Page 106 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

“But intelligence is,” I reminded him.

He swung his monitor around so I could see his spreadsheet. “Sergio and the Costas were the missing piece. I can’t believe we fucking missed that.”

“Because the Irish and the Italians don’t share information,” Sofia sighed as she stood up to examine the spreadsheet more carefully. “It’s three a.m., and I have to walk across a graduation stage in seven hours.”

I loved this new emboldened Sofia, who didn’t hesitate to speak her mind, confident in her ability to get us to move mountains.

“Where do you think my daughter is?”

“I don’t know,” Declan admitted. “But on a Friday night, Comiso is most likely here,” he pointed to the name of a nightclub. “Here,” he pointed to a bar, “or here.” He pointed to a brothel. “And Comiso will know where Sergio is.”

Sofia nodded. “Let’s go.”

“All three are deep in Costa territory, but not owned by Gio,” I murmured, well aware that Sofia would never accept being left behind.

She slammed her fist on the desk. “If they didn’t want us to drag civilians into this war, they shouldn’t have kidnapped my daughter and my mother.”

The nightclub was a bust. Tony Russo’s men, my men until a few weeks ago, met us there. When we couldn’t find Cosimo, or information about Sergio, Sofia yanked the fire alarm and then lit the match that burned the building down.

By the time we got to the bar, word of Sofia’s rampage had spread, and it was practically empty except for a few toughs who thought they stood a chance against the Irish and the Russos forces.

“Why are you helping us?” I asked Declan, who swung abloody baseball bat at the bottles behind the bar. “You don’t owe us shit.”

He stopped his destruction to look back at me with puzzled eyes. “Rian saved me from the streets when I was a kid. He’s family. Liam and Cormac too. Which means Ginevra and Sofia are family.”

As Sofia held up a lighter, her face lit with unholy fury, he grinned wildly as the flame danced in his eyes. “God, Sofia’s a Russo to her bones, and none of us even realized it.”

“She’s always been a Russo,” I told him, watching the flames rush across the surface of the bar, dancing back as they licked at the ceiling. “We were all just too fucking blinded by her smile to see it.”

“Aye,” Declan agreed, ushering us outside. A victorious raid was normally a joyous affair, full of whoops and shouts as we vanquished our enemies, but the army that met us outside was silent, full of rage at Sergio’s affront, ready to do battle to get Lizzie and Patti back.

Sofia eyed her phone, sliding it back into her pocket, then turned to me. “One more stop.”

By the time we arrived at the brothel, long after sunrise, Declan’s men and the Russos had already torn it apart. They found a dozen girls—women—who’d been trafficked, but no sign of Comiso or Sergio.

Sofia wandered over to the crowd of women standing in the street as they shivered with fear. “Nick,” she called softly. “I need you.”

As Sofia spoke with each woman, Nick examined them, separating them into two groups—those that needed medical attention, and those that didn’t. I sighed. Tony Russo would pay for their care, of course he would, but damn Costa for the destruction he’d wrought in Yorkfield.

“Fucking nothing,” Dante swore, staring up at thebuilding with rage. “And we can’t burn this one down.” It would set the whole damn neighborhood on fire.

My phone pinged. Cormac had sent half a dozen more possible locations for Comiso, almost all deep in Costa territory.

I watched Sofia slide her phone out of her pocket, check the group text, and then slide it back in. She continued to help the women, but I could tell by the stiff set of her shoulders that she was anxious.

Liam

We’ve already got men checking them out.

Dante

Burn the fucking city down if you have to.

Liam

Sergio isn’t picking up when we call.

Ginevra

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