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The first part made my insides turn into molten heat. The second part had me quivering on the inside. Pressure was building, what with the fear of what was coming with our families. I had never crossed a line on purpose. Certainly not one of this magnitude, that was for sure. I cringed at the thought of my parents’ reactions, and especially Cristo’s. God only knew what he would do. I just prayed he held on to his temper.
Then, there was Alex. He hadn’t been given the honorary title of the Lupul for nothing. Not only was he physically imposing, but he was cunning. He’d outwitted my father and brother more than once. The man could not be underestimated, and our blood bond would live or die on his word. I blew out a ragged breath.
Not used to sitting around in a kitchen and too nervous to relax and do nothing, I offered, “Should I make some coffee?”
“Sure,” he replied. Pointing to various cupboards, he called out where the ibric, coffee, and sugar were located. After asking him how much sugar he liked in his coffee, I got to work and soon had the coffee foaming in the long-handled copper pot. It felt intimate to be enveloped in Luca’s spicy scent from his bathrobe, making Turkish coffee while he prepped an omelet beside me. It was so very domestic. A feeling of giddiness hit me, and a smile spread over my lips.
Soon, this would be our life.
Since the engagement party, I tried to imagine my life with Nicu and came up empty. Not really knowing him, and having spent no time with him, I had nothing to go on. Besides a handful of dutiful texts that he sent here and there, his goal seemed to maintain distance between us. He was as much a blank slate as the day my mother told me of my engagement. While my ego had been a bit bruised by his blatant neglect, I was now grateful for it. By actively avoiding me, I could move forward in my new life with Luca, unencumbered by dreams, thoughts, or memories of another man.
I gave Luca a stealthy side-glance as he stood beside me. This man would be my husband. This would be my life. I almost let loose a foolish little giggle. Unbelievable. Only a few weeks ago, I resigned myself to a loveless marriage. Now I was feeling as close to blissful as I’d ever felt in my life. I’d felt pride over my grades at school and I’d felt comfort at my parents’ home, but I’d never felt this sense of completion, of…joy. And it was all due to this man.
Breaking into my thoughts, Luca said something, which I only caught the tail end of, “…Romanian summers that I learned to cook.” He frowned as he efficiently chopped half an onion. “But that ended when I was thirteen.”
“Why did you stop going when you were thirteen?” I asked. I loved that I could ask him any question that popped into my head. I stopped asking questions of Tata and Cristo, who tried to shield me from anything unpleasant about our lives after “the incident.”
But Luca saw me as an adult and as his equal. Another thing I loved about him. Frowning into the cutting board of onions, he said, “My father, Alex, and I were ambushed driving back from Bunica’s hometown to Bucharest. A Roma gang launched a surprise attack in the middle of nowhere. We brought a few down, but then my father was shot. Thinking they’d killed him, they scattered like roaches. He waved us out of the car, commanding Alex and me to hunt them down. I still remember his warnings to not come back until they were all dead. It took us hours, tracking them down one by one in a birch forest. We killed them all except for the last one, whom we kept alive to torture.”
Luca’s eyes were glazed over as if he’d been returned to that day in his mind and my heart broke for him again. This man had been through so much. First, he survived an abusive father. Then there was the violence that came from his position as the son of a sef. I knew a little bit of how that violence could eat away at you. Long after it was over, it lingered at the edges of my consciousness. What effect did it have on him? An urge to protect him surged through me. I wanted to take care of him somehow.
I touched his shoulder, and he jerked back into the present.
“That’s horrible, Luca,” I said softly, not knowing what I could say that wouldn’t sound trite or stupid.
He flashed me a small smile—to comfort me, I knew—but I wasn’t having it.
“No, that’s really terrible. It was an awful thing for your father to do. You and Alex were only kids. And you could’ve been hurt or killed.”
That last realization shot a blast of frigid cold through my chest.
“We were trained. We already knew how to handle a gun. Part of our trip to Romania was hunting in the mountains. While I hated the way my father treated me, I understood his motivation that day. If we didn’t get them right then and there, we might never have found them. That was unacceptable. We had to eliminate them, and what better statement than having two boys hunt down and eliminate an existential threat? It made for a great story. Once we got back to Bucharest, it spread like wildfire.”
I swallowed. “I don’t want that to happen to our sons, Luca. If we have sons.”
“We will have sons, Cat. And they will follow in my footsteps. You know this.” He lifted his hand, caressing my cheek with his knuckles. “I promise to protect them so that they never fall into such an unfortunate situation at such a young age, but they will need to be prepared. It’s for their own safety. For all of our safety. Weakness has no place in this world,” he ended softly.
He was right, of course. I knew that, but I couldn’t face it right now. Stifling a small whimper, I rushed out, “I don’t want to have children right away. You’re older than me by what…eight, nine years? I know that I’m expected to pop them out right away, but I want to go to college.”
At the very least, I could push this problem back a few years. If I accomplished one of my goals, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so powerless. Choosing Luca as my husband through the blood bond was definitely a step in the right direction, but I wasn’t done. Not nearly close to done. This discussion itself was jumping the gun. It was based on the premise that we got away with the blood bond, a fight that hadn’t even begun yet.
Cracking the eggs, one by one, on the edge of a large porcelain bowl, he said, “There’s no rush. I’m sure that Nina and Alex will be starting soon. Nina wants a big family, so that should stave off my mother for a time. But after you graduate, I’d like us to start.” His hand slipped down to cup my belly. “I can’t wait to see you ripe with our child.”
I puffed out a laugh. “You did not just say that,” I teased, but his warm hand on my belly elicited a yearning to feel a baby kicking inside me. I was stunned. Placing my hand over his, I squeezed. He made me feel things I’d never felt before.
He threw me a wide grin. “What can I say? I’m a possessive bastard.” He arched an eyebrow. “During the last month, I was snarling under my breath the entire time, thinking of you and Nicu together. You didn’t know that already, Pisoi? These past few weeks together have been both heaven and hell for me, wrapped into one.”
“You did not call me Kitty,” I said in the most outraged tone I could summon, although I was secretly touched. Nicknames were a sign of how he felt about me.
He dropped a kiss on my lips. “I did. Because you purr like a kitten after I’ve licked your pussy or fucked you good.”
I let out a scandalized gasp, but in reality, I was thrilled. Being coveted by this man had warmth bubbling inside my chest and spreading throughout my body.
Swatting his arm, I said, “How could you?”
“I could, I did, and I will again. So, your only choice is whether you prefer I call you Pisoi or Kitty.”
“Kitty,” I rasped out. His decadent whiskey tone as he spoke my new nickname was as good as foreplay.
