Page 5 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

Carlotti scoffed. “We’re far from done.” He turned to my father, smiling slyly. “Oscuro may be willing to pay for your family’s protection, but he can’t do it without my men.”

Dante pulled out his phone. “I’ve torn apart the Costa’s territory looking for Sofia. If something happens to Nico’s family, you’re next.”

“That tough guy bullshit might work with the Russos, but it doesn’t work with me.”

“You’ll have the mayor in your pocket, if I win,” my father said, finally. “And Oscuro’s gratitude.”

“And a Lombardi defecting to work for the Russos,” Carlotti said, pinning me with his gaze.

Steadily, I stared back. At eighteen, I’d stood up to him and said no more. I’d terrified myself and my family with my limitless capacity for violence, and instead of giving into the darkness, I’d walked away. He wouldn’t intimidate me into coming back into the fold now.

“ForOscuro,” I said softly.

3

LORENZO

Dante slammedhis fist into another Costa soldier hanging from chains in a meat locker. The first time we took down a random bar, I was sure it was a waste of time. Two days and a bloody trail of bodies later, we could clear a fucking block just by pulling his armored sedan up to the curb.

Were we getting any closer to discovering where Sergio had squirreled Sofia away? No. Was it goddamned satisfying to shut down Costa operations up and down the East Coast? Unequivocally yes.

“Trafficking,” the soldier gasped. “They need the port and the money for trafficking.”

What?

Dante brought his fist back, and I held up my hand before he could break the man’s jaw. Like the well-bred motherfucker he was, Dante pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe the blood off of his knuckles before snatching a knife off of the table of tools behind him.

“What do you mean, for trafficking?” I asked.

Our captive slumped in his chains, looking up at the twoof us through long lashes that reminded me of Sofia’s. “The Costas want to expand their trafficking operations, but the Russos have destroyed their business over the last four years. They’re broke. They owe millions to the Chinese in New York, and they have no way of paying it back unless they’re able to expand their trafficking operations here.”

Dante and I shared a long look. He gripped his fingers tightly in the prisoner’s hair and jerked his head up. “If the information you give me is good, I’ll kill you swiftly. If it’s not, your death will be slow and painful.”

The predatory smile that stretched over the Sicilian’s face should have terrified me. Instead, I yanked the prisoner’s face to mine. “I might disembowel you anyway, just for the fucking fun of it. So you better talk fast.”

“They need the money Sergio stole from the Sicilian. They need the Russo bitch, so it looks legitimate to the politicians. And they need the Russo bitch’s daughter to control the ports. Then they’ll be able to bring in girls from anywhere and pay their debts.”

I didn’t bother waiting for more information, just sliced a knife across his stomach and watched his guts spill out. “Don’t fucking disrespect Miss Russo.”

The soldier looked up at me, confusion warring with pain in his expression. Dante rolled his eyes, then slit the man’s throat, stepping back before blood could spray over his elegant black suit. The blood wouldn’t show. That’s why we wore black, after all.

“We won’t get very far if you kill every man who disrespects my kitten.”

“Who disrespectsMiss Russo?” I asked, holding my knife up in front of me, watching the red sheen of blood reflect the fluorescent light of the Russos’ torture chamber. “She’s not yours, Dante.”

Dante hummed, looking over his hands and scrubbing at a stubborn spot of blood, as if his knuckles weren’t already bruised and bloodied from days of torturing low level soldiers to get a lead on Sergio. “She is.”

I advanced on him, jealousy weaving itself deep into my gut, my fingers clenched into fists at my side. We belonged to her, not the other way around.

“She’s not,” I answered. “And if you haven’t figured out who belongs to whom yet, you don’t deserve to be there when we find her.”

His eyes snapped to mine, his entire body tense with rage. “You killed him before we could ask for names and locations because you’re thinking with your dick instead of your head.”

He turned on his heel and pounded on the door. Russo soldiers opened it, and we made our way outside, where Tony Russo waited for us.

“Anything?” Tony asked.

“Nothing,” Dante barked before I could answer. He stormed past Tony to enter into the regular part of the house. “Nico! Time to go!”

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