AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shudder at the longing and hurt and bruised pride on her face before she glances away.
Fuck, thinking about her makes the ache even more poignant, more painful.
She sent a text almost immediately after she’d left me on the morning we made love. I didn’t respond. She tried again. And again. I sent her a short reply saying I’m busy with clan business. At Nelu’s retirement party, I was in a constant state of torment. It was an endless battle to stop myself from approaching her.
After Cristo was named the new boss, Lucian was named Cristo’sconsilier, and Lucian announced his engagement to Star. There’s always been a strange push and pull between those two, but I’ve been too wrapped up in my own problems to notice what had developed between them. Lucian must be serious about it because he’s been slated to marry Roxie for as long as I can remember. I wonder how she’s taking it? If it took me by surprise, I have no doubt she was in the dark as well. She’s protective of Star and no great fan of Lucian.
Not gonna lie, it hurt to watch my best friend publicly claim his woman when I’m already married to mine and forced to keep it a secret. Or what about the fact that I’ve chosen to break the heart of the woman I love and destroy our recently healed relationship?
The bell rings, and I slump back in relief before springing out of my chair. I rush into the hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of Crina at her locker and then stalk her as she takes the subway home with Gabby. One day into their engagement and Lucian has already forbidden Star from joining in their traditional subway ride home. Obviously, I can’t impose such a rule on Crina, so I skulk behind her, hiding from sight and trailing her like a lovesick pup.
I sweep through the crowded hallway in search of Crina, but I’ve missed her. Furious with myself, I prowl toward the stairway to try to catch up with her.
The math teacher steps into my path. “A moment, Marku, if I may.”
I halt in my tracks, making sure to wipe the impatience and frustration off my face. “Yes, Mr. Florescu?”
“You seemed distracted the past week. Is something going on?”
My shoulders slump. As if I could explain that I’m avoiding the woman I love because I must kill her father.
“No,” I mutter. “Sorry, my mind has been busy with other things.”
“This is an AP class, Marku, and you’re a bright student. You have to keep your head in the game if you intend to maintain an A in my class.”
Tell me about it. Figuring out a way to kill Alexei seems hopeless so excuse me if I’ve been slipping in Math.
“I know you have other responsibilities. I see it every year, the attention span slips as we get closer to graduation. No college for you, I assume.”
I nod in agreement, my eyes glued to the floor. I’m a proud Popescu, but I wish we had just a bit of the educational ambition that the Lupu clan has. I’m ready to start working for my clan full time once I graduate, but I can’t help but feel I could be more useful to my clan if I went to college.
“Then this is your last chance to challenge your mind with academics. May seem pointless, I know, but you’re not just any student. If you were a Lupu, I’d be confident that you would graduate with a post doc in mathematics. You’ve got that kind of brain.”
He claps me on my shoulder. “I don’t get involved in clans and their standards, but I’d hate to see that bright mind go to waste.”
“I’ll do better, Mr. Florescu. I promise.”
“That’s what I want to hear,” he replies with a kind smile. Gripping my shoulder in a fatherly way, he lets go and nods for me to exit.
I turn toward the stairs and a second later, my phone blows up with texts. I check my texts, but before I can process the flurry of messages, the phone rings.
“Fuck, man, answer your texts,” gripes Anton.
Increasing my pace as I go down the steps, I ask, “What’s going on?”
“Lucian can’t find Star. He thinks she’s in danger. She left to take the subway with Crina and Gabby. He ran to catch them.”
Star’s older brother, Tatum, had masterminded the bombing of the last Bratva boss and brigadier. Themafieclans have known this for a while, but the Russians must have recently figured it out. Since Tatum has disappeared, they must have gone after Star in retaliation.
“Fuck.”
“And if anything happens to her,” Anton replies grimly. “Then you know Gabby and Crina are in danger. Either of them would run through bullets for her.”
His words dump ice into my bloodstream. “I’ll check the geolocator on Crina’s phone and send you the coordinates. Meet me outside with your car.”
I hang up, click on the app, and find Crina at the Eighty-sixth Street subway station. I check the MTA for the train schedule. A train is about to pull into the station any minute. Once she goes underground, it’ll be a crapshoot to find her again.
I storm down the stairs, shoving people out of my way, and book it down the street. Spotting Anton, I jump into his car and we speed toward Park Avenue, the fastest route to the next subway station. We race down Park Avenue while I track the dot on the map moving downtown. The women have boarded a train.
