Page 26 of Savage Beauty

* * *

“You’re a fucking liar!”

Claudia can’t focus. Her eyes shift like she’s following a moving target, but I’m standing perfectly still.

“What have you taken?” I draw a little closer, keeping out of reach of her flailing hands.

Claudia is sobbing wretchedly. “You were mine, Sasha. I made a fool of myself for you. I waited, knowing you’d come around. Why did you marry a whore?”

I clench my fists at my sides. “Have you been on the junk again? Your father will kill you.”

“You want some?” She flutters her eyelashes at me in an appalling parody of flirtation. “I haven’t got any you can shoot up, but you can smoke with me if you want.”

“That’s all behind me, and you know it,” I say. “I haven’t used heroin in over three years. I thought you’d been clean for a long time, too.”

“When you dumped me the first time, it took everything I had not to get back on it,” Claudia sneers. “But when you broke off our engagement and made a laughing stock of me? I couldn’t see why I shouldn’t float away on a lovely junk cloud.”

There’s no way I can leave her like this. She’s drugged out of her mind and drunk. If Sal Tosca finds out I left his daughter on her own in this condition, our already-frosty relations will reach sub-zero levels.

“I’ll take you home to your father,” I say.

Claudia trips over nothing and falls ass-first into the puddle. I try to keep the pitying look off my face, but she cuts a pathetic figure, and I can’t help but feel a twist of guilt. She takes my hand and gets unsteadily to her feet, falling into my arms, and I glance up at the window to see Josie turn away.

Shit. The timing couldn’t be worse.

“Take me upstairs to your room, Sasha,” Claudia croons. The sour scent of wine on her breath makes me nauseous. “Throw that bitch out and take me to bed.”

“No, Claudia.” I push her along to my car, which is parked nearby. “Home, or the hospital. Your call.”

“Oh, fine,” she spits. I dump her in the back seat. “I’m sure Papa will be thrilled to see you.”

* * *

Sal Tosca’s club is the kind of low-rent meat market my family refuses to patronize or own. My father thought prostitution to be a good little earner, but when he died, we got rid of the pimps and lowlifes running the brothels, knowing most of them would pick up work with our rivals. Sure enough, there are a few familiar faces here.

None of Tosca’s goons look pleased to see me, but I don’t meet with any opposition because I’m practically carrying Claudia. Everyone knows Sal has me over a barrel as it is, and I’m here alone, so how much trouble can I cause?

A bodyguard frisks me before letting me into Tosca’s private lounge. The man himself sits on a couch, a girl younger than his daughter on his lap. When he sees me, he stands up abruptly, sending the girl crashing to the ground. She scuttles away, leaving through a side door.

“The fuck have you done to her?” Tosca bellows. He clicks his fingers in front of his daughter’s face. “Claudia!”

“She’s fucked up, Sal.” I sit Claudia on the couch beside her father, her head lolling as she slumps. “She’s been drinking and smoking…well, you know.” I catch Tosca’s expression and raise my palm. “Do not start with me. I had nothing to do with it. She showed up at my home, breaking shit and screaming in the street. You should keep a closer eye on her.”

Tosca throws his daughter an angry glance. She’s snoring gently, her hair stuck to her face.

“Well, she’s back safely,” he says. “I was gonna call on you, anyway. I have decided how you can repay your debt to me.”

I sit in an armchair and accept a drink from a waitress in a ludicrous maid’s outfit. “Good,” I say. “I don’t want this bullshit hanging over me. What do I have to do?”

Tosca raises his voice. “All you sluts, out. And you assholes.” He waves at his men. “I need to speak to Sasha alone. Wait downstairs.”

I’m all too aware I’m unarmed. The door closes behind the last man, and I wonder if this is a trap.No. If I were killed by Sal Tosca, the full force of the Kislev bratva and our many allies would be brought to bear. Besides, he’s given his promise to thekomissiya. He’s got nothing to gain and everything to lose if he harms a hair on my head.

Tosca grabs a crystal carafe from the table and tops up my glass. “Do you remember my sister, Giulia?” he asks.

I nod.

“She’s fucking around on my brother-in-law, Tomas, and he suspects it. He’ll lose his damn mind if it comes out, and God knows what he’ll do. My family will fall apart.” Tosca knocks back his drink. “I found out who Giulia is sleeping with. He’s nobody, but I don’t want any of my guys to take him out. Anyone I trust enough to do it would be too close to the situation, and I need it to happen off my territory. I can’t be seen to be involved.”

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