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“Luca,” he called me again as I approached, planting a hand on my shoulder. “Let me introduce you to your new sister-in-law, Cat.”
At least he’d gotten her name right.
Turning to Cat, he said, “This is Luca, our middle brother. Tasa, Nicu’s twin, will arrive tomorrow.” Peering over the crowd, he added, “Sebastian and Emma are here somewhere. Luca, can you stay here with Cat while I find them?”
Alex pushed through the crowd, looking for our half siblings, and despite being in the middle of a crowd, we were left alone.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared down at her. “So, you’re the bride-to-be. You could’ve mentioned that when we met earlier.”
“I didn’t know who you were!” she exclaimed in a harsh whisper, her eyes darting right and left. And truth be told, she should be afraid. She’d been flirting with me, dammit. It was a bad look for her. I didn’t give a shit, of course, but she didn’t know that.
“I swear,” she continued, “I never…” she waved her hand, at a loss for words to describe what had transpired between us. Nothing of consequence on the outside, yet something had passed between us. Sheer horror was stamped on her face, and the urge to alleviate her panic gripped me.
“I know you’re a good girl,” I said calmly, because I couldn’t let her walk away worried for her reputation.
Yes, it was a slip. The teasing and the way she made eyes at me. But deep down, I knew innocence when I saw it. This girl was it. She was most definitely a virgin. Any other option was unfathomable, but more than that, she was without artifice.
“So you flirted with me a little. It’s not a big deal,” I said casually, my eyes carefully assessing whether we could be overheard.
“Oh…yeah, oh, okay…thanks,” she stammered out.
My gaze shot to hers. There was relief and…was that hurt? Fuck. For no clear reason that I could fathom, her tender little feelings mattered to me. Like the odds of being struck by lightning, I was struck with the desire to soothe this girl. She would be trapped in a loveless marriage, and if I knew Nicu, he hadn’t batted an eye in her direction. He didn’t care to know anything about her after what Nelu and Cristo tried to pull on us. She was a means to an end and nothing more.
But when we were alone in my garden, there’d been a spark. I felt it. So did she and, being emotionally unattached to him, she followed it like the innocent young teenager she was.
Again, her innocence struck me. I’d never had a thing for it before but sensing that she was untouched by the violence and darkness that dominated my life seemed like a near miracle. It was a shame really because Nicu would never forgive her for her father’s scheming. She’d be a hole to fuck and breed. Nothing more. My jaw tightened at the thought of my brother touching her. An ugly feeling of jealousy that I’d never felt before slithered in my chest.
“I know I’m irresistible, so, yeah, I get it,” I teased lightly. “What can I say? My allure is overwhelming.” I gave a dramatic sigh. “It’s my cross to bear.”
She puffed out a laugh and took the lifeline I threw her. Uncurling her wringing hands, she straightened her spine and threw her shoulders back.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you just said that, but okay, sure it is,” she joked. “That’s exactly how it went down.”
I grinned.
She grinned back.
Goddamn, it was like being hit by a pure ray of golden sunshine right in the solar plexus. My breath stuttered in my lungs.
For the first time in my entire twenty-seven years, I was jealous of one of my brothers because I wanted this woman. And the irony? I’d had my chance and rejected her. Karma was a fucking bitch.
At that moment, Alex broke through the crowd, with Sebastian and Emma at his back. As he introduced them, I stepped back and melted into the crowd. Sebastian, who looked almost identical to the rest of us Lupu brothers, with our height and frame, took her small, delicate hand in his. Emma looked the least like a Lupu with a head of strawberry blonde curls that ended at her chin. She was petite and curvy. And nerdy as all hell. She was a riot, in fact, and I liked her best of all. We could talk shop since she was an AI researcher and I was into anything digital.
Although I stepped away, I was unwilling to leave the vicinity, so I stopped to congratulate Nicu with a clap on the shoulder. He gave me a look of unadulterated boredom. Nicu was most comfortable in a barefisted street fight, or maybe a cage fight. Either way, it was someplace rough and dirty, not a pretty engagement party in a lux suburban mansion like mine.
A rush of anger, mixed with being offended on Cat’s behalf, surged through me. “Your fiancée is beautiful. You lucked out, you know that, right?”
“Y’think? I don’t have a thing for blondes like you do,” he mused, tilting his head as he inspected her critically, like she was an insect mounted in a display case. “Plus, she was your responsibility first.” My eyes narrowed at his unnecessary dig as he motioned for a waiter, swiped a shot of ?uica, and threw it down his throat. When was he going to let go of his conviction that she was mine and start seeing her as his responsibility? He was going to marry her after all, not me. That realization slapped me hard across the face, yet again.
I glared at him. How he did not take one look at her and want her was a mystery. The girl’s a beauty. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d seen someone so stunning. I shook my head. He was fucking insane. Although, I was the idiot who agreed to host the Popescus for this extended weekend. What the hell had I been thinking? Oh yeah, that Tasa and her man were coming, and it would be easier for everyone if they didn’t stay in my mother’s house. She still hadn’t completely forgiven Tasa for running away from her engagement to Cristo to marry another guy. This extended weekend-long engagement party was also an opportunity for Alex and Nelu to discuss business and meet Nelu’s partners from Afghanistan.
But the woman drew me like a moth to a flame. Even now, standing beside my brother, her fiancé, I had trouble keeping my eyes off her. I could struggle through the entire long-ass weekend, but what about the rest of my life? I couldn’t go on lusting after my brother’s wife. It didn’t matter that they cared nothing for each other. If I knew Nicu, that wouldn’t change anytime soon, if ever. I was more determined than ever to get away from New York. Laguna Beach was where I wanted to be anyway, even if our presence there would never be as strong and impressive as New York and Chicago in the future. To hell with it. My sanity and peace of mind were more important than the size of my territory and reach of my power. I’d have to try to catch Alex alone at some point and work on convincing him to let me go. It was my only option. As for the marriage condition he’d imposed, I was going to pretend I didn’t hear it and try to wear him down.
