Page 84 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

SOFIA

Two minutesbefore my last exam was scheduled to start, my phone buzzed. I swiped absentmindedly, only to gasp with horror as a photo of me in front of my computer popped up.

Unknown number

You’re mine.

“Sunshine?” Lorenzo asked, seeing the tension in my body.

Silently, I held the phone out to him. He swore angrily in Italian and English, then scanned the room with narrowed eyes. When he reached up into the corner, where the wall met the ceiling, and smashed through the tile, yanking a handful of wires down, I thought he’d explode with fury.

“Take your final, Sofia. And then we need to leave.”

Shaken, I nodded. Fuck Sergio and his need to spoil every goddamned good thing in my life.

An hour later, I’d finished the last exam of my undergraduate career, and the excitement I should have felt was entirely overshadowed by the danger. Furious at Sergio forbeing such an asshole, furious at Dante for not keeping his word, furious at the world who just couldn’t let us live our lives in peace, I shoved away from the desk.

Sofia

I need a place to get ready for the gala. Can I do it at your place?

Ginevra

Of course. We just got off the plane. Meet us there in about an hour?

Lorenzo peeked over my shoulder. “You don’t want to stay with us?” I could hear the hurt in his voice.

“In a hotel room?” I asked. “Will that be as safe as Ginevra’s house?”

“Safer, considering Sergio was able to bug the house,” he sighed and then wrapped his arms around me from behind, nuzzling my neck affectionately as he rocked me from side to side. “We had sexy plans for you.”

“For the gala?”

“For before, for during, and for after,” Lorenzo answered, biting my earlobe and sending need shooting straight to my clit. “Dante and Nick can’t stripe your ass red at your sister’s house.”

I tensed in his arms as I imagined myself sliding on my dress over my red, aching ass after they fucked me stupid, their cum leaking out of me.

“Sunshine, your eyes are nearly crossed with lust,” Lorenzo cooed in my ear. “Sure you don’t want to change your mind?”

“Pick me up at my sister’s,” I gasped as his hand wandered north from my waist to cup my breasts.

“Sure you don’t want a reward for finishing your final?” he teased me.

Yes, yes, I very much did want a reward, but my daughter was playing games with her nanny in the other room, and I had a gala to prepare for. And I didn’t know how many more cameras were still hiding in this house and wouldn’t until that damned hacker came through later today.

“Tell Dante to pick me up in an armored limo,” I said. “We can take the long way to the ball.”

A few minutes later, Miss Carolina had Lizzie’s bag packed, and I had everything I needed for the next day, including graduation, packed.

With Lorenzo’s help, and that of the bodyguards Dante had left guarding the house, we loaded up Lorenzo’s SUV.

First stop was my parents’ compound. My mother wanted to speak with me before the gala. Mystified, I’d agreed.

I leaned on the car, admiring the flex of Lorenzo’s arms as he removed the car seat. “Sofia,” she called softly.

“Mamma?”

She took my arm, and we walked around the garden. “Congratulations on finishing school today. I’m looking forward to your graduation tomorrow.”

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