Page 6 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

Tony grabbed my arm. “What the fuck is going on, Lorenzo?”

My stomach dropped. To this point, we’d kept my involvement with Sofia under wraps—my decision to throw in with her, regardless of the effect on the Russos.

“You and Dante have been tearing the city apart with my men, starting a war with the Costas, and you’re telling me, after torturing a dozen soldiers, you don’t have shit?”

“Your men?” I scoffed. “The men you refused to assign to Sofia for protection unless she gave up her freedom and moved in with you?”

Tony’s eyes widened a fraction before hardening.

Shit.

“Is that what you’ve been doing instead of protecting my warehouses and running my security apparatus?” he asked, his voice deep and mean. “Panting after my daughter and getting her kidnapped?”

My heart stopped, hurt shooting through me like a thousand poisoned arrows. But this wasn’t the time. We needed to get Sofia back, and then I’d have my reckoning with the Russos and how they treated their daughter.

“Tony Russo, I have given my entire life to protecting you and yours. And that includes Sofia!” My voice rose along with my disappointment in this man who’d given me so much.

He’d given me everything, and yet, he was hollering about warehouses when his daughter was missing.

“Have I ever given you reason to believe I was doing anything other than what I thought was best for the Russo family?” I asked, knowing this was the end of our relationship.

Tony looked me up and down, his lips pressed together into a grim line. “Don’t give me any reason to doubt it,” he said, though his tone implied he already did.

“Sofiaisfamily, Tony.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, more gray than black. “I’m sending Luca with you, and I want a full report.”

Dante’s fingers turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. Nico climbed in the back, looking as well pressed as ever, even after an afternoon of playing with Lizzie. His eyes slid over the blood on my hands and shirt, then Dante’s knuckles.

When Luca slid in beside Nico and leaned forward as if to ask me a question, Dante turned around, fire blazing in his eyes.

“Luca Russo, why are you here?”

“To protect Russo interests,” Luca snapped back.

In one swift movement, Dante shoved his door open and yanked open Luca’s, pointing a gun at Luca’s head.

A dozen armed men immediately drew their own weapons.

“Wrong,” Dante snapped, his aim not wavering, despite the danger he’d brought upon himself. “We’re here to get Sofia back.Fuckthe Russos’ interests.”

Luca’s gaze swiveled to me, as if I were going to disagree. I shrugged and waited for him to respond, fully aware that refusing to defend him, to defend the Russos, was evidence of the betrayal I’d made when I swore myself to Sofia a week before.

“Is that how it is, Lorenzo?”

I nodded once.

“I’m here to get Sofia back too,” Luca answered, finally. “Doing so doesn’t divide my loyalties.”

Dante snorted, but looked at me, waiting for some sort of signal. I frowned but turned my body back to the front. “Good.”

“Bene,” Dante muttered, holstering his gun. “Glad we cleared that up.”

4

SOFIA

Still hazy,my eyes opened slowly, and I tried to shake the fog from my brain. Why couldn’t I think?

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