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NICU
Jewel wore her thick hair back, in a high ponytail, which swung from side to side when she strutted past me, begging me to grab it and wrap it around my fist. She wore a white button-down dress shirt and short plaid skirt that showcased her lithe thighs. That outfit was filthy; at least it was to me. It begged for me to drag her by that cock-tease ponytail of hers off to some dark corner and role-play before fucking her raw. Instead, I stifled the urges raging through me and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my tailored Stuart Hughes slacks to keep them to myself.
If it weren’t for my mother’s commitment to traditions, this outing to “taste” the food at the reception hall that was catering Cat and Luca’s wedding would be patently ridiculous. But no one had the heart to break it to her, or the Popescus, that Luca and Cat were already married. One day, we got a call from Luca to meet him the following morning at City Hall, tipping us off about what was about to go down. They couldn’t wait until the day of their big Romanian Orthodox wedding and even bigger reception to get married. Whatever. The more committed they were to each other, the easier it was for me to go after Jewel.
Her pointed silence when she passed me in the foyer of the reception hall broadcasted her plan to ignore me during this get-together. That was fine by me. I’d raced obsessively this past week to get my urges under control because I knew there’d be little chance for us to slip away, even for a quick fuck. Miracle of miracles, it worked, and while being around Jewel always hit me like a punch to the gut, I was managing my energy remarkably well.
My lips spread into a broad grin.
Her little attempt at distance was…cute.
“This is going to be fun,” I confided to Tatum, who was standing beside me.
“In whose world?” he grumbled, poking at the detailed calendar on his phone. He’d come back from California for the tasting. “I’m inundated with a to-do list a mile long, and I shouldn’t have left Cali for this.”
Tatum went on, complaining about the barriers he was facing as he tried to sort shit out with the Hagi family. I tuned him out, relieved that I didn’t need to suppress my intentions for Jewel.
“There’s one particular thorn that keeps coming up, time and again. Anytime I make headway with one of the smaller families, she butts her way into my business, sabotaging me right and left,” Tatum griped.
Only half listening to his complaints, I leaned in, nodded toward Jewel, and divulged, “Her pussy is magic.”
His eyes jolted up to my face, quickly following my line of vision.
Not blinking an eye, he grunted out, “No one woman’s pussy is magic. No one woman is special, period.”
He didn’t even bother to chide me for having sex with Jewel, which confirmed in my mind that her guilt for fucking me was all in her head.
I snorted at his ignorance, even if I’d felt the same way not so long ago. He and I had taken to hanging out more, now that both my brothers were married. Alex had been in love with Nina since forever, so his surrender was no surprise.
Luca’s fall, however, had been spectacular. As the next in line to marry after Alex, he was supposed to have Cat in an arranged marriage with the Popescus, but in pure Luca fashion, he’d rejected her from the outset. Stubborn bastard. The responsibility had then fallen on me.
In the end, I didn’t regret my brief engagement, because I came across Jewel. It was an unforgettable night. Sure, I loved that she wasn’t a mafie girl and that I could fuck her dirty. But it had morphed into so much more. She was spirited, which is what had first caught my attention. She was loyal, as shown by her unrelenting devotion to Cat. And she was stubborn, like the way she chose to ignore me just now. It inflamed me, bolstering my determination to break her down and make her love me. Being with her reminded me of the first time I drove my bike. I was hooked. It was like a missing piece filled a gaping hole that I couldn’t plug up, no matter what I did. Just like racing, I didn’t want anything else. Dare I say, I was obsessed?
I never cared for marriage. Marriage to a mafie girl was about two things, which were really the same thing: family and clan. It was never about the woman. After watching Alex choose Nina, and the trials and tribulations they had to surpass, I wanted what they had. What Luca and Cat had. I’d dodged a bullet with Cat, and I had a small window of opportunity to go after what I wanted. Go after whom I wanted. And go after Jewel, I would. Ruthlessly.
I already felt like I owned her, but I didn’t want to simply feel it. I wanted to possess every part of her, and—I wanted everyone else to know. Regardless of my feelings on the subject of marriage, if I chose a woman, marriage was the nonnegotiable conclusion to our relationship. I was taking a huge step by violating the tradition of an arranged marriage.
Can I do it?
She passed me again, this time to talk to Cat’s mother, who was standing near me, about the menu. My gaze took her in greedily.
Hell yeah, I can. Every inch of her is worth it.
Right now, she came around me on purpose. My heated blood kicked up a few degrees. I had no doubt that she was highly aware of my presence. My eyes zeroed in on her body language. Her hands were fluttering around a little too fast, her laugh was a little too high, and her eyes blinked a little too rapidly. She was quite aware of me. As it should be, since I was more than highly attuned to every move she made, in and out of my presence.
Things weren’t going as planned after licking her pretty cunt at Luca’s engagement party in the Hamptons a couple of weeks ago. She continued with her campaign of ghosting me, refusing to answer my texts or calls. I found out she’d blocked me, so I got a man I knew to unblock my number and put a tracker on her for good measure. She blocked me again. I unblocked myself again. I think she figured out I had some hold on her cell, and let it be. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the power to get her to text me back.
I had an obstinate brat on my hands.
And I loved it.
Her nervous behavior told me I’d gotten into her head, regardless. By blatantly ignoring me, she was making me more voracious to have her and more willing to do anything to get her.
Cristo sidled up behind Jewel, placing his hand possessively on her lower back before she turned slightly. My eyes drilled into them as she replied to his greeting, and they kissed each other on the cheek.
He cast a brief glance my way with a dirty smirk on his face.
I clenched my jaw. Fuck, he’d clocked that I was into her and was making a move. He was begging for an ass-beating, taking advantage of the fact that I wouldn’t attack him at Luca and Cat’s shindig. Payback for killing Simu.
