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NICU
Iadmired Jewel’s fighting spirit. It spoke to her integrity and, most importantly, her loyalty. She said it didn’t matter because she wasn’t in my world. I didn’t bother correcting her that she wasn’t of my world yet.
But it was too soon to say such a thing, even if it was the truth. Fucking Jewel the night I met her had created an unnecessary complication, triggering her guilt over betraying Cat. Most people didn’t fuck with them. Normally, I was one of those people, but I was learning that some complications were worth it.
Because of those complications and her staunch rejection of my texts and calls, there’d been the slim chance that I might let her go. Granted, “letting go” was not my strong suit, but the possibility had been there. That had vanished, poof, the moment I laid eyes on her again. Because seeing her had brought a tsunami of need to the forefront. Need I’d thought I had successfully battled down. Apparently not.
I was like a drug fiend. I couldn’t go back to being satisfied with spying on her from the street corner, the rooftop across from her building, or from a few glimpses of her crossing Broadway to attend her classes. I couldn’t exactly melt in with the students, especially at Barnard, which was a women’s college.
When my gaze fell on her glossy chocolate-brown tresses, the ones she’d flung over her shoulder, when my eyes locked on her multi-colored ones, my insides twisted up. Right then and there, something shifted in my chest and clicked into place. Like the final missing piece of a puzzle jiggled into place, I was now complete.
Jewel was the missing piece.
I knew it in my gut.
She stared up at me as if I were the devil incarnate. Her mouth spewed nonsense about how we could never repeat what happened a month ago. Her eyes flitted around nervously, avoiding my gaze. Meanwhile, her nails dug deeper into my shirt, little half moons pressing into my skin, signaling her inner conflict. She didn’t want to want me, but she did. I’d take mercy on her this time, but there was no way I was letting her go long term. Her fate was sealed.
I’ve never wanted a woman before. Now that I wanted one, I was going to have her. No matter what. Arranged marriage, be damned. That last thought shook me. Outside of racing or other daredevil activities, I was a stringent enforcer of the rules of our culture. I was a conundrum: an enforcer addicted to the adrenaline high. What people didn’t see was that both were flip sides of the same coin: control. What I loved best was the challenge of controlling the uncontrollable. It never got old. It was the same with Jewel; she was a sassy whirlwind who’d constantly keep me on my toes.
Like watching her flirt with Cristo in front of me. I’d struggled with my temper and retaliated by bumping shoulders with Cristo as I passed him on my way out of the party. He’d followed me out, slamming me against the wall of the hallway and hissing, “If you think I’ll let you have whatever you want when I’ve lost everyone to your clan, Una, Simu, my sister to that brother of yours, you’ve got another think coming.”
I shoved him off me, got in his face, and threatened, “Try me, motherfucker. I’m ready for you. Any time. Any day.” I stalked off before we got into a fight at my brother’s party and because I wasn’t about to miss my rendezvous with Jewel over that worthless idiot. That interaction was a good reminder that Cristo would always be a thorn in my side. Not a threat. A threat was going too far, but always a thorn, which brought me to something that needed to be addressed with Jewel immediately.
Gazing down at her nails digging into me, I demanded, “What’s going on between you and Cristo?”
Her nose crinkled in distaste. “Nothing. I’ve known him for years. We flirt casually, but nothing’s going on. He’s a player and he’s mafie. Nothing would ever happen between us.”
“Better keep it that way,” I warned, my body vibrating with tension.
Her palm slapped against my chest. I huffed out a laugh, her slap having knocked the anger out of me. Fuck, I liked it too much when she defied me. My dominant nature rose to the challenge.
“Dude, you have no say in who I hang out with or who I bang.”
I swiped her hand off me and twirled her around, pushing her front up against the wall.
Pressing my forearms on either side of her, I caged her in and growled, “Listen and listen good, Jewel, because I’m not fucking around. Cristo and I have had beef since I can remember. I killed their consilier. Cristo always despised me, but his hatred has increased tenfold since Simu’s death.”
I dug my hard cock into the small of her back and murmured in her ear, “I saw the way he looked at you, flirted with you. He wants you, and if he gets a whiff of anything between us, he’ll work twice as hard to take you from me. Let me make this point crystal-fucking-clear: he can’t have you. You’re mine. Got that?”
She pushed her luscious ass back into me, making me groan.
“Ugh, you’re such a bossy asshole. I don’t want any part of your stupid mafie world, much less to get in the middle of a pissing contest between you two idiots. He can’t have me, but not because of you. I’d never mess around with Cat’s brother. It’s bad enough that I had sex with you, but it won’t happen again. I already told you I hate everything about your life. You guys are insane.”
Her head whipped around, her gaze drilling into mine.
“How can you stand it?” she asked.
She squirmed against my cock until I eased up on her. With the little amount of space I gave her, she turned around and faced me, a little furrow hovering between her brows. Damn, she looked cute with that confused expression on her face.
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. What good is there in any of it?”
I huffed out a soft laugh. “There’s never been an easier question to answer. One word, Jewel. Family. Sure, I like the thrill of what you call ‘insane,’ but at the end of the day, it’s about my family. My clan. These are my people, and I will do anything, anything, to protect them, to see them prosper and grow.”
“Family,” she repeated bitterly, her lovely eyes cast downward.
The sounds of crashing waves from the shore of the beach came through the open French windows.
I cupped her cheek. “Doll, not every family is like yours. My family is the best. My mother is a saint. She’s done things for us you couldn’t begin to imagine. Bunica, my grandmother, is a strong woman, more intelligent than any man I know and with a wicked sense of humor to boot. And Tasa…well, besides being my twin, she’s a talented dancer, a doting mother and wife, and my other half.”
