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I sagged into my chair with relief until Cristo turned his attention sharply to me. His brown eyes were flinty hard, narrowed in anger. I stiffened under his hostile gaze.
“You owe us,” he threatened, in a brittle tone he’d never used on me before. And…there it is. I understood that he was upset, but his words still hit me like a spray of bullets.
“W-what do you mean?” I stammered out, half rising from my seat.
“I mean that we are making the best out of a bad situation, but don’t be fooled by what you just saw,” he said, indicating to my mother.
“Cristo—” my grandmother began.
“Silence, Bunica,” Cristo cut her off with a slash of his hand. “You spoil her too much, and look where it’s gotten us. She went away to school to pursue whatever bullshit she wanted and see what it led to? While we busted our asses, day in day out, she’s turned into a silly girl with ridiculous notions of love.”
His eyes flashed as he spat out, “There is nothing more important than serving the family. I loved Una, but I did what I had to do to protect the family. Your only goal in life should’ve been to marry right and not bring shame down on us. You failed. Even if we cover it up, the Lupu brothers won’t be fooled by the gossip. That might’ve tricked stupider people, but not Alex or Luca. And especially not Nicu. He’s going to use any chance he gets to dig into me with an insult. God, I hate that fucker.”
I glanced over at my father for reassurance, but his face was a mask of stoicism, a sign that he agreed with my brother.
“But we’ve got bigger problems,” he went on. “Marrying Luca may just be our ticket out. You know the financial strain we’re under, with the partners in Afghanistan we lost with the American withdrawal. We’re scrambling to create new allegiances, but the Taliban are not making it easy. Then there’s the half million we spent for Mama’s treatment on top of the steep discount we gave Alex to compensate him for our failed trick with Una. We had to borrow from the Hagi clan to keep afloat.”
Cristo paused, his eyes darting away from mine. “There’s been a complication and the debt has to be paid back right away. I mean, right away.” His gaze met mine. “And you’re going to help us.”
I blinked at him, gulping down the acid rocketing up from my gut. “W-what did you do, Cristo?”
“I—” He cleared his throat. “During a meeting, the Hagi’s youngest son—the fucking spoiled prick—insulted me. I lost my temper.” His tone dropped. “I attacked him. It took Simu and his uncle to pull me off him, but…the damage was done. He won’t be a pretty boy no more.”
My eyes flew to my father, who gave me a nonchalant shrug as if to say, you know your brother.
“What the hell, Cristo? That temper of yours will get you killed one day. When are you going to do something about it?”
“Shut up, Cat,” he growled. Flinging out his hand, he snarled, “You’ve been gone for the past six fucking years. Six. Years. You were nowhere to be found when I was lifting Mama off the toilet bowl and cleaning vomit off the floor.” He jabbed his finger at me. “While you were traipsing around with your head in the sky, falling in love and embarrassing your family, I was holding down the fort. You have no idea what it takes to lead this clan, what kind of pressure I’m under. And I will not be insulted by a little douche like the Hagi boy.”
I didn’t tell him that I would’ve dropped my senior year and moved back to help, but that our parents insisted I graduate from my boarding school. He already knew that. Nor did I lecture him that the pressures he endured did not justify his behavior. I refrained from shouting that he was going to get himself killed if he continued in this way. Instead, I swallowed down my barrage of retorts.
Only one thing mattered: Cristo was my brother and he was in trouble. I was a Popescu and we stuck together, no matter what. I could easily guess what happened when you provoked a sef that you owed money to. Cristo was in deep trouble, and I couldn’t abandon him in his time of need. It wasn’t just loyalty because he’d been the best of older brothers (for the most part). It was because I loved that son of a bitch. As awful as his temper was, he was my brother. Mine.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
“Bad,” he replied instantly. “We have to pay it back. Like right now, or else they will hurt me.”
He didn’t have to get into the details. The ruling principle in our world was an eye for an eye. Revenge for beating up the Hagi boy was in order.
“Is it what I think it is? The Hagi sef is demanding full repayment, plus interest, due immediately. And if we don’t pay…”
“Then, I’m living on borrowed time,” he finished for me.
One misstep could be fixed. But two? And back to back? Not so much. Sure, he was being set up but being a sef’s heir wouldn’t save Cristo with the kind of money involved.
What choice did I have? None. We Popescus had fought tooth and nail to get where we were. For so long, it had been us against the world. As upstarts, we were constantly looked down upon, and that had spawned a deep loyalty within us. Within me. More than that, Cristo was my brother and I couldn’t abandon him to his fate, even if he’d brought it on himself.
Swallowing, I stared at Cristo. I could tell from his expression that he already had a plan.
Bracing myself, I asked, “What do you need from me?”
“Luca wants you to live with him before the marriage. That’s a fucking insult, but Tata and I agreed because it will give you free rein to search his apartment, which I happen to know he uses as his office. I want you to dig around, find something useful, and report back. Look through his files, his computer, his phone. Whatever you have to do, you do it,” he gritted out.
As Cristo talked, my finger curled into the upholstery of the chair, nails digging in. I didn’t want this. To see him this anxious, this stressed out, only proved how desperate he was, but it meant betraying Luca, and that thought tore through me like a knife. I was petrified of losing him.
“I’m sure his computer is password protected and he uses facial recognition for his phone,” I hedged. “Isn’t there another way?”
“We’ve thought through every way, Cat. And for the love of God, don’t you dare tell Luca. You need to find something. Find anything. He’s a computer genius and he’s in charge of the Lupu financial schemes. They’re legendary moneymakers. I’ve heard rumors that they were involved in the most recent ransomware attack on that oil pipeline. He’s a supreme hacker, stalking them online and making it seem as if they’re based in Eastern Europe. Received ten million in bitcoin, which is near impossible to trace.”
