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“This is none of your business, Nina,” Alex replied sternly.
“But it is,” I insisted. “Tasa is my best friend.” I clenched my fists, my nervous tension rioting inside me. “She’s gone, and I haven’t returned to our apartment, because I can’t stand being there without her.”
Taking a deep breath, I forged on before I lost my nerve. He had to see what he was doing to her. “Other than vacations, I’ve spent almost every day with Tasa. We’ve lived next door to each other since we were two years old. We’re practically sisters. You pushed her to this and look where it’s ended. If she’s willing to abandon her entire family and me to escape this marriage, then she has no intention of coming back. That much, I can guarantee you.”
“Nina, you don’t understand everything that’s on the line with this marriage, but I can tell you we rose to the top because every member of my family and clan has done what was required of them, whether they liked it or not,” he replied bluntly. “That is the only way we survive.”
While I was sure he wasn’t wrong, I tackled the anxiety gaining ground on me, because I had to make him understand. This was about Tasa and, like with Yo-Yo, I’d do anything for her.
Bracing myself, I pushed on in a soft but insistent tone, “I know you believe what you’re saying, but this could’ve been avoided. You were too hard on her. She’s not like you.” I motioned to Nicu. “Or him. And now she’s gone for good.” I sniffed and swiped away a few errant tears. Dammit, I didn’t want to cry.
My cheeks flaming from embarrassment, I stood up and snatched my clutch off the table.
I rarely lost my temper. It was an even rarer event for me to pick a fight. Confrontation was definitely not my thing, but as much as I might adore Alex, he was in the wrong. He’d handled Tasa badly for years, and it had led to this catastrophe.
“Maybe it’s because you’re both men that you don’t miss her as much. Maybe it’s because she’s been out of the house for the past three and a half years and you’re not used to seeing her every day. But I’m used to it, and I miss her.”
I glanced over at Nicu, who stared at me with eyebrows arched up, eyes wide with shock, and mouth slightly agape. I snagged the flesh of my bottom lip and gnawed on it. Besides Tasa, I didn’t know anyone who challenged Alex.
Glaring up at me, he snapped, “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Clutch pressed tightly to my chest, I blinked down at him. “I-I’m leaving. I sh-should probably leave,” I stammered.
“Sit your ass down,” he commanded in a dark tone.
My butt instantly hit the cushion of the banquette.
“If you have something to say, then by all means, say it, Nina, but watch your tone. I don’t tolerate temper tantrums from my family, and I sure as hell won’t tolerate it from my woman.”
My woman?
My eyebrows shot up.
“I’ll take a switch to that tight ass in a heartbeat, sweetness,” he declared. Leaning in close, he continued in the curve of my ear, “And I’ll enjoy every damn second of it. Test me on this.” He paused a beat, challenge flashing in his eyes. “I dare you.”
Why did he seem so serious when he spoke those words? Um…because he is. The glint in his eyes advertised that…yup, he was dead serious. A thrill skated down my spine while goose bumps coursed up my arms. I shouldn’t have been aroused by his threat of getting punished, but I was. Moisture gathered at the junction of my thighs, and I wasn’t even wearing panties to protect me from embarrassing myself if I left a wet spot on my dress.
Dear God, help me.
His hand shot out and caught a lock of my hair. Twining it around two of his fingers, he tugged me closer and closer until I was once again plastered to his side. Taking hold of my clutch, he gently pried it out of my clenched fist and returned it to the table.
“Now. What will you have to drink, baby girl?”
“A martini?” I croaked out, still somewhat stunned by what had just happened. I’d gotten the guts to stand up to Alex and made it to the other side, with an arousing threat of punishment thrown into the mix.
His lips thinned into a straight line. “You’re not twenty-one yet.”
I tossed my head, my movement cut short by his hold on my hair. “In two weeks from now,” I whispered, sinking into two pools of emerald that masqueraded as his eyes.
“Then in two weeks from now, you’ll get that precious martini you so desire,” he affirmed.
“I want it dry,” I demanded with a pout.
One side of his mouth hitched up in a sexy little smile that turned my insides into liquid. A dimple popped out on his left cheek, and I swear I almost dissolved into a puddle, right then and there.
“Dry. Got it. Until then, what will you have?”
“A Coke?”
