AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Theo,”Mama said in her soothing tone.“She was my friend, too. Believe me when I tell you she would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
“We also need to get something very clear into your head. You aren’t the one responsible for the hit. Uncle Mik was. He went against Theios Peter’s orders and went after a group he knew better than to target. All to initiate your brothers into the life.”
I remembered the fury on Papa’s face when I’d gotten home from school. He’d sat in his office, gripping his hair and shaking his head. He’d raged about how Theios Mik killed an innocent child, the youngest son of a local boss when he’d arrived home in the boss’s car instead of him. The boy had been eleven.
“It doesn’t change the fact I’m the one they targeted, and Mama died.”
“Does it make you unworthy of my daughter? Want to know a secret?”
Yeah, I wanted to know whatever she planned to spill.
“I knew about the both of you and I knew the moment things changed with the three of you.”
My mouth fell open. Oh my God. I was still in high school then, a senior in high school, but only seventeen.
Shit, that sounded really bad, now that I thought about it, especially since they were older than me by a few years.
“Why didn’t you say anything? About Theo and me or the three of us?”Xander asked.“I’m sure it wasn’t exactly what you wanted for your eldest daughter and heir.”
“I’ll address both parts of the question. First, the two of you needed each other. You were best friends, who were more. I saw nothing wrong with it. Not everyone from my generation is closed-minded.”
The love I felt for Mama was beyond anything I could describe. I had no doubt she was instrumental in protecting Xander and Theo as teenagers.
“Now to the second part. You made Nerine happy and kept her out of trouble. And we know how much of a troublemaker she is, don’t we, Theo?”Mama asked with a humorous inflection to her words.
She wanted to lighten the mood after the heaviness of moments earlier.
He grunted.“You tricked me into babysitting her. Why didn’t you tell me her old school kicked her out?”
“Because her Papa didn’t know. He believed she only used her viper tongue for select purposes instead of at every inappropriate time possible.”
“She gave me hell. I wanted to throw her off the nearest bridge.”
“And now you love her.”
“Now I love her and still want to throw her off the nearest bridge.”
“Then it is settled. You will marry Nerine as soon as we can convince her to go through with it.”
He sighed.“Xander, are you good with this?”
“I was always going to tell you to be the one to make it legal for the same reasons Theia Delia gave.”
“I swear, I’m surrounded by conspirators.”
“Okay, give me hugs and go to bed. If you can’t find Nerine, she is probably in one of her sister’s rooms. The girl loves the secret hallways her papa built in this house. I’ll never understand why she enjoys walking around in the dark so much.”
“This side of the house has them, too?”Theo asked.“I assumed it was only in the old section.”
I winced. Mama and her big mouth.
That was our secret.
“Oh no. Peter and Nerine insisted the addition have them, too. They wanted ways to avoid people, meaning their security. It was all fun and games until Nerine used the sneaky tactics Peter taught her on him. I can only imagine the trouble she gave you.”
“You have no idea,”Xander muttered.“She could drive a man to drink.”
“How did you keep her from barging in here? Your daughter is nosy and believes she needs to be in the center of every conversation about her.”
