AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His head snapped up. “You knew about that?”
“Wasn’t confirmed until now, but I suspected something was going on between the two of you when she slipped downstairs to the basement where you worked out. Doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together when she came back upstairs like she’d seen the devil. Apparently, she had,” I teased. “Surprised your dick didn’t scare her off.”
His eyes narrowed as a thought crossed his mind. “Does Cat know about you and Jewel?”
“I seriously doubt it. We were careful. Jewel was paranoid, but she planned to tell Cat when they met for coffee earlier this afternoon.”
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, he continued, “So let me guess, you followed her here because you’re a possessive psycho and spied into Nelu’s home, where you saw her talking with Cristo.”
“Talking,” I huffed. “That’s what we’re calling it now?”
“They’ve known each other for years, Nicu. Granted, they flirt a little, but if Cristo had wanted her, he would’ve put the moves on her long ago.”
“That was before,” I grumbled. “You know how he is with me. And he keeps tabs on me, so I’m sure he’s found out about us.”
“He does keep tabs on you,” he conceded. “We may be at peace, which for Cat’s sake I pray continues, but our families will always be rivals. It would be foolish not to be aware of what the other is doing. Didn’t realize I should be keeping tabs on my own brother, though, ’cause it’s a sad commentary if Cristo finds out my little brother’s secrets before I do.”
“Please. That’s why they’re called secrets, so you don’t find out about them. You’ve been wrapped up in planning a wedding with your new wife. You don’t have time to look after me. Anyway, I’m a grown man. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Sure about that? For a grown man, you’re about to be in a whole world of pain,” he warned. “Seriously, Nicu, Cristo wasn’t going to maul her in the middle of his family’s home with his women in the kitchen and me downstairs with his father.”
I ran my hand through my hair and ruffled it. “Fuck, you know what happens to me. You remember how I used to be. Impulsive. Full of energy that wasn’t easy to control. When I saw him playing with her hair, I fucking lost it. He taunted me at your engagement party and the tasting, but I couldn’t stand there and let him paw my woman.”
He barked out a laugh. “Oh, she’s your woman, now?”
“Yeah, she is,” I ground out in a dead-serious tone. “I’ll drag her to the altar if I have to.”
Lips pressed down and eyebrows drawn close together, he shot me a grave look. “Does she agree? Does she know what marrying into this family entails?”
“We haven’t had an explicit talk yet, but I’ve made my intentions perfectly clear.”
“She’s not a mafie princess like Cat or as close to a mafie girl as you can get, like Nina. Putting Alex’s and Mama’s possible denial aside, this is a matter of life and death. It’s not a laughing matter.”
“Don’t you think I know that, Luca? I haven’t come to this decision lightly. I know exactly what this means, and I’m telling you I have no intention of letting her go. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“Even if it means losing the family?”
That pulled me back. Hell no, I wasn’t going to lose my family or clan. Nor was I going to lose Jewel.
I cursed under my breath. “Is that what you’re telling me is on the line?”
He pressed his shoulder into the door and shook his head with a long sigh. “No, I’m not saying that. You know we have your back no matter what, but I was testing how far you were willing to go.”
“I can have both, and I intend to. I’m never turning my back on my family; you know that. But I can’t let her go, either.”
“Alex married an outsider, but he’s ?ef. He also chose a girl who was best friends with his little sister and as close to our family as an outsider could be. Hell, she was even a virgin. That’s not the situation you find yourself in,” he pointed out.
I was well aware that I wasn’t making it easy for myself, but she was worth it. I’d have them both, my family and Jewel. My stomach clenched. Anything worth having was worth fighting for, and I fought dirty on a good day. On a bad day, I fought like a savage.
“Alex opened the gate to the possibility of marrying an outsider when he married Nina,” I argued. “He set the example, and I’m following it. As you so often joke, I’m Alex’s lapdog, always there to do his bidding. I was willing to sacrifice myself by marrying Cat when it was necessary, but we are in a time of peace and expansion. If there’s a time to get away with keeping Jewel, it’s now, and I plan to take advantage of it.”
My fists curled, nails biting into the flesh of my palms as I waited for Luca’s reaction. He stood there, ruminating over what I had said. He opened his mouth to speak when there was a rap on the door.
I glared at it, frustrated by the interruption, but when Luca threw it open, damn if it wasn’t a sight for sore eyes.
Jewel hesitated by the door, holding up a bowl of water and a first-aid kit. She gently asked, “May I come in?” but I didn’t miss the fire in her eyes for an instant.
