Page 20 of Sapphires and Snakes

I can’t say any of that.

So I say something else entirely. “There’s a paper in the glove box—grab it and read it for me?”

Zarina frowns, releasing my hand to do as I asked. She takes out the heavy cardstock and reads David Capone’s scrawl inviting us to mediation with the Accardis. The wrinkle between her brows deepens until she snorts derisively. “I guess half a day off is the most I could hope for.”

“You don’t have to go.” I avoid the highway, taking a longer route home.

She falls back against her seat and rubs her forehead. “Yes. I do.”

I don’t say anything, because she’s right. If I go alone, we lose face, and in turn, lose power. Plus, I worry about the opportunity it would provide the Accardis to make another ill-advised butstrategic move against us while we’re separated. We were in the same room last night, and they almost succeeded in stealing Zarina right out from under me. If they knew she’d be where I’m not? The thought shoots anxiety into my veins.

We go together.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t have moves to make. “Don’t wear makeup on Tuesday.”

“Hm?” Zarina peeks at me out of the corner of one eye.

“Look pathetic,” I say, “injured, barely able to hold yourself together.”

She purses her lips, thinking it over. “Make him think he’s winning.”

“And stoke sympathy from Jimmy.”

“I can do that.” She tucks her hair behind her ear.

I squint at her, half-turning in my seat as we wait at a stoplight. “You have to act like it, too, princess.”

She wrinkles her nose in distaste. “That’s too far. I can look pathetic and be pissed.”

“But if you play into their stereotypes and limited expectations, you can manipulate the narrative. Use their misogyny against them.” I turn back to the road, accelerating through the intersection.

She gags on air, like the mere thought of doing as I’m suggesting tastes rotten on her tongue. I shake my head with a fond smile. I may present masculine, but I’m still a woman. Men still expect me to perform femininity, to be a damsel in distress they can protect and provide for.

Zarina groans and flops against the headrest. “Ugh, I hate that you’re making sense.”

I squeeze her thigh with a sad smile. “I know. I do, too.”

Zarina chews her lip, arms crossed as she considers. “Fine.” Her hands fall to her lap. “But if Marcus makes one comment,one threatening move, one minute facial expression that triggers me, I will not hold back.”

I offer my hand, and she shakes it. “Deal.”

At the mention of Marcus’s name, the weight of last night’s events settles over the car. Zarina’s hand fiddles with the collar of her turtleneck covering her bruises, and it sparks a sickly rage. A feeling I can’t act upon. Not even at this scam of a meeting.

I turn into my territory, noting the SUV that pulls out behind me and the capo sitting in the driver’s seat. We’re a few minutes from home, and all I can think about is having to sit across from Marcus Accardi on Tuesday with anything but murder in my eyes.

“Stay with me tonight.” The words slip out before I think to hold them back.

Zarina studies me with a breath stuck in her throat. “I’m tired. I just want to sleep tonight.”

“That’s all I want, princess. I promise.”

She rubs her lips together, her gloss still shiny despite half a day of wear. I don’t know what I’ll do if she says no. Or why exactly it matters to me so much that she stay. All I know is that the thought of separating for the night fills me with leaden dread.

It must be because she’s injured. Because she was almost ripped away from me less than twenty-four hours ago. Nothing more.

Zarina wraps her hand over the top of mine sitting on her thigh. “Okay. I’ll stay with you tonight.”

I nod and refuse to name the flood of feelings that warms me from the inside out.