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“That’s the first time you’ve apologized for anything you’ve done,” he grumbled. Spotting the coffeepot, he retrieved a cup and poured himself what was left over. I was pretty sure there was only sludge left at the bottom but didn’t stop him.
Sitting down heavily, he took a sip and made a grimace. Yup, sludge. “I swear, I have half a mind to join Cristo when he and his thugs beat the shit out of you. If I didn’t have to show them a united front, I’d be right there by his side. First time in a fucking lifetime.”
“You always were constrained by your position as sef,” I joked. “You should be used to it by now. Guess I should count myself lucky this time.”
Leaning over the table, he gave me a small slap to my cheek. “You owe me big time. Beating you up won’t be enough. It might’ve worked if Cristo was head of the family because he’s a hot-headed idiot, but not Nelu. He’s a wily motherfucker, and he’s going to milk this for all he can. He’s going to require serious monetary retribution, and I’m warning you now, it’s going to come out of your paycheck.” He snorted. “Who am I kidding, your portion won’t cover half of what he’ll demand. I hope you’re ready, asshole, because it would serve you right if I left you to clean up this mess by yourself.”
I suppressed a grin. Knowing Alex like I did, that was an empty threat. He wouldn’t leave me alone with this mess any more than he could stop breathing. Anyway, he was the best negotiator in the family. There was no way he’d step aside to let me take on a formidable opponent like Nelu. Alex was a competitive prick who could barely stand to lose a game of chess. He’d be chomping at the bit for a showdown with Nelu.
I’d let him pretend for as long as he needed to, but in the end, we both knew he’d never leave me out to dry or allow the Lupu name to get dragged through the mud by the Popescu. That wasn’t happening. The fucker might have his faults, but it felt good to know that when it mattered to me, he’d have my back.
Eyeing me curiously over the rim of his cup, he asked, “Seriously though, you trust her? She’s a Popescu after all.”
He was throwing my main argument for not marrying her in my face. That she would spy on us for Nelu. It was certainly what Nicu and many in our clan thought. For an instant, there was a niggling doubt in the back of my mind, but I shoved it away brusquely. Cat didn’t have a duplicitous bone in her body.
“I trust her implicitly,” I responded. “I wouldn’t blood bond with a woman that I didn’t trust with my life.” That was a lie. I didn’t trust anyone with my life, but I trusted myself and my ability to read people. “She’s a young, innocent girl. And it helps that she’s lived away from that nest of vipers for the past six years. Truth be told, they treat her like gold. Probably the only nice thing I can say about that family. They sent her away for her mental health, and it was a sacrifice.”
“Why did they send her away?”
I shrugged. “Not my story to tell. Once you get to know her, you can ask her yourself. She’s an open book. Gotta say, it’s pretty refreshing after the intrigue and drama that’s routine among our people.”
He arched an eyebrow. I had surprised him. Members of a mafie family were taught to covet secrets like hoarders. Perhaps because she’d lived away from her family, Cat wasn’t like that. I wasn’t lying when I said that she was like a breath of fresh air. Unlike so many women in our society, with Cat, what you saw was what you got. It was one of the qualities that I liked most about her.
There was one more issue that needed to be addressed with my sef.
“I’m blood bonded with her, Alex. Under the circumstances, I can’t allow her to go home. I won’t have them shaming her or stressing her out. You need to contact Nelu ASAP. Explain the situation and set up a meeting. She can only avoid their texts and calls for so long.”
“Are you fucking serious? It’s ballsy of you to have one more ask after what you did. How did you manage to get her out of the house? Did she climb down her window, or what? Because I haven’t gotten any alerts that she’s missing, although Nelu might try to keep it from me as long as possible.”
“They allowed her to sleep over at her friend Jewel’s dorm room last night,” I explained with a huff.
Neglectful at best, dangerous at worst.
Alex looked at me with an incredulous expression. “Have they lost their minds? Fuck man, this is half their fault for letting her out of their sight. Do they even care about what happens to her?”
I waved away his arguments. “They’d already had her in a boarding school for the past six years. After that, what’s another night?”
He shook his head. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“The point is, we need to get this resolved before the day is out. There will be a lot to discuss and negotiate, but it should stay between us, Nelu, and Cristo. I don’t want her going back there.”
“You’re kidding me, right? You want her to stay with you, out of wedlock, for the next two months before the wedding?” he ground out.
I gave a matter-of-fact shrug. “I popped her cherry,” I drawled. “What more is there?”
“There’s a fucking wedding, Luca,” he snapped.
“I know, but it’s no longer a wedding to a virgin. There’s no point in living apart for the interim. You know blood bonds are a sealed deal. It irrevocably tied her to our clan. Cat is now a Lupu. If you prefer that she live with Mama and Bunica in Queens, I’m open to the suggestion and willing to bring it to her. But they’re strangers to her. I’m her husband in every way but paper.”
He let out a long-exhausted sigh and gripped the sides of his head.
“She’s my responsibility now,” I continued relentlessly. “I don’t want them poisoning her toward me. She’s strong but impressionable, and for the safety of the clan, you don’t want her living with Nelu. God only knows what he can stir up. If they were true allies, that would be one thing. I don’t trust Simu either. He and Cat have a bit of history, so he might take this worse than he took her engagement to Nicu. That, along with our history, and the douche will take any opportunity to make my life difficult, and I don’t want Cat caught in the middle of our feud. Anyway, it’s in our best interest to take her in as a Lupu right away. The added perk is that it will solidify our reputation for ruthlessness. Stealing a bride, blood bonding her, and not giving her back? A warning to the daddies who fuck with us. We take what we want without fear.”
“You make a valid point,” he mused, rubbing his lips with his finger.
Pulling out his cell phone, he shot off a few texts. “It’s done. Now we wait and see, but you’re going to make this up to me. I am not fucking joking. For the foreseeable future, you’re my little bitch, understand? If I say jump, you ask how high.”
Nodding, I slapped my hands on the table and stood up. “I’m going to check on Cat and let her know what’s happened.”
Canting his head to the side, he inquired curiously, “How do you think she’ll react to not going home?”
“There are pros and cons, either way. As you might already know, her mom was sick recently, but I imagine she’ll be relieved that she won’t have to live with their disappointment. She was a naughty girl,” I said with a wink.
“You won’t be able to protect her completely,” he called out after me as I stepped out of the kitchen.
“True, but I can serve as a buffer. I already told her that she can put the blame on me. They’ll likely try to assassinate me in retribution, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take,” I tossed out as I walked into the living room.
