Page 14 of Sapphires and Snakes
I hand over the bite of waffle. “Eat.”
She sighs, sitting upright against the headboard. Sometime between waking up and now, she pulled on an oversize shirt. Of mine. I swallow hard, turning to focus on cutting myself a bite and not on the way the collar’s so big it shows off her collarbones. Or the way it hangs just right to show off her naked body underneath when she leans forward to eat more.
I clear my throat. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
I arch a brow.
“Oh, you want honesty?” She nibbles on the fork for a moment. “Betrayed. Angry. Violated. Helpless.”
“All understandable.” I build a bite on my fork. “Do you want to do anything about it?”
“What’s there to do?” she grumbles.
“Yell at your parents. Break shit. Fuck in the training room.”
She smacks my arm. “You promised not to tease!”
“I wasn’t!” I clutch my arm like she wounded me. “I was being serious!”
She rubs her hands over her face with a groan. “I made a mistake. We’re never fucking again.”
I snort. “Yeah, okay. Believable.”
“Shut up.” She grabs a pineapple slice and shoves it in my mouth.
I chew, juice slipping down my chin, and smile wide.
Her eyes follow the trail of juice, half-lidded, and I almost topple the tray off the bed so I can tackle her to the mattress. She shakes her head. “Can we have a day off?”
“A day off. What’s that?” I can’t remember the last time I had a real break.
Zarina smooths her hands over her hair, tucking it behind her ears. “It’s this amazing thing where we don’t deal with real-life problems or mafia bullshit. It’s pretty cool. Highly recommend.”
“Sounds fake.” I cut another bite and hold it up, staring at it. Already, this morning feels fake. I’m eating breakfast in bed after fucking Zarina Gallo, mafia princess to the family that almost killed me. Everything about this is so separated from reality that it’s barely believable already.
Why not go a bit deeper down the rabbit hole? What more could it hurt?
I settle my hand on Zarina’s thigh and squeeze. “What did you have in mind?”
ZARINA
Iyank down the visor mirror again, double-checking that my hair didn’t magically mess up in the last five minutes. Tamayo’s hand on my thigh rubs soothing circles, her other hand steering the car into the parking lot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her drive before today, and thank god, because my pussy clenched each time she turned the damn wheel with one hand. Why is that so hot?
She puts it in park, and I flip up the visor with a snap. Now is not the time for sexy thoughts. Not when I’m moments away from visiting Alphabet House for the first time, where the woman who changed Tamayo’s life (her words, verbatim) works. It’s like going home to meet the parents.
I should check my hair again.
“You look beautiful,” Tamayo says, and I wonder if she can read my mind.
“Do I look like a mafia princess or a fashionable lesbian?” I ask.
She squeezes my thigh as if the act is more comforting than stirring. “You look likeyou.”
“Ugh, that doesn’t help!” I flip the visor down again, smoothing down my hair despite the fact it hasn’t moved norchanged in the last minute. Maybe I should have taken Tamayo up on the training room instead.
Tamayo chuckles, pulling the keys out of the ignition. “Why are you so nervous? You met Rita last night.”