Page 96 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

“Sergio has her,” I whispered, tilting the phone and showing it to Nick.

“We have confirmation that Accardi has the kid,” Dante repeated loudly enough for Tommaso to hear on the speaker. “Find her. In the meantime, we need a safe place to hole up for the night. Not one of our regular safe houses.”

Tomasso rattled off an address. “It’s sparse, but it’s clean. Nobody in the organization knows about it.”

“We have to get her back,” I whispered.

“We will, baby,” Nick said, running his fingers through my hair. “We will.”

39

LORENZO

I turnedon the light on my phone to navigate the nearly pitch black hallways. Smoke obscured the path to the ballroom as the building continued to shake. Gunfire and screams echoed through the building as I wound my way back to the hall where a veritable who’s who of Yorkfield royalty had been enjoying their evening.

Cautiously, I rounded each corner expecting to stumble upon enemy soldiers. To my surprise, there were none. By the time I arrived at the great hall, the screams had faded to moans and curses, and the glitterati of Yorkfield had begun retrieving each other from collapsed tables.

Emergency lights flickered in the haze of dust and smoke along the edge of the room, casting just enough light to see that the center of the room had been destroyed by a series of small bombs—small enough to do harm, but not so big they would bring the building down. That took some real expertise to plan and set up, someone who’d have access to the facility in advance to plant then. I swept my gaze across the room, looking first for Ginevra, who stood with Liam’s help, her navy dress barely dusty.

“It’s clear,” Liam said quietly, his face completely blank. Tony stood a few meters away, barking orders into his phone.

“They fucking took Patti,” he snarled at me.

Shit. My eyes caught on his left shoulder, sagging slightly compared to the right. Blood seeped down through his white shirt. “Tony, you’re hurt,” I said, stupidly, stepping toward him.

“Who the fuck cares?” he roared. “They took my wife!”

Ginevra’s husbands were already hustling her out of the hall. “Hold up,” I snapped. “The three of you don’t leave until we’ve debriefed on what happened here.”

Rian stalked over, running a hand through his black hair, his blue eyes snapping in fury. “You’re going to stop me from protecting my wife?”

I stood my ground. This asshole didn’t scare me. “Does your wife know you’re leaving without sharing what happened to the security that you were in charge of?”

Ginevra stormed over to us, then stopped as we faced off, narrowing her eyes before sliding between the two of us. “No need to whip ’em out and measure, boys. I’m safe. Sofia’s safe.”

Was she? I pulled out my phone to dial Dante, only to blanche as I saw the message waiting for me.

Sofia

Sergio has Lizzie.

“Lizzie’s not safe,” I said, showing the Russos the phone. “And neither’s Patti.”

Whirling around, I searched the room. Where the fuck was Sergio Accardi?

Gone.

So were the Costas. Including Ana.

Goddammit.

Liam ran his hands through his shock of red hair, swearing softly. “They raided our fucking house. I’m not betting Ginevra’s life on an assumption that the danger has passed. We need to get her out of here. Now.”

Rian nodded sharply, his eyes cutting to me. For a moment, sympathy softened his features, but when I blinked, his expression was ice cold. “I’ll take Ginevra. Liam, you stay. Where’s Cormac?”

“Control room,” Liam snapped, stalking away from the room. Keeping the glitterati safe wasn’t his problem, Ginevra was.

Ginevra pushed up on her toes to kiss me on the cheek. “We’ll find Lizzie and Mamma.” When she took her father’s hands, he groaned, shaking, looking his age for once. “We’ll find them, Papà,” she whispered into his cheek.

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