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Soon, Jewel, soon, I promised her silently. But first, I have a little lesson for you.
* * *
I tried focusingon what the wizened old man with the thick Romanian accent was saying about the plate of food in front of me, but instead, I was ruminating on how I must be sick in the head because I liked Nicu’s stalking. He wasn’t exactly subtle about it. With his fine Italian suits and polished leather shoes, he stuck out like a sore thumb on a campus where students wore pajama bottoms to class. I saw him repeatedly gazing up at my dorm room windows from the street corner. I’d caught him on the street when I crossed from one side of campus to another or outside the various coffee shops where I studied.
Summer was long done, and my first semester of college had begun without having seen my mother since my high school graduation. It was a shock that she’d shown up to that, and I suspected her primary motivation had been that several mothers in her circle had kids at my boarding school. Her absence would’ve been noted and commented on. Mother had never been maternal, but she’d resorted to pure narcissism once Dad was out of the picture. Not that he wasn’t the cause of it all. God, it was hard to balance my lingering anger at him with my love and continual worry over him.
With many years left before Dad was eligible for parole and Mother never around, my sense of neglect was legit. On top of that, I was in a bit of a self-pitying, grieving slump over the new distance between me and Cat, ever since we graduated from boarding school and she moved in with Luca. So how could I not feel taken care of by Nicu’s constant presence? How could I not fall at seeing that he was always there, even on the outskirts of my life? I admired that he didn’t barge into my life. He demonstrated he could respect the boundaries I erected between us. For now, at least, because the hunger in his eyes spoke of a man who was actively managing his baser instincts.
Unfortunately, in his presence, my resolution melted. As much as I rationally knew he was a bad man who lived a violent life, my brain shut down when I was around him for even a minimal amount of time.
Finally, the man finished his soliloquy, and it was time to taste the food. My stomach grumbled because I’d had to skip lunch to finish my work before I met Cat to help her dress for this tasting. Lifting my fork, I took a bite of the cabbage-wrapped, rice-and-meat dish I recognized from Christmas dinners with Cat’s family and almost inhaled the entire plate. My thoughts weren’t as easily distracted as my stomach, though.
I wasn’t shy, but I was an introvert, and as an only child, I was used to being alone. I needed my alone time to function in the world, but sometimes, being alone could get a little…lonely. The sixth sense of being watched and followed was like being wrapped in the cocoon of a warm blanket, lounging by a fire while a blizzard raged outside.
Then there was the little performer nestled inside me who liked being watched. I found myself doing things just to tease him. Standing in front of the large window near my bed and stretching my arms over my head, letting my crop top drift up high enough to expose the bottom swells of my tits for him. I could feel his eyes searing through me from the distance. Or sensing his presence, I’d taunt him by chatting up guys in coffee shops or in the library, knowing he wouldn’t break the distance.
Earlier, I let Cristo touch me, stand a little too close to me, walk with me during the brief tour of the premises. I shouldn’t have done any of that, knowing the tension between the two of them. Cristo was touchier than usual, so I’m guessing he was using me to get to Nicu as much as I was using him, but I let him get away with it. I’d caught the unholy spark in Nicu’s eyes, like a man possessed. I was playing with fire, but I couldn’t help but torture him, guaranteeing he was rabid by the time he caught me.
And rabid was how I liked him best.
Instead of doing what was expected, which was to get me alone and use me to pound out his aggression, he chose this moment to give me a taste of my own medicine. Nicu switched seats with Tatum and began flirting with the gorgeous young woman sitting next to him.
My eyes turned to slits as I observed him lift his fork, piled with a perfect sample of the dish, and bring it to the woman’s mouth. Her perfectly applied red-lipsticked lips popped open. Eyes widening with surprise, she savored the bite of food with an unseemly moan that had me clenching my own utensils with a death grip.
He gave the woman a brilliant smile, and I might’ve bent the handle of my fork.
Two could play at this game.
Turning to Tatum with a smile so bright the muscles of my cheek hurt, I asked, “How’s the food?”
Flicking a quick look at the young woman before returning his attention to me, he replied, “I’d like whatever she’s having.”
“Oh, she thinks she’s having Nicu,” I grumbled out.
His eyebrows lifted slightly, laughter dancing in his eyes.
“Don’t laugh at me,” I warned.
“I would never,” he said somberly, although I distinctly saw a twitch of his lips.
I pointed my knife at him. “There,” I accused. “I saw that.”
He threw his head back and laughed.
“Busted. Sorry, I’m usually much better at restraining myself,” he admitted.
He leaned toward me slightly, and I got a whiff of his alluring cologne, but it wasn’t nearly as enticing as Nicu’s. There was probably more to pheromones than I knew because Tatum was beyond gorgeous and he smelled good, but he simply didn’t have that brooding-brutish-pirate look Nicu had. His eyes were warmer than Nicu’s glacial baby blues, but it was Nicu’s cold inferno that froze me in place whenever her turned his gaze on me.
“You want to make him jealous?” Tatum asked casually.
I waved my hand. “I do that all the time.” His eyebrows hit his forehead this time. “He’s trying to give me a little taste of what I do to him. I suppose I’m not as good at taking it as I am at dishing it out.”
“So this has been going on for some time,” he mused. “Even if you have, trust me, there’s no winning when a Lupu puts their mind to something. And Nicu is the most ruthless of them all.”
“Frate,” I heard the growl-like word coming from Nicu.
My eyes shot to him, and the smoldering look in his eyes caused a shiver to run down my spine.
