Page 57 of Rubies and Revenge

“I have no idea what you mean.” Tamayo opens the door with a flourish and hands him off to Darius waiting on the other side. “Please enjoy yourself, Logan. You’ve worked hard.”

He coughs. “Yes, it’s been a stressful campaign.”

“Let off some steam.” Tamayo winks, shaking his hand.

“Uh, yes, thank you.” He barely returns the handshake, neck half-craning toward the dance floor and the occupied cross. I struggle to hold back a snort.

Darius sweeps his hand out for Logan to follow him. “This way, please.”

Logan practically trips down the stairs in his haste. I shovemy fist in my mouth to soften the burst of giggles clogging my throat.

Tamayo holds her ingratiatory expression until the door clicks shut, and then her face falls into a stormy frown while I finally bend over in a fit of laughter. She shakes her head at me, striding to grab her half-full glass and drain the rest of it in a few gulps. She sets it on the bar a bit too harshly. “I fucking hate that man.”

I slip onto my earlier stool, my own drink almost empty again. “Who is Mistress Davina?”

Tamayo signals the bartender for another vodka Collins. I wonder if she ever drinks anything else. “A dominatrix.”

“And Logan wants to be dominated, not do the dominating?” I frown, recalling his gaze on the Saint Andrews cross, on the dominatrix caressing her submissive.

“Naturally.”

“I would have thought him too…toxic to be dominated.” I pluck the dragon fruit off the rim and bite into it. Juice trickles over my chin.

Tamayo watches the trail, fingers gripping the edge of the bar.

I catch the liquid on my thumb and suck it off, pointedly ignoring her gaze. “How’d you find out?”

“I have wiles,” she says. The bartender delivers her drink, and she thanks them, carrying it over to the seating area. She sinks down onto her throne-like chair, legs spread wide and shoulders sagging.

“Are you filming the room?” I pop the rest of the fruit in my mouth.

She tilts her head, studying me for a long moment. “You’re conniving, aren’t you?”

“Duh.” I drain the rest of my drink. The alcohol is warm in my belly, tingling over my tongue. I know that when I stand, the feeling will spread over my limbs and buzz pleasantly in myfingertips. Just the right amount of buzzed with all the loosened inhibitions, but without the nausea. I stretch my hands over my head to feel how they float. “Are we done, then? We can leave?”

Tamayo doesn’t answer, instead massaging her temples like she’s annoyed and burdened by my presence. I glower at that. I didn’t drag myself here against my will, she did.

I cross my arms. “Let me rephrase that—I’m done. I want to leave.”

“Patience, princess,” she says with a long-suffering sigh.

“For what?” I snap. She told me why we’re here on the way over—to reward Logan Anderson for arresting Dan the Snake. And she’s done that. What else is there? “All I’ve gotten out of this field trip is borderline sexual harassment and a buzz.”

Her hand falls to the arm rest. “Another reason I fucking hate that man.”

I snort, derisive and pissed off. At least I was doing something productive at the house, in my room, away from her, before she knocked on my door. I try not to think about it, but every day, time ticks further. We’re almost a month into this haphazard Band-Aid of a fake engagement, and all I am is closer to failure. Failing to save myself and the Gallo Family. Not my parents, but all our people. The soldiers, the capos, their families. Our friends. Tamayo calls me princess all the time, but what use am I as a veritable royal if I can’t save us from extinction?

And with all that weight on my shoulders, here I am, wasting my time playing arm candy for my fake fiancée and a shitbag attorney. I shake my head, lip curling. “When are you gonna stop letting them piss all over you, your people, your things, and start demanding respect, Tamayo? You want to be a don? Fucking act like one.”

She shoots me a confused look. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”

My face heats with anger, at her, at myself, at everyone whohas ever used me for their own gain. “You dragged me here to be a fucking worm wriggling on a hook in order to lure the district attorney in and keep him on the line.”

“I brought you here to present a united fucking front and keep up appearances,” she snaps back.

“Plenty of dons do business without their wives.”

She scoffs. “Would you prefer me to conduct myself like other dons? Would you like it if I kept you at home with a credit card and the kids and fucked you when I wanted without a thought to you?”

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