Page 16 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

She looked at me with despair and longing, as if I could reassure her in the place of whomever she was yearning for. “Even if she comes back and never looks at me again, freeing her from Sergio Accardi’s the right thing to do.”

Emilia nodded, as if she’d made a decision. “Father’ll do the right thing,” she said, but her voice wasn’t as firm as her expression.

“Why does she volunteer at the soup kitchen?” I asked.

“Why did she, you mean?” Emilia corrected. “She said like recognizes like. She grew up in a gilded cage, but it was no less a cage. Doing the books was an opportunity to give back in a way that wouldn’t attract scrutiny from her family. Until it did, and then she stopped.”

I downed my whiskey, tapping my fingers nervously against the glass. “What are you studying?” I realized how little I knew about my youngest sister, how much the years apart had cost me in terms of my family. For a moment, I envied the Russos and their closeness.

And then I remembered how Luca had blown Sofia off when she asked for protection. How all she ever wanted from me was an uncomplicated relationship, as if I were the only person in her life who could provide that.

“Computer science,” she said, grinning at me and wiggling her fingers.

Before I could mention introducing her to Cormac as a mentor, Father swept into the kitchen, his face ragged and tired. “She’ll do it,” he exclaimed.

Emilia looked relieved—no, I was imagining the emotion that swept across her face. She looked pleased, a slight smile dancing on her lips as she sashayed forward to kiss Father on the cheek. “Thank you, Father.”

The moment she left the kitchen, my father swore viciously and angrily. “The governor wants me to run on a law and order platform.”

I couldn’t stop the laugh that exploded out of me. “In Yorkfield?”

8

SOFIA

I lay awake,scratching my fingers against the sheets, the growl of my stomach rousing me from dreams of my daughter and my men.

Why hadn’t my men, the men who promised they’d protect me, come to get me? My heart broke. Dante had promised to use me as a tool, and use me he had, discarding me when I was no longer useful. Nick—Nico—didn’t want to tangle himself up in the violent world of the mafia again. And Lorenzo, sweet Lorenzo, would never divide his loyalties between my father and me, no matter how hard he might try.

They’d broken their promises.

They weren’t coming.

Nobody was going to save me but myself.

I cried. Maybe I’d cried before. I didn’t know. I didn’t remember much. It didn’t matter.

I was SofiafuckingRusso, and I didn’t need anyone else to survive.

SofiafuckingRusso, I repeated in my head, not allowing myself the luxury of a sound.

I tugged at my bonds, surprised to find them loosely tied, as if I’d been bound in haste. How many days had it been?

SofiafuckingRusso.

I’d given up everything to be my parents’ perfect daughter. Even when I left them to go to school and raise Lizzie, I’d dutifully allowed my father’s friends to paw me. I’d served drinks at Sunday luncheons and hosted dinner parties so he could close deals. And here I was. Alone. Suffering. With nobody to save me but my fucking self.

Sergio wanted my money. He wanted my daughter. And yet, if I murdered him right now, the system that created him and allowed him to thrive would only create more monsters just like him.

It didn’t matter if I left Yorkfield. I was a Russo. Blood and violence would follow me no matter how far I ran. It would follow Lizzie.

I had to end it.

No. I had toruleit.

Furious at how easily I’d convinced myself to follow in my family’s murderous footsteps, how calmly I imagined myself standing beside my father, how simple the solution before me was, I yanked and twisted my wrists until they were bloody and slippery, then dislocated a thumb as I pulled myself out of the ropes that held me. Sergio was a fucking idiot. How the fuck was he Costa’s second-in-command?

I blinked. My brain was still fuzzy, but I could put a complete thought together. Where was my daughter? Where was I? How long had he kept me here?

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