Page 29 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

Fucking enough.Sofia was exhausted, Lizzie was fidgeting, and I needed to get both of them to my house where I knew they’d be safe.

I put the vehicle into gear and drove away, one eye on the road, the other on Sofia, who couldn’t stop touching her daughter.

“I missed you, sweet girl,” Sofia whispered. I reached up to rub the unfamiliar ache in my chest.

Morelli looked at me with amusement but didn’t say a damn word.

“Sofia,” Nico said softly, reaching over to tangle his fingers in hers on top of Lizzie’s. “You need to see a doctor.”

“I said I don’t want to see a doctor,” she snapped.

“Mamma?” Lizzie asked from her car seat. “Are you sick?”

“She’s not sick, but she was in an accident, and she needs to see a doctor today to make sure she’s all right.” I wasn’t above using her daughter to manipulate her if it meant fuckinghelpingher. Lorenzo might be willing to let her call the shots, but I wouldn’t allow my toy to neglect herself because she was afraid to face what happened. “Miss Carolina will meet us at the house,” I added.

“I spoke with the university,” Lorenzo yawned, fighting to stay awake. “They won’t penalize you for missing class.”

“How big of a donation did that take?” Sofia asked.

“It didn’t. You have perfect grades. You’re a model student. And you’re a Russo.”

Lizzie squirmed in her seat, and we fell silent. None of uswanted to expose this precious child to the ugliness of our lives. I wondered if Sofia would be better off without us in the end, escaped to another city, out from under the shadow of her family’s name and the violence that came with it. The same violence that accompanied a relationship with me, a niggling voice whispered in the back of my mind. I silenced it ruthlessly. Lizzie was okay, and that meant Sofia still owed me. And if I repeated that enough times, maybe I’d start to believe it.

Lizzie was, of course, delighted with the house. Sofia didn’t crack a smile, but her face softened when Lizzie dashed outside into the backyard, where I’d had a swing set built and delivered for her.

I told myself my care for Lizzie was just keeping up my end of the bargain for Sofia, bait for her to fall back into my arms, but it was a lie. I wasn’t going to win any father of the year awards, not now, not ever, but the child’s smiles were pinpoints of bright light in an otherwise endless field of violent darkness.

When Sofia swayed beside me, I caught her in my arms before she hit the ground. “Kitt—Sofia?”

“Dizzy,” she said softly. Fuck. She’d barely slept, barely eaten. Sergio had beat the shit out of her, and we idiots were standing here wishing she would pay attention to us.

“Nico!” I shouted, striding into the house. The doctor followed us as I carried her up to a bedroom.

He took one look at her pale face and swore. “Lay her down and get her out of those clothes.”

Sofia struggled weakly in my arms. “I don’t want to do this.”

“You have to, baby.” His eyes flicked to mine. “I’m going to get an IV and supplies. Figure this out, Dante.”

Sofia froze in my arms.

“Sofia, do you remember when I told you I wasn’t a dominant like you read about on the internet?”

She nodded stiffly.

“Nico is, and he takes his responsibility for taking care of you seriously. When the Costas burned his clinic down while you were gone, he didn’t even blink. Just shrugged and asked me where I was on finding you. Let him take care of you.”

“They burned his clinic down?” she whispered, relaxing against me.

I sat her on the bed,herbed, then stepped back. She clutched at my arm. The move must have been instinctive, because she looked at where her fingers wrapped around my wrist with surprise.

“I’m going to get you a robe. I’m not going anywhere.”

She nodded, those blue eyes wide as saucers, visibly trembling.

“Undress,” I told her. When she didn’t move, I hardened my voice. “Strip, Sofia.”

Her hands shook as she raised them to her collar, and I got my first good look at her jagged nails.Fuck.

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