Page 56 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

I could not stop the threatening growl that escaped my throat.

Declan laughed, the fucker.

Sofia turned around, her delicate brow furrowed. She’d been giving me the silent treatment all day. With reason. I’d rejected her last night, unkindly, as if I hadn’t known exactly what I was signing on for when I declared my allegiance to her.

“You’re beautiful,” I rasped. “The dress is beautiful. I mean—” Jesus, was I blushing? “The dress looks great on you.”

“Not quite right, I think,” she said to the mirror, eyeing her form critically before disappearing into the dressing room and leaving me to torture myself with my regrets.

“Lorenzo,” she called. “Come here, please.”

I stopped at the curtain that separated her lithe form from prying eyes.

“I need you to zip me up.”

No. Yes. Fuck.“Sofia,” I choked out, desperate for this fever-dream to be true, aching to believe that she wanted my hands on her, that this was the invitation it sounded like.

I listened to the soft rise and fall of her breath as she waited.

“Lorenzo, please,” she said, and I was a goner.

Declan chortled, then levered himself up from the chair. “I’m going to check the perimeter. Don’t fuck this up, you idiot.”

One more man Sofia had charmed, ready to put his life on the line, and the lives of his men, to protect her. Did she even realize the power she wielded in Yorkfield, entirely separate from her position as a Russo?

I’d known what I was getting into when I kissed her two weeks ago. I knew what I was getting into now. With everyfiber of my being, I wanted her, loved her, and I couldn’t let her think for another moment that I didn’t, even if I wasn’t enough—even if I would never be enough.

Fuck it. Fuck Nick and fuck Dante for being able to give her exactly what she needed, and most of all, fuck all the years I’d spent longing for her but been too goddamned stupid to get on my knees before this brilliant woman and tell her how I felt.

Determined not to waste this precious gift she was giving me, I stepped into the dressing room and was confronted with Sofia’s back, mottled with the bruises Sergio left, as she clutched the sequined dress against her chest.

Instead of focusing on her injuries, I let my gaze roam over the creamy skin of her shoulders, the sides of her breasts peeking out from where she gathered the fabric to afford her some modesty.

“I owe you an apology,” I said as I gripped the zipper and gently drew it up her back, every brush of her skin against my hands setting my body on fire.

“You do,” she agreed. “Again.”

My hands reached her ribs, and I stopped, reaching my hands around her waist to pull her to me, terrified I was misinterpreting her signals.

“I’m sorry. I knew what I was getting into. Iknowwhat I’m getting into. And I was an asshole because I’m so fucking jealous that they get that part of you, and we’ve spent so much fucking time apart and?—”

She turned around and kissed me, her lips brushing across mine, a tender promise. I held her loosely, afraid to fuck this up.

“I need you, Lorenzo. I need you in my corner. I need your loyalty to me first.”

“You have it,” I vowed. “Forever. I swear to you.”

She looked up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes wavering with uncertainty, and I regretted everything I’d ever said to take that brash confidence away from her.

“I want you too,” she said, “but I’m complicated, and that’s not going to change any time soon.” She looked away from me, as if she were afraid of my answer.

My hand trembled as I cupped her cheek to turn her gaze back to mine. “We’re going to figure this out.”

I dragged her against me in a fierce hug, tucking her head under my chin until her breathing calmed.

“Promise?” she asked against my chest, her voice weak and tremulous. My heart broke for her.

“Promise.”

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