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Reading my face, he gave me a pleading look, his eyes blazing with desperation. “Cat, they’re loaded. They have a fucking empire. They can afford to share. And if you can find out something that hurts them? Even better.”
I recoiled. No way was I going to hurt Luca or his brothers. An image of Luca shimmered in my mind, his passion when he looked at me like I was his, his gentleness when he took my virginity, his vulnerability in the car when he shared about his father. I loved his independence and his principles, clearly something I lacked in comparison.
Here I thought I was a bit of a rebel, not buying into the bullshit of arranged marriages and forging my own path with the blood bond. Turned out, I wasn’t half as strong as he was because the moment my big brother was in trouble, I jumped in to save him. Luca has been good to you, and this is how you repay him? I paused, indecision racking my system.
I glanced at my father. He was slumped back in his armchair, arms hanging over the sides in exhaustion. The lines around his eyes and dark bags spoke of worry and sleepless nights. Cristo was his heir, and I was only a girl, one who was now part of another clan. Not only would it gut him if anything happened to Cristo, but it would mark the end of the Popescus. I turned to my mother, who was still rail thin from the months of not being able to keep down any food. No, I couldn’t desert them.
Taking a huge breath of air, I blurted out, “One time. I’ll help you one time, but that’s it, Cristo. After that, I’ve paid my moral debt for being away and for ruining my engagement with Nicu. I swear, you better do whatever you have to do to change, because next time, you’re on your own.”
“Yes,” he replied eagerly, his head snapping toward my father for confirmation. My father nodded gratefully. Cristo cracked that notorious easygoing grin of his for the first time today.
My stomach lurched in revolt. What I was about to do was wrong, but I would make that sacrifice for them this one time. It was a crazy risk, but I’d do it once and never again.
“Cristo, swear to me that if I do this, you will never use it against me or ask me again.”
His smile slipped and his eyes grew sober. “I swear on my honor,” he promised.
I didn’t know how much honor he held in that tainted soul of his anymore, but I had already agreed. Silently, I made an oath as well. I would only turn over information that helped my family but did not directly harm Luca or the Lupu clan.
For a moment, I thought of going behind Cristo and telling Luca, but I immediately shut it down. The last six years of self-dependence made the decision easy for me. I mean, I had busted my butt for years to become valedictorian and didn’t even tell my parents, much less invite them to my graduation. At school, no one outside of Jewel knew anything about my family. I was used to living a double life and handling my problems on my own. But underneath it was fear. The Lupus, like the Popescus, were a prideful clan. There was no reason for Luca to help Cristo.
With Cristo’s life on the line, I couldn’t afford to trust Luca. There was no love lost between the two of them. Luca couldn’t pay off another clan’s debt, and he had no leverage with the Hagi family, which was located on the other coast. It was best to be cautious. As long as I protected Luca, I would help Cristo. As for the guilt that would come from my betrayal, I’d figure out how to live with that once the deed was done.
