Page 112 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

“Two,” I said, standing up.

“Three,” I finished, stepping up to Sergio.

Lizzie took off running, and I allowed Sergio to run his fingers down my arms, clammy through the polyester of my graduation gown.

“You’re here,” he breathed.

“I keep my word.”

“That’s right, you did,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to him. “You in exchange for your mother and your daughter. And I intend to hold you to that.”

“Or what?” I snapped, hating every moment I stayed there in his arms, knowing my men were watching me, scared to shoot, scared to end this while I was blocking their target.

“Or your daughter won’t ever be safe again,” he said. “I can snatch her right from underneath your family’s nose again, and next time, you won’t have the same bargaining power.”

Fuck this. Fuck his power trip. Fuck his entitlement toward me because he’d knocked me up. And fuck the threats he intended to hold over me for the rest of my life.

My family couldn’t stop him.

Dante couldn’t stop him.

Nick and Lorenzo couldn’t stop him.

Only I could stop him. I closed my eyes. Sergio pulled me closer for a hug, kissing my forehead. I melted into him, softening.

And then I reached under my gown, pulled out my gun, and shot him in the fucking head.

45

LORENZO

Screams filledthe hall as Sergio dropped to the ground at Sofia’s feet, blood and brains splattering her white graduation gown.

Sofia, no. Fuck.

A tiny body barreled past me as I dashed toward Sofia, running against the crowd, “Uncle Nico!”

Nick swept her up into his arms and took off at a sprint toward the Russos’ security forces. I didn’t spare him a second look, trusting he’d take care of our girl. Instead, I watched in horror as campus cops shouted, “Freeze!” and pointed their guns at the woman I loved.

I stopped in my tracks, Dante beside me, breathing hard.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.

“I’m going to turn on the safety and then put the gun down,” Sofia said, her voice calm, and quiet, the perfect fucking mafia princess, with her hands in the air. She knelt and gently placed her weapon on the ground before kicking it over to the cops. “I’m unarmed, now,” she said, holding her hands back up.

“Hands behind your head,” they barked, and without a goddamned tremor of nerves, she obeyed.

“Sofia,” Dante whispered beside me, his voice rough as he pleaded with her. For what? What could he do? What could I do?

When she’d let us carve our initials into her early this morning, I’d known she had a plan. She knew she was going to shoot him. She knew what the consequences were, and instead of following our plan to track him down, she ended him herself. A lifetime of training, weeks of negotiations and burning the city down, and for what? For her to sacrifice herself?

Pride mixed with devastation in my chest as she obeyed the police and knelt, awkward in her heels, skirt, and graduation gown.

The cops had already cleared the hall, but there was no way the Costas didn’t have men outside. Events like this were supposed to be neutral, but Sofia had already murdered someone—how the fuck were we going to keep her safe until we could get her out of jail and get her home?

Dante was already on his phone. “She’ll be safe outside,” he said, never taking his eyes from our woman. “The Irish just locked down the area.”

“From snipers?” I asked. We weren’t the only family with a graduate on the stage today.

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