Page 99 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

“Massive team, at least a dozen men. They cut the power, including the backup generator, overwhelmed the Russos’ security forces, then walked out with the kid.”

“Shit.”

40

SOFIA

“Stop,”I snapped.

Dante slammed on the brakes, swerving out of the way of traffic. “What’s wrong, kitten?”

“I don’t want to go to a safe house.”

“What the fuck do you mean, you don’t want to go to a safe house?” he ground out from between clenched teeth.

“You’re going hunting tonight, aren’t you?” I asked. “I might be useless in a real emergency, but I sure as fuck am getting good at interrogations. And I know everyone in this town.”

Dante stared at me through the rearview mirror. With a curse, he shifted the car into gear. “We’ll go to the Russo compound so you can shower and change. Tell your sister to meet us there.”

Sofia

Can you meet me at our parents’ with a change of clothes?

Rian

No.

Ginevra

Yes.

Rian

It’s too dangerous. Sergio could be tracking her too.

Ginevra

Sergio knows damn well where the Russos live.

Rian

Fucking hell.

Nick rubbed my knuckles with his thumb as we sped through the city. “We’ll get them back, baby,” he promised, his eyes hollow, as if he realized how empty his words were against the backdrop of the night’s violence.

By the time we pulled up to the compound where I’d grown up, I was a wreck, wringing my fingers together until they hurt. Dante exited the car first, checking out the surroundings before hustling me to the front door.

Ginevra met me with a hug and a stack of neatly folded clothes. When I noticed they were all black, she smiled grimly. “You’re a Russo, Sofia. Revenge is in your blood.”

Revenge? I was so goddamned tired. I just wanted my kid back. Nick followed me to the room I’d grown up in, long since redecorated and converted to a guest room, taking the stack of clothes out of my arms and laying it on the bed. After all my years of fighting, it was ironic that my parents’ house was the only safe place left for me.

When we reached the bathroom, Nick flicked on the light, illuminating the room with gentle warmth, then pulled me in for a hug. I resisted, knowing that if I relaxed into him, if I leaned on his strength, I would break and all the tears and worry about my daughter would flood out.

Nick cocked his head, not understanding my need for distance when I pushed out of his arms. Carefully, as if I were made of glass, he loosened my hair, then lifted my dress over my head. He knelt behind me to lift my feet out of my shoes before turning on the shower, letting steam fill the room as it warmed up. I turned so that he could remove my collar.

When his fingers traced over it reverently, I almost lost it, barely able to contain the sobs that threatened to overwhelm me. Instead, I slipped away from him to step into the water, leaving him staring at me confused.

“May I join you?” he asked, the uncertainty in his voice ripping a hole in my heart.

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