Page 4 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

My father nodded. “I’m going to drop out of the race, then. I’ll call Mario Carlotti.”

“Dad, that’s not what I’m asking for.”

My father scoffed. “Mario didn’t have to let me go, didn’t have to let the girls escape unscathed. We’re going to need protection, and the Russos can’t provide it if they’re distracted by Sofia’s kidnapping. Set up a meeting, son. Mario Carlotti, Dante Oscuro, and Tony Russo.”

I didn’t know what to do with the emotion rising in my chest. I’d fought so hard not to turn into my father, only to be the one to drag him back into the violence that’d made me hate him as a child.

My father looked me up and down, anger darkening his eyes. “She fucking better be worth it.”

“Three of mywarehouses burned down this morning,” Tony said, scrubbing his hands over his face. He hadn’t slepta wink since his daughter disappeared, and my father’s request for protection for his family had gone over like a lead fucking balloon.

Lorenzo grimaced. “We need more men.”

My father leaned forward. “I don’t give a shit about your warehouses. My son has leapt right back into the life for your daughter, and my family is going to need protection.”

Well then, I guess he wasn’t going the subtle route.

Mario Carlotti raised an eyebrow. “I let Nico walk out a decade ago instead of becoming a Made Man. And then I let you follow him so you could go into politics. You promised me then you’d be an ally, and I haven’t seen jack shit.”

Tendrils of worry snaked through me, fear for what Sergio was doing to Sofia, terror that when we finally got her back, she wouldn’t want us—me—anymore. I squashed that selfish thought. Now wasn’t the time to focus on the ridiculous draw I felt to the woman, nor how utterly useless I’d been in the search to get her back.

“Mario,” I said before my father could respond. “This is about my sisters. Accardi took Sofia, and so far, he hasn’t suffered a single goddamned consequence. What’s to stop this from becoming the norm?”

“And what do I get in return?”

Dante snorted and leaned forward. “You selfish fucking bastard. You need something in return for protecting women and girls?”

Mario stared blankly at Dante, not the least bit intimidated by him. He’d taken over the drug trade from the cartels a decade before, negotiated with the Colombians to get a more direct line to cocaine in the city, and didn’t take shit from anyone.

“This conversation is about what I will get in return for allowing Nico back into my family.”

Dante slammed his fist on the table. “Nico is part of the Oscuro family.”

My heart stopped. So did every other conversation at the table.

Dante sneered. “This conversation is about you providing the protection you owe a family in your territory. Nico belongs to me.”

Warmth spread through my chest as this terrifying, brutal man publicly claimed me, separate from my link to Sofia. He might be the devil incarnate, but if I was his, then he was also mine.

“Then you can pay for his protection,” Mario barked.

“Money isn’t the problem!” Dante roared. “Money isn’t an issue,” he repeated, more softly, reining in his temper. “I have money. What I don’t have is men. Soldiers. I don’t have a fuckingmafiain the United States like I do back home.”

“And burning down Yorkfield is taking what little you do have,” Mario said, narrowing his eyes.

Dante shrugged. “She belongs to me, and I want her back.”

Mario’s expression turned shrewd. “I hear she belongs to our Nico too.”

“We’ve already established that Nico belongs to me. So I’m not sure I understand your point.”

“I don’t need to see a dick measuring contest between the men fucking my daughter.” Tony cut in. “This has nothing to do with getting Sofia back.”

Dante raised a sharp eyebrow before turning to Sofia’s father. “It has everything to do with Sofia’s happiness, though.”

He turned back to Carlotti. “I don’t give a shit what you do with the Lombardi family and your organization. But if anyone harms a hair on Nico’s sisters’ heads, I’ll come foryou, the same way I’m coming for Gio Costa. Do you understand me?”

Dante’s eyes flicked to me. “Or Nico’s mother.” He shoved back from the table. “We’re done here.”

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