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I murmured a greeting, cheeks flushed as the pair stepped back to make room for the others.
“And this is my evil little sister, Eleni.”
The smile Leo gave his sister showed the affection he felt for her as she snorted and rolled her eyes. She pulled me into a hug as well before stepping to the side to hug Leo.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cadence. I hope you’ve been keeping him in line. The scoundrel needs someone to look after him.”
He chuckled as he kissed the top of her head before releasing her and turning his attention to the other alpha and the blonde. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me tight against his side as he dropped his smile, slipping into what I deemed his work face. I could feel the tension in his muscles, though he did a good job keeping it from showing as his father stepped forward again.
“Leo, you know Dimitri. This is his daughter, Tasia,” Mateo announced.
Leo’s expression was blank, his eyes flat and assessing as he reached out to shake Dimitri’s hand. Though Tasia stood close enough for him to shake hers as well, he only gave her a short nod as the fingers of his other hand tightened on my hip.
Tasia flashed a smile at him before her gaze darted to her father. I couldn’t see a difference in the man’s expression, but whatever Tasia noticed caused her to drop her gaze to the floor, clasping her hands in front of her as she went rigid.
“I’m surprised to see you bringing a woman home, Leo. Was I not invited to the wedding?” Dimitri asked. “She does look familiar.”
Those dark eyes moved to me again, sending a shiver down my spine at the coldness in them as he blatantly searched my neck for a claiming mark. Leo’s fingers bit into the flesh of my hip as he shifted so I was farther away from the other alpha, his body between us, subtly protecting me from the threat in the room. He didn’t growl, but I could feel the way his chest trembled as if he wanted to.
“No, we haven’t started planning it yet.”
My natural reaction was to rebuke his implication, but the undercurrent between them made me keep my mouth shut. There was a short, tense silence following Leo’s statement before Aelia stepped up to Mateo’s side and broke the stalemate.
“Dinner should be ready. Why don’t we go to the dining room and take our seats?”
My stomach was churning so much I knew it would be hard to eat, but having a table between the males seemed like a good idea.
The dining room was a little farther down the hall, and just as nice as I expected, with a formal table, and the chandelier I’d been missing hanging above it, though it was all crystal and sparkling silver. Mateo took a seat at one end of the table, while Dimitri took the opposite as if he’d been a guest here before and knew his place. Somehow I ended up seated between Mateo and Leo, with Aelia across from me, and Eleni opposite Leo, with Tasia between her and Dimitri.
The seating felt… strategic. Like there was a meaning and purpose behind it I didn’t understand, but there was a spark of fierce joy over Tasia not being placed next to Leo.
I knew I was out of my league here, especially with the other women looking so classy. Even with the name-brand clothing Leo had bought me, I was only a cheap imitation of what they were, and part of my heart sank at the reminder of our different stations in life. I’d never be able to invite Leo and his parents over for dinner, because our little table and dining room just couldn’t hold that many people.
Both Leo’s mother and sister tried to draw me into conversation, but I was too nervous to do more than answer their questions as simply as possible, afraid I’d say the wrong thing if I shared too much. I barely had a few bites of the food despite how delicious it was, and more guilt piled up over the waste I was causing.
Leo and Dimitri were discussing something I didn’t understand involving deals between people I’d never met, but Mateo remained silent for the first part of the meal, besides an occasional comment thrown into one of the conversations. He waited until dessert was served before he focused on me and began asking questions.
“What do you do, Cadence?”
I lifted my eyes from the delicate confection on my plate to focus on the older alpha beside me. I tried to ignore the fact that I knew he was the head of a dangerous organization and could destroy my life in seconds with nothing more than the snap of his fingers, but it was hard.
“I’m an assistant at an insurance office.”
A gleam of calculation entered his eyes, but if he thought I would agree to doing anything illegal for him, he was mistaken. I valued my job, and there was no way I’d do anything to jeopardize it. He would be disappointed anyway, since I doubted anything I could do would be considered useful. I wasn’t high enough up to do much more than answer phones and file claims.
“How did you meet Leo?”
I stuttered for a moment until Leo cut in and answered for me.
“She was my waitress one night, before she quit that job.”
He didn’t elaborate, and while I knew Leo didn’t look down on me for my situation, the soft snort I heard from the end of the table where Tasia sat had heat flooding my cheeks. I wasn’t ashamed of doing what it took to support my family, but the woman’s judgment still hurt. She looked like she’d been given everything she ever wanted, and she would never understand the position I’d grown up in.
“A waitress? In your club? Is that how I know her?”
Leo stiffened beside me when Dimitri cut in. He gave a terse, “No,” as my attention darted to the man at the opposite end of the table.
With the way all three of the alphas seemed to treat each other as equals, I doubted he was one of their underlings, but I had no idea who else he could be. He had a slight accent that I thought I’d heard before, but I couldn’t place it.
