Page 34 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

I held the palm of my hand to his chest, feeling the slow and steady beat of his heart. Uncomplicated, he’d promised me.

I needed uncomplicated.

I surged up on my toes to brush my lips against his before following Dante to a set of Adirondack chairs in the grass, not looking back to see Nick’s reaction, terrified he’d be looking at me with pity instead of need.

Dante dropped into a chair and stretched out his long legs. He said nothing, waiting for me to speak.

But I’d studied at the feet of my mother and knew that men liked to fill silences with the sound of their own bloviating egos.

I sat in the chair beside him, wincing at the bruises on my ass as I squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position.

Together, we sat in silence, listening to the birds chirp and the sounds of Lizzie’s delight.

The sun dropped below the horizon and the yard lit up with strings of fairy lights before Dante finally broke. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be.”

“I should have protected you better,” he said. “But I don’t regret a moment of it. Of putting you on your knees, of showing you how delicious pain can be, of revealing how submitting turns you on.”

“Why are you here instead of tracking down Sergio?” I asked, changing the subject. That is, after all, why he’d come to the States in the first place. And now that he didn’thave a bargain with me, there was no reason to stick around.

Dante didn’t answer. Foolish me, a week ago, I thought our relationship was developing into something more than the deal we’d struck. Now? After a week of captivity and drug-fueled confusion, I wasn’t so sure.

“I have never pretended to be anything other than the worst of men.”

Truth.

“Nor did I agree to anything more than keeping your daughter safe.”

Truth.

“I want to?—”

I waited.

“You’re mine, Sofia. You were mine from the moment you sank to your knees in your apartment and wrapped your gorgeous lips around my cock in exchange for protection for your daughter. I fucked up, but that doesn’t change the fact that you belong to me.”

His words should have infuriated me. They should have terrified me. Instead, they spread through my chest like warm honey on a summer’s day, sinking into the cracks that Sergio had left in my soul, filling them with sweetness.

It made what I needed to do next easier, even if it broke my heart.

When he lifted his eyes to mine, I held his gaze. “No, Dante, I don’t belong to you.”

His eyes widened and his fists clenched. “Sofia?—”

“Enough!” I snapped, slamming my fist down onto the arm of my chair. “You. Belong. To. Me. You’re a weapon in my hand, and I intend to use you to burn this city to the fucking ground.”

We stared at each other, his eyes a storm of emotion as Icultivated the same calm I’d spent a lifetime learning to fake. Would he accept this change in our relationship? Would he allow me to use him as he’d used me? I waited, my heart pounding a mile a minute, not daring to show my uncertainty, knowing he’d use any excuse to dominate me and snatch my power away.

Then he nodded. “Tell me what you need, kitten.”

15

LORENZO

Sofia metmy eyes as I carried Lizzie into the house, softly snoring on my shoulder.Thank you, she mouthed.

Lizzie didn’t wake up as I changed her into pajamas. I smiled fondly at the grass stains on her feet, her tangled hair, and cheeks gently flushed from the sun. The Russo compound’s stiff formality bred women made of steel like Ginevra and Sofia, but after watching Lizzie stifling under Patti’s restrictions in just a week, I understood better why Sofia wanted a different life for her daughter.

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