Page 31 of All’s Fair In Love & War (The Bulgari Cartel #2)

When she finally stepped out of the car, she treated the sidewalk like a red carpet.

Her caramel skin glowed under the afternoon sun, and her twenty-eight-inch bone-straight bust-down moved in the wind.

She wore a fitted red Balmain blazer dress, cinched at the waist with gold buttons that caught the light.

The hem hit high enough to turn heads but not so high as to undermine her authority. Her black patent YSL heels clicked like punctuation marks as she walked, and the oversized Tom Ford shades on her face conveyed the same energy as a middle finger. Riley was a bad bitch through and through.

“I know you see them staring,” she said, glancing back at me with a smirk.

“As they should.” I blew her a kiss as I stepped out behind her, letting the wind catch the hem of my black Rick Owens trench coat.

Underneath, I wore an ivory Mugler corset top with a structured bustline and tailored black trousers that hugged my hips.

My long, honey-blonde waves were tucked behind my ear on one side, cascading over the other shoulder with not a strand out of place.

Cartier bangles lined one wrist, and my black Louboutin boots added an extra three inches of disrespect.

When we pushed open the doors, the scent of citrus, champagne, and bougie ambition greeted us like an old friend.

Sophia was already here, posted up at a corner table with a clear view of the exit, like always.

One leg crossed over the other, black nails tapping against her glass.

Dressed in all white, hair slicked back into a low ponytail, she looked like she was here to assassinate a man or seduce, possibly both.

She lifted her glass in greeting. “Took y’all long enough.”

“We ran into traffic,” Riley said, sliding into the booth beside her.

“She’s lying. You know it takes her an hour to apply her lipstick and straighten her clothes,” I added, nodding at Riley.

Sophia smirked. “Of course.”

Once we were all seated, I waved off the server and leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. “I’ve been thinking about expansion.”

Sophia arched a brow. “For territory?”

“No, legacy,” I corrected. “The three of us? We’re the blueprint. Muscle, heart, and mind, and I want more women like us sitting at our table.”

“You’re talking about building a new generation,” Riley said, eyes gleaming. “A women-led syndicate.”

“Exactly. We’re not just pretty faces who stand next to powerful men; we women who are the power.”

Sophia gave a slow nod. “I’m in.”

“You’ve been in,” I reminded her. “You brought this to me, remember?”

She smiled, and for a second, I saw that flicker in her eyes, the one that said she hadn’t forgotten what she’d traded for a seat at my table.

Back when Sophia first approached me, it was late, and I’d just finished handling business.

She walked into my office with blood on her collar and calm in her voice.

She told me she wanted in, explained what she could do, and then backed it up with a file full of bodies and clean hits I didn’t even know were connected—and neither did her brother.

It meant something that she trusted me with a secret she hadn’t told anyone else.

She didn’t offer it to me out of fear or pressure.

She chose me, and that choice carried weight.

In this world, loyalty wasn’t just about who would kill for you.

It was about who would bleed beside you, and who would hand over the most guarded parts of themselves without hesitation.

Sophia wasn’t just my sister-in-law anymore.

Somewhere along the line, she’d become one of the few people I could count on with my life.

Her loyalty wasn’t loud or performative.

It was steady, and that made her more than family.

She was mine . A friend. A soldier. A woman who didn’t need protecting, but still made me feel like I had someone worth protecting, too.

Riley was the only other person she trusted to know her secret, and together, we made the decision that night. Sophia would be the blade, Riley the soul, and I’d keep the empire running from the top.

Before I could speak again, a voice interrupted us.

“Ladies.”

We all turned as Dallas Veneto strolled up to the table, casual in a tailored jacket and loafers that cost more than most people’s rent. He gave me a polite nod, offered Riley a smile, then turned to Sophia, his eyes slowly roaming over every inch of her.

“Sophia,” he said, her name dripping from his lips like something he’d been dying to taste again.

Her expression didn’t shift. “Dallas.”

“Didn’t expect to see you out in daylight,” he said, eyes drifting across the table before landing on her. “Then again, you always had a way of popping up where folks least expect.”

Sophia didn’t even look up from her drink. “Stop talking to me before I’m tempted to pick up where we left off in that hangar. I still got a few bullets with your name on them.”

She was talking about the day we thought Dallas had kidnapped Riley.

We flew back to town, and the moment we stepped off the plane, all hell broke loose.

Naeem and Dallas clashed, a fight broke out, bullets flew, and Naeem got hit several times.

By the time the smoke cleared, Sophia had Dallas on the ground, gun to his head, ready to end him—until I threw my body over his, stopping her.

I couldn’t let him die before my best friend was home where she belonged.

“Do you really?” Dallas asked, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes, like the threat didn’t faze him at all. “Because if I remember right, you hesitated.”

“Trust me, that won’t happen again, and Tatum won’t be able to save you this time.” She tilted her head, finally looking up at him.

Riley let out a short laugh. “Please do it next time. Just give me a heads-up so I can duck, or better yet, hand me the gun. I’ll do it myself.”

Dallas grinned, completely unbothered. “Y’all still mad over a little misunderstanding?”

Riley’s smile dropped, and she leaned forward, eyes locked on him. “You really think pretending to kidnap me just to get to my best friend counts as a misunderstanding?”

Sophia didn’t miss a beat. “He probably does. You know he’s dumber than he is useful.”

Dallas chuckled, unfazed. “That’s wild coming from someone who’s looking at me like I’m dessert, but I’ll let you have that. I lowkey miss the sound of your voice.”

Sophia’s eyes narrowed. “I’m looking at you like I’m trying to figure out which fork to use to stab you. Don’t get it twisted.”

“Wait!” I glanced at Sophia, my brows pulling tight. “Missed? Since when do you two talk?”

Riley leaned forward. “Yeah, what exactly did we miss?”

Sophia snapped upright in her seat. “Y’all didn’t miss shit. This muthafucka’s just trying to start some shit.” Then she turned to Dallas, her voice low and dangerously calm as she said, “Move the hell on.”

Dallas held up his hands, backing away with a grin so wide it stretched across the room. “Y’all got it. I was just being friendly,” he said before turning around and walking off, cool as ever.

Riley narrowed her eyes. “Friendly, my ass. I hate that nigga.”

I stayed silent, watching Sophia from the corner of my eye.

Her fingers were clutching the stem of her glass, shoulders tense, her expression flat, and her energy had changed.

Whatever passed between her and Dallas hadn’t been a harmless exchange, and whether she was ready to explain it or not, I wasn’t imagining it.