Page 51 of The Savage Heir

She pressed her lips together in a line. “It’s just…well, I understand why you’re attracted to Nicu. I mean, he’s got that handsome rugged thing going. Tall and big, with piercing blue eyes and a square-cut jaw. He has the air of a mean-looking model. The only thing is he’s always come off as somewhat…spoiled to me.”

Okay, that was not what I’d expected to hear. Controlling, certainly. Brutal, most definitely. Reckless, perhaps.

“Spoiled?” I repeated, in the form of a question.

She released my hands, and her spine hit the back of the seat. Her fingers tapped restlessly on the top of the table, her expression thoughtful. “He’s not like Alex, who’s been carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders since a young age, or like Luca, who was his father’s whipping boy. Tasa was downtrodden by her family’s expectations, until she ran off. Compared to them, Nicu has had a charmed life. He’s the golden boy, and while he acts like he’s the bastion of the Lupu way of life, he’s never suffered a day in his life.”

A thread of indignation on his behalf filtered through me. She was being a little harsh.

“You make him sound like he’s a playboy who’s flittering his life away, doing nothing but wasting his family’s money without doing a hard day’s work.”

She pursed her lips together. “I didn’t say that, but I don’t see him overextending himself. He does what’s required of him, but not an ounce more, unless it benefits him. He went to college because it was expected of him, but only did the bare necessity. He convinced Alex to let him skip graduate school, even though it’s practically a requirement for those boys. Then there’s how he treated me. He hadn’t been forced, and yet he punished me for it. Instead of making the barest attempt to know me, he spent his energy trying to bring me and Luca together so he could get me out of his hair. He says he follows the rules, and he does, until they’re inconvenient for him. Then he gets around them. He just seems selfish to me,” she concluded.

“You’ve never mentioned any of this before,” I noted.

Her hand landed on mine. “It wasn’t worth mentioning, because I didn’t care about Nicu. But he’s clearly set his sights on you, which means his character has become my business. Just watch, he’s going to end up persuading his mother, his bunica, and most importantly, his ?ef to give him a pass and marry you against tradition. More importantly, though, I don’t think he’s worthy of you,” she finished.

I fell back into my seat, reeling as if slapped in the face. Cat was one of the most perceptive people I knew, and I trusted her implicitly. Not only was she an expert on the intricacies of their society, but she’d also known of his reputation for years. She’d spent time analyzing him when she was slated to marry him. I knew, for her, Nicu going around tradition was particularly damaging. In her conservative community, following traditions wasn’t only about keeping their world intact, like Ioana had suggested. It was a sign of integrity. Cat had sacrificed her desire to go to college to follow her family’s wishes about marrying Nicu, but she’d done it. For the greater good of her family. While Luca had bucked the system like a rebel, he’d boldly defended his decisions, and Cat admired him for it. Nicu sneaking to get around them for his personal benefit was almost a moral failing in her eyes.

I didn’t know what to say or how to counter her arguments because I didn’t know half of what she knew about him. I couldn’t speak of her accusation that he did just enough and not one iota more. If he got away with things, well, that I could believe. The man was persuasive as fuck. Hell, he’d persuaded me out of my panties on more than one occasion, and I’d been fighting him tooth and nail.

My bestie had yanked my proverbial head out of the sand and forced me to stare at what I’d been dodging for a week. Not only was Nicu a criminal bad boy, but, despite his image, he was tantamount to a spoiled brat.

She continued, and every word hit me like a punch to the gut. “Your mother’s a self-absorbed narcissist and one of your father’s major flaws is his selfishness. I don’t want to see you with someone who shares the same qualities.” She shook the hand she was holding. “Jewel, you deserve better.”

That struck me in the solar plexus. I was stunned into silence. The thing was…I had a visceral reaction to her judgment. A gut rejection of her words. He was nothing like my family. Nothing. I’d heard him talk about his family. I saw his face soften every time he picked up his sister’s call. Then there was the way he treated me. I’d never met a man as caring, patient, and passionate as Nicu. It didn’t make sense that he’d cop out on his traditions when he showed such devotion to his family. Maybe there was more to the story than she knew.

Needing more clarification, I said, “When you first got engaged, you said he stepped up because Luca refused. He didn’t have to like it, but he did it. Didn’t you say he was the type of man who did what he was told?”

“That’s what I thought at first, but I was mistaken,” she mused. “I was comparing him to Luca, who’s an outright contrarian. Nicu is more subtle, but he gets his way. Luca’s refusals came out of pain. He rebelled because he’d suffered at the hand of his father. That’s not the case for Nicu. Nicu doesn’t have an excuse for not following orders. I mean, you’ve seen my life. You’ve seen what Cristo has to do. Being part of this society means abiding by rules and following commands. No exceptions. None.”

This was true for her family. Although I was an outsider, I’d sensed from Nicu that things worked a little differently in the Lupu family. There was more give than in Cat’s family, but I didn’t feel I had the clout to say that to Cat. Anyway, she’d admitted to having made a mistake already, so her judgment wasn’t infallible. Yet, Cat was extremely watchful and intelligent. Her assessment couldn’t be dismissed outright. Her comments about rules in her family and clan were an uncomfortable reminder of what I had put out of my head. I mean, how many times had I snottily criticized how archaic and backward her society was? Now it was coming to bite me in the behind.

“Yikes, I’m not great at following rules,” I conceded.

“That’s another thing. I grew up in this world, but you…” She looked at me askance. “Are you sure you want to get in deep with a guy like him? You’ve had a taste of my life. He’s not just anyone; he’s a Lupu prince. Assuming he gets his mother and Alex to play nice, you’ll be attached at the hip to his family. I mean, look at Luca. As much as he hates the Popescus, because of me, he’s been ‘hanging out’ with my dad lately. Spending quality time with Cristo is too much to ask, but when we visit my parents, he goes downstairs to my father’s office.”

The problems kept piling up, and I felt a sharp pain blossom behind my eyes.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” I replied.

More than once, I’d been touched by the way he talked about his family. Their loyalty and sense of coziness came through. It had touched me and made me yearn to be part of something greater than myself. Perhaps I had conflated it with the wonderful holidays I spent with Cat and her family, conveniently forgetting what they had put her through. They’d heartlessly pressured her into an engagement with Nicu and later blackmailed her to spy on Luca to further their own interests. Both times, they had tossed Cat’s personal desires aside like yesterday’s trash and used her for their own advancement. Nicu’s family seemed different, but they were still mafie. The question was simple. How different were they? I had no answer, and after her judgment of Nicu, I didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up.

My stomach churned. I didn’t know what to think about the bombshell she’d dropped. Overwhelmed, I stared down at my iced cappuccino and admitted, “The more we talk, the more I need a drink, not a coffee.”

“Hey,” said Cat. “This is just one person’s opinion.”

“A pretty important person,” I threw back. “I trust you, and I know you’re only saying this because you’re looking out for me. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to know that getting involved with a man like Nicu is a complicated matter. I let myself get carried away this past week. He didn’t seem to think his family was an insurmountable problem. Either way, that doesn’t negate what you said about his character.”

“I may be wrong,” she insisted. “I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about him at one point, but I also never got to know him. I certainly don’t know him as well as you do.”

Do I know him better, though?

I was thinking so hard that my temples were throbbing. Clutching my forehead, I admitted, “Oh God, I’m getting a headache.”

She placed a hand on my head and caressed my hair gently. “Listen, why don’t you come with me and Luca to my parents’ house? You can relax. Have a nice glass of wine. Bunica will have cooked up a storm, knowing that Luca is coming over. I swear she has a little crush on him. He turns those gray eyes on her, and she melts. Literally melts.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s ridiculous.”

I should go back to the library and catch up on completing an English essay, but the idea of escaping from my problems and relaxing with good food and wine at her parents’ place was more than appealing. I was always up to spending more time with Cat, and like she’d said, she and Luca would be busy planning the wedding with Cat’s mom. I could stay in the background, hang out, and take a break from overthinking this thing with Nicu.

It was Bunica’s cooking that cinched my decision. That lady could cook. I’d either brainstorm for my essay at her house, or I’d take it easy and make up for it tomorrow.

“Okay, I’ll come,” I agreed.

“Perfect,” she said with a clap of her hands.

Little did I know that such a harmless decision would set off a cataclysmic chain of events.

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