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ChapterSeven
I tucked Nina’s lithe body against me and leaned back to relax. I wasn’t lying when I said I liked her spirit. She’d surprised me tonight, and I was learning that there was much more to this woman than her soft, sweet persona. While that was the core of who she was, she also had a wiliness and courage that showed in the little plan she’d carried out to get me to fuck her raw. Then there was the hissing kitten she’d transformed into when defending my sister and fighting for her cause. Good. Nina would need a spine to be with me.
I took a sip from the new whiskey the cocktail waitress slid in front of me, and my gaze returned to that fucking little shit, Cristo. I’d always hated that son of a bitch, and Nina had been spot on when she’d stated that he didn’t deserve my sister. Truth was, he’d never measure up to Tasa.
If her disappearance had accomplished one thing, it was to make me realize she’d be miserable married to that asswipe. Peace or no peace. I had misconstrued Tasa’s little rebellions, thinking they were just that, simple teenage rebellion. I had assumed she knew the drill and was willing to go through with the marriage.
She was expressing her dismay, and instead of catching on, I’d pushed her over the edge. I loathed being wrong, and I disliked making mistakes even more. Mistakes were dangerous. They could easily lead to pain and death. Being wrong left a burn of fury in my chest. Fuck, I couldn’t afford the mistake I made. Especially with my little sister. She was an innocent.
I studied the group of young Popescus and hangers-on partying brashly at the far end of the upper floor. Rowdy and loud. Tacky. Christ, that family had always lacked in class. Even if I found Tasa…I swallowed the fear clawing up my throat…when I found her and brought her back home safely, I wouldn’t force her to marry that prick.
Speaking of pricks, I had to somehow salvage the situation with Nelu, the Popescu boss. I certainly couldn’t lie again. Falsehoods were beneath me, and I’d almost choked on my own spit when I spewed that shit in front of Nicu and Nina. Hell, Tata would’ve never lied. Under any circumstances. His moral integrity was ironclad.
It’d been six years since his death, and after a long, drawn-out, exasperating negotiation, Nelu and I had finally agreed to a marriage. A marriage that was tied to the business deal of the decade. Nelu had access to a new product coming out of Afghanistan: the native ephedra plant. Turns out it was a game changer in the worldwide production of crystal meth. Nelu the Dirty, as he was known in the region, had struck deals with warlords and had unlimited access.
He may have had the product but I controlled the illicit trade routes out of Afghanistan into Europe and the rest of the world. I could put a stranglehold on all the best channels. Once the tit for tat between the Lupu and Popescu clans was eradicated, we’d work together for the profit of both.
The linchpin to all this?
The marriage between Tasa and Cristo.
But that had gone to hell. Of course, I’d always been uncomfortable with giving Tasa away, but I’d convinced myself that each of us had to sacrifice for the greater good of the clan. While our relationship was strained at times, I lived under the illusion that she’d understood and accepted her lot.
No more.
Hearing the pain I’d inflicted on my sister, seeing Nina blame me for Tasa’s defection, was a double punch to the gut. Making Nina cry…well, fuck. I was close to smashing my fist into a wall.
I did that. I made this sweet, gentle girl cry. I’d forced my sister to run for her life. Ultimately, I failed her. And by failing her, I not only failed in my duty but I also betrayed the last oath I gave my dying father. Which left me with only one viable option. I had to make this right.
My hand slid over Nina’s dark, silky tresses as she took a sip through the straw in her Coke. Those lips, so delicate and full, still had traces of her outrageously red lipstick even after I ravished her mouth. They innocently wrapped around the straw, tempting me to distraction.
I’d already torn through this poor girl’s hymen, ripped through her wet cunt, and yet I was nowhere near done with her. Sure, her pussy had rippled around my cock. Sure, she’d come so hard the first time I wrenched open her unused flesh. But it had only whetted my appetite for more of her delectable pussy. There was no denying that I was an unrepentant savage.
Slapping my palm on the table, I turned to Nicu and said, “Time to go home.”
My brothers and I occupied the penthouse floors of the Time Warner Center building off Columbus Circle, on the Upper West Side. There were two towers, consisting of two penthouse apartments in each tower. Tatum, my closest friend and consilier, lived in one tower with me while the other was shared between Luca and Nicu. Although, more often than not, Luca ran off to his home in the country.
Nina didn’t raise her head but, instead, leaned into my touch in a manner that had my breath stuttering in my chest.
Eyes downcast, avoiding me, she fiddled with her straw as she reminded me, “I moved back home. To Queens. Do you mind having me brought back to Sunnyside?”
I huffed out a mirthless laugh. She thought I was going to discard her so easily? Christ, she had no idea who I was.
“You’re staying with me,” I stated unequivocally.
Her eyes shot to mine.
My grasp on her locks tightened. “You’re not going anywhere. My enemies have not magically disappeared since our time in the bathroom, and Cristo saw you here, at my table. With me,” I emphasized.
“But you and Cristo’s family are okay now that the marriage contract has been set in place,” she argued.
Nicu barked out a sharp laugh. “Marriage or no marriage, we will never be friends. They can turn on us in a heartbeat. Especially once they learn about Tasa, which can happen at any time. Things are tense until we find Tasa and resolve this shit show with Nelu, Cristo’s father.”
Nina rolled her eyes. “I know who Nelu is, Nicu,” she chided him softly.
He turned a devilish smile on her. “I shouldn’t have doubted you would. My bad.”
“You’re under my protection, Nina.” I tugged her head back until her gaze was fully back on mine. “You stay with me.”
