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“He sounds like he would have been an honorable man. Why did you think he would have married you?”
A laugh pops out of me even as tears well in my eyes. “Because he asked me once when we were younger. Saying once we got married, we’d be the most powerful house in the six families. He’d become the ruler of them all, and I’d be his queen. But he used one of those bread ties. It was orange, and he fashioned it into an engagement ring for me. I still have it in a shoebox under my bed at home. Well, if my mother didn’t throw out all my possessions by now.”
His eyes are bright and warm as he scans my features. I lean into his touch, letting his palm cup around my cheek. It feels so good when he touches me like this. There’s conviction, but also an underlying layer of tenderness he’d never displayed until after he rescued me from Lucas’s house.
I blink my eyes open. And I try to gather up the courage I need to say what I want to know. Because it’s killing me not to have the answers I want.
As if he can read my mind, he smiles. “Whatever you need to say, just say it.”
“Why are things so different between us?” I blurt out.
“Is that why you were interrogating Soo? What all this anxiety and fear on your face is about?”
I nod. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. He’s said many times that he will not let me leave.
He opens his mouth to answer, but then a white and blue soccer ball streaks by us and stops a few feet away.
I hadn’t even noticed the small group of college-age guys playing nearby. One man runs over to retrieve the ball, and while he does, he gives me one of those arrogant once-overs, scanning me from head to toe.
Nic stiffens beside me, his hands stilling on my skin. I remember how he acted in the restaurant when the waiter accidentally touched me. My eyes catch on his, and the flickering of rage in them tells me I need to get him away from this man before he murders him and fucks me in a puddle of his blood just to prove a point.
15
Nic
She tugs on my hands and tries to lead me away, but I lock my gaze on the fucking kid who thinks he can look at my princess.
“Can I help you?” I ask him with deadly calm.
He’s not smart enough to realize he’s in trouble now. Because if she weren’t right here holding my hands, I’d already be on him, punching in his face, ripping out his eyes for looking at what’s mine.
The kid shakes his head, realization slowly leaking into his features. “Nah, man, I’m good, just getting my ball.”
“Then get your fucking ball and walk away. Don’t look at her again, and tell your friends to keep their eyes on your game, or you’ll all regret it.”
He scoffs. “Whatever, man.” He tosses the ball in the air toward his friends and bounds away.
I’m coiled tight with rage, ready to go after him, teach him a lesson in respect.
Celia grips my cheeks and drags my focus to her. “Look at me, Nic. Please, look at me now.” Her voice is frantic.
I focus on her pretty face, anger still coursing through me. “I’m looking at you. Keep talking to me.”
She releases a tiny sigh of relief to have reached me. “Don’t think about those dumb guys. It’s a habit to look at a woman more than anything.”
I trap her hands under mine. “Don’t talk about that, or I’ll go over there and kill them all.”
Her forehead bunches as she studies me. “You’d kill them for looking at me. Don’t you think that’s sort of messy?”
“Doesn’t matter. I protect what’s mine. I keep what’s mine, and as I said…”
“I belong to you, yes, you’ve mentioned that a time or two.”
Something eases in my shoulders. “I’m glad you were listening.”
As I relax, so does she, but she doesn’t know how close to the edge I still am. “Let’s go back to the car.”
She nods, tucking my hand into hers and leading me toward the vehicle like she thinks I might make a break for it and go feral on the college kids.
I glance over my shoulder to find they’ve moved down the field away from us. The kid is smarter than he looks.
Gently, I help her into the vehicle and climb in after her, closing the door. She moves to her side, but I drag her back to mine, tucking her under my arm. “No, let me hold you, reassure myself with your presence.”
She lays her hand on my chest, snuggling into the curve of my arm. “Did you go to college?”
