Page 15 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

“Cormac Wallace introduced me to an information security specialist who could help—more than he can, since he went straight four years ago,” I said, my fingers drumming on the sides of my glass.

My father grunted. “And what does this informationsecurity specialist want in return?”

I stood up to hand my father a piece of paper with three names on it, now typed, rather than handwritten. She might have trusted me with her handwriting, but something about that woman made me feel protective, the same way I did toward my sisters.

“Pardons. Immediately.”

My father paled. “Do you know who these men are?”

“They have state sentences, not federal sentences. The governor can make it happen tonight,” I said.

“No,” my father said. “If I make that call, I’ll be beholden to her for the rest of my political career.”

“If you refuse to help when a child of one of thedonsis in trouble, then do you think who you owe political favors to will matter?” Emilia asked, casually dangling her leg over the side of the chair.

“Why are you in here?” my father finally asked her. “Don’t you have finals to study for? Homework to do?”

Emilia’s answering smile was feral. “Just wanted to see how you’d react when someone else’s kid’s in danger. Seeing as we’re all now in danger because Nick fell in love with a mafia princess.”

I stared at her, speechless, ready to defend myself, to say that we hadn’t solidified anything, that Sofia didn’t have any right to me.

Except that Emilia was right.

I’d fallen in love with Sofia fucking Russo, and I’d do anything to have her back, safe, sound, and free.

My father stood and paced his study, rubbing his face. “Out, both of you.”

“Father—”

“Out!” he roared. Goddammit, I’d fucked this up.

Emilia grabbed my hand, snagging the open bottle of whiskey as she dragged me out the door.

“You’re too young to drink,” I chastised her before closing my mouth with a hard clack. “Forget I said that.” We’d all been drinking wine with our dinners since we were kids. And she was a fucking adult.

I followed my baby sister through the house to the kitchen, where she made herself a whiskey sour and poured me another two fingers.

“He’s changed, you know, since you left.” she said.

I knew. After leaving me on my own for undergrad while he untangled himself from the mafia, he’d paid for my med school, even though we didn’t talk again until after I walked across the stage.

He never understood that I didn’t hate him for his violent, bloodthirsty roots. I hated him because he was an asshole.

“Sofia’s good people,” Emilia said softly, breaking into my morose reflections.

“She’s a Russo,” I answered with a sigh. “She’s done everything they ever asked of her, and still, she pays and pays and pays for their sins.”

“Would you have been such a boy scout if you hadn’t had to run so far and so fast to separate yourself from us?”

“Fuck you, Emilia,” I snapped before I could stop myself. Aghast at my rudeness to my little sister, I apologized.

She cut me off with a raised hand and laughed, looking up at me from under long lashes as she sipped her cocktail. “Is she worth it?”

Fair question. More than anyone else, Emilia was now in danger because I was dragging my family back into the life that I’d been the first to denounce as a teenager.

“Yes,” I said.

“Even if she comes back and never looks at you again?”

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