Page 116 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

“Are you really asking me that on an open line? I’ll be in touch.” The sound of the line disconnecting was deafening in the close proximity of the car.

Dante drummed his fingers on dashboard.

“Are you still willing to do whatever it takes?” I asked.

“She can name her price,” Dante snarled before slamming back in his seat. He ran his hands through his curls, then grinned at me through the rearview mirror. “Want to fuck up Gio Costa?”

I laughed shortly and met his eyes. He wasn’t kidding.

“He’s having dinner at The Birdcage. I’d like to give Sofia the gift of ending his trafficking operation by the time we get her out.”

Why hadn’t we fucked him up before? Because we were playing nice? Pretending we were still civilized? Fuck that.

“Let’s go.” Beating up lowlife assholes was one thing.Fucking up Gio Costa? That was a step I wouldn’t be able to take back.

Dante smiled as Lorenzo parked, and I had to resist the temptation to run my thumb over his lips, indenting them until he opened his mouth and took me inside.

“You done looking at me like you want to eat me?” he asked, amused, as he climbed out of the car.

“Nope,” I answered. I was a patient man. Dante would let me fuck him eventually—no need to push him like I had Lorenzo. “Aren’t you going to get towed if we park here?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m Dante Oscuro, and if anyone in this city didn’t know me before Sofia shot Sergio, they all sure as fuck do now after we were all splashed on the front page of the paper. Nobody is going to tow us.”

To be blessed with such arrogance.

Dante looked me up and down critically, as if my crisp suit and white collared shirt weren’t quite up to par. Joke was on him. If this worked out, he’d be my sugar daddy for the rest of our lives, and he could pay for all the designer clothes he wanted.

“Do you remember how to use a gun?” he asked me.

“Do I remember how to use it? Yes. Have I kept up at the range? Fuck no. I haven’t shot a gun in almost two decades.”

He nodded. “This is for show. Don’t put your finger on the trigger?—”

“Unless I’m going to use it. I’m out of practice, not a fucking idiot.”

Dante’s smile was almost—almost!—affectionate. “No, Nico, I don’t think anyone would ever accuse you of that.”

Lorenzo squeezed my shoulder, slowing my steps as we followed Dante. “Are you sure about this?”

I stopped. “Dante,” I called. The Sicilian mobster turned around, one black eyebrow crooked. “Come ’ere.”

Three more SUVs full of men in all black pulled up behind us. Dante waited patiently.

I pulled his forehead to mine. “We’re going to fuck this town up until she’s out of jail.”

“Yes.”

“And then, we’re going to give her a choice.”

“No.”

Lorenzo elbowed his way into our embrace, wrapping an arm around each of our waists. The three of us stood together, breathing each other’s air.

“Yes,” Lorenzo said, “we are.”

Dante growled but didn’t step away. “I’m not letting her go. Not again. Never again.”

“She’ll hate you forever if you cage her,” I said softly.

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