Page 114 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

He backed off, but watched me sitting cuffed in the backseat of the police cruiser with a gaze so intense I thought I’d combust right there in the parking lot.

Olivia greeted me as the cops let me out of the car. They were careful with me, so fucking careful. I was, after all, SofiafuckingRusso. And my war with the Costas had already laid the city to waste. What would my men do if the cops hurt me? What would Dante, standing guard, menace radiating off of him, do if they hurt me?

“Miss Russo?” Olivia said, her face composed as she stood between me and the world, full of flashing cameras, a crowd of shouting citizens, and Dante. “Let’s get you inside.”

She flipped up an umbrella, despite the sunny weather, and walked with me into the station, a fierce protector.

“Not a word, Miss Russo. Li Wen is on her way.”

Li Wen was the best criminal defense attorney in the city. Even my father didn’t work with her because she was so goddamned expensive.

My eyes flicked to Dante, who paced, his face cold and furious as he was refused entry into the police station.

“I need to?—”

“You need tonothing,” Olivia snapped at me. “You will say nothing, not a word, as I make sure that the police follow procedure and treat you with the same compassion and respect that anyone they arrest deserves, and when Li arrives, you can discuss next steps. But until she does, you need nothing and you say nothing and you do nothing except what I tell you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t sass me, Sofia,” she snapped.

I silently built up my quiet mask, calm, cool, and collected. Nothing would bother me. Nothing would disturb my facade of equilibrium. And an hour later, I was booked and sitting in a sterile interrogation room, waiting for my defense attorney to arrive.

Time passed slowly, or maybe quickly. I couldn’t measure it as I sat in the interrogation room, blood still covering my face and my hands, my white graduation dress forever stained.

My composure cracked for a second as the enormity of what I’d done sunk in. I might be in jail for the rest of my life. I might never get to tell my men how I felt about them. I might never?—

No. I wouldn't allow myself to spiral into despair. I’d protected Lizzie when no one else could. I’d do it all over again if it meant she was safe. She was fucking worth it.

When Wen finally arrived, her heels clacking on the tile floors of the police station, her diminutive stature contrasted sharply with her fierce, professional demeanor.

“How long have you been sitting here without water?” she asked.

I stood and ignored the question, offering her my hand to shake. “Sofia Russo.”

She looked me up and down, her eyebrows raised to her hairline, her angular face almost contemptuous. “I know who you are. The only reason I’m here defending the fucking Italian-American princess who’s bathed the city in blood for the last week is because Adam Zhang vouched for you.”

Bless his fucking heart.

“My daughter—” I began. Wen raised a perfectly coiffed eyebrow, wielding her expression like a weapon, intending to intimidate me into silence.

“Where is Lizzie?” I asked. I’d stared down far scarier monsters, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let this arrogant attorney ruffle my composure.

After a long moment, Wen’s lips twitched, as if she were fighting a smile. “She’s currently at your sister’s house, along with your parents and Nicolò Lombardi, who I am reliably informed intends to sue for custody—a ridiculous idea.”

A sob escaped from my chest, relief that Lizzie would be taken care of, and shame for asking yet more of the brilliant, kind man who gave so much and asked for so little. And then, regret that I hadn’t told him how I felt, that I trusted him not only with my life, but Lizzie’s, and that I desperately hoped he’d be waiting for me on the other side of this. What did I do to deserve him in my life?

“I advised him not to,” she continued, oblivious to the twist of panic working its way up my spine. “We will negotiate a temporary arrangement until your trial, at which point, if we have to, we’ll discuss more formal, permanent arrangements.”

Right.

She caught my eyes, serious as death. “The state finallyhas a Russo in custody. You’re the first member of the five mafia families in Yorkfield to be arrested and chargeable in a way that might stick. They’re going to make an example out of you.”

“They’re certainly going to try,” I answered.

“They won’t offer you a plea unless you turncoat.”

“Which I won’t.”Ever.

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