordered your food to be delivered to the penthouse.

No response.

I pressed my lips together, feeling so much hurt because of my own decisions, and slipped my phone into my purse. I stared out the window at the traffic and frowned. Rain had begun to fall as we arrived, and now, it was pouring outside. Vincent sat in the car just outside the restaurant.

I had stopped listening to the gossip between the girls a while ago, only catching snippets of their conversation here and there. All I could think about was the awful look Sage had had on her face when she walked out of the bathroom to see Bethany pulling me out the door. The sadness that had spread across her face when Bethany dumped her food in the trash, the food she had willingly picked out and brought over for me to eat.

God, why the hell did I leave her? Why the fuck did I come out here tonight?I didn’t want Sage to feel like she didn’t matter. I knew how that felt, had grown up like that for so many years. I hated hurting people close to me.

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