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ChapterTwelve
Once I put Nina in the elevator, making sure that Stegan was in the lobby to guide her to the car and drive her to Queens, I quickly texted Tatum, Nicu, and Luca about the new development with Nelu, ordering them to come over as soon as possible. Since I’d made the decision to release Tasa from her obligatory marriage to Cristo, it didn’t much matter whether I found Tasa before Nelu found out. Now that he had, though, I had to deal with him.
The backlash of pulling out of the contract was going to be hefty unless I found a suitable alternative, and for that, I needed my brothers. Having finished taking a shower, where images of Nina on her knees, sucking my cock, assailed me at every turn, I was in the middle of putting on cuff links when Luca sailed through my bedroom door. Even though Nina wasn’t there, my body tightened at the thought of another male in my bedroom.
Even if that male was my brother. Apparently, I was losing my damn mind.
Confusion crossed my middle brother’s face as I waved him out of my bedroom.
“What are you? A prude, all of a sudden?” he asked with a snort. “You’re not even naked.”
“Just get out, will you,” I snapped, gesturing toward the door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“The fuck?” was all he muttered as he turned on his heel and exited my room. My family wasn’t known for their privacy. Back home, we walked in and out of one another’s bedrooms without knocking. None of the rooms, besides my father’s office, had locks. The only door we ever knocked on before entering was Tasa’s, and that was because we didn’t want to run the risk of walking in the middle of her changing.
Shrugging on a jacket, I strode out into the living room as Nicu came out of the kitchen with coffee, which he served with Bunica’sshortbread made from crushed walnuts, rose hip jam, and meringue.
“You went home?” I asked, although it was obvious when he came back with such bounty.
Nicu merely shrugged. He was the closest to our mother in many ways. For a brute, he was also a mama’s boy to the core. It was ironic, to say the least, considering he was the most bloodthirsty of us all.
“Just shut up and eat,” he grumbled, turning his back to return to the kitchen. Tatum entered as Nicu returned with glasses of water.
Now we could start.
“As I texted earlier, Nelu called me this morning,” I began. “He knows Tasa’s gone.”
“Cristo must’ve guessed. That was probably the reason for his little party at The Lounge last night. He must’ve gotten a good laugh, listening to our song and dance about Tasa working late as an intern. God, I want to punch that fucker in the face. How pissed was he?” asked Nicu.
“His tone was cold, which is worse. A hot-blooded Romanian screaming at the top of his lungs is easier to deal with any day,” I remarked. Turning to Luca, I updated him on my recent decision. “We’re still going to find Tasa, but I’m not giving her over to that bastard of a son he has.”
Sipping calmly from the intricate small porcelain coffee cup, he asked without surprise, “What’s the sudden change of heart?”
“Nina,” Tatum and Nicu responded simultaneously, darting glances at each other.
“I assume you found her in his bed this morning,” Nicu said to Tatum.
“Yup,” Tatum replied succinctly.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up and stop acting as if you know what my every move is.”
“It’s my job to anticipate your every move,” Nicu declared calmly.
“Yes, the good brother. The best brother,” taunted Luca with a little vicious smirk on his face.
“Shut up,” snarled Nicu. Proud of the work he did for the family, he was quick to react to Luca’s judgment of him as my lackey.
They may share the penthouse floor in the other tower, but they were more competitive than Luca and I ever were. Probably because Luca had never coveted my place at the top. Far from it, in fact. Luca was the rebel. But unlike Tasa, he didn’t go off script. He was a cynical loner who never agreed to anything without a fight first. Fistfights between us were never off the table, even as adults. Which was why Tatum was so crucial to our crew. He liked things balanced and stuck up for Luca. With three brothers forced to work together, the pieces were complex indeed.
“Can we not argue right this moment? We have a bigger issue to deal with,” I intoned.
“So. Let me get this right. You fucked Nina, who convinced you to not force Tasa into a marriage with that upstart of a family,” Luca summarized.
“In a nutshell,” Tatum agreed with a smug grin on his face.
Although Tatum was my oldest confidant and consilier, he and Luca were brothers at heart. Tatum was the closest Luca had to a friend, which was quite a feat since Luca was philosophically against getting close to anyone. Trust wasn’t something that came easily to my younger brother. Tata didn’t do right by him, designating him as the black sheep of the family. I tried to eradicate those patterns after his death, but the scars ran deep. Part of me shied away from looking too closely. Tata remained my idol, but if there was one blemish on his otherwise faultless record, it was the way he’d treated his second son.
“Whatever. The point is we’re required to create a bond with that upstart family,” I reminded him.
