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He leans over and pulls open the drawer of the nightstand. “Your mother handed me this a couple of days ago.” He drops a pile of mail on my lap. The very top envelope is from Cooper Union. I tear it open greedily.
I made it in. I made it into the writing program.
Looking up, I hold his gaze and ask, “What do you know?”
A muscle jumps in his jaw. “I’m not stupid, Crina. It’s an acceptance letter from a college.”
I pull back suspiciously. “How do you know I got accepted?”
“Of course, you got accepted.” He rolls his eyes. “We caught you and Star in front of Cooper Union, remember.”Oh, yeah.“Even if we hadn’t, I once had a stupid idea about going to college, so I’d done a little research. I wouldn’t expect anything less than you pursuing an education.”
My brows slam down over my eyes. “Why was that a stupid idea? You’re one of the smartest people I know.”
His lips curl into a wry smile. “The Popescu clan is not known to have a reputation for going to college. It’s straight into clan business after high school. Especially now that Cristo issefand Lucian isconsilier. I could never consider doing anything else.”
“Why not?” I blurt out. “Why don’t you go? Why don’t we both go? We’re adults. We’re a couple. We can do whatever the heck we want.”
He pauses, a sheepish look on his face. “I’d considered it, but no.” He shakes his head, dropping slightly in resignation. “That’s not my path. It’s yours though.” He spreads the envelopes. “And I bet there’s more than one acceptance letter here.”
My hands flutter over the bounty. I tear open one envelope after another. They must have been accumulating over the past weeks. My mother probably threw them in a drawer without really looking at them, what with everything that had been happening with my father.
I pause in the process of reading another acceptance. “Wait, you’re okay with me going to college?”
He pulls back, offended. “Of course.”
I finish reading and reach for another letter.
“So, like I said, I don’t know what your plans are. If—” He swallows hard before going on. “If you’re going to leave me, there’s no point in telling anyone about our marriage.”
My hands go numb. I toss the letter down and throw my arms around him. Burying my face in his neck, I say, “Marku, I will never leave you. It breaks my heart that you assume I’m going to cut and run, but…” Having expected to fight tooth and nail for this, I probe cautiously, “You’re really okay with me going to college?”
He settles me in the shelter of his embrace. “I want what you want. If I can’t do it, at least my brilliant wife can.”
My bottom lip trembles. “I was afraid to bring it up to you.”
He gives me a wry smile. “Youwere afraid.”
The tension I was holding runs off me like a waterfall. Smiling shyly, I give a noncommittal shrug.
“Let’s get this out of the way right this instant. There’s no way my brave girl was afraid ofme. You should never be afraid to bring anything up with me. We’re partners.”
I take a deep breath and blow it out. I drop my eyes and fiddle with my hands. “Even in my clan, a clan that’s known for education, women don’t go to college. Only one woman has gone. Cat, Luca’s wife. I guess, being a Popescu, I’d assumed you’d be against it.”
“Don’t assume, remember?” He covers my fidgety hands and strokes them. “Anything is up for discussion between us. I don’t care if it’s never been done before.”
“What if Cristo doesn’t like it?”
Marku’s eyes flash. “Cristo wouldn’t dare get between me and my wife. Anyway, that’s not the kind of man he is.”
“How do you know what kind of man he will become? Power changes people, and he’s only recently becomesef.”
His face cracks into a broad grin. “You may not yet have a high regard for my clan, but I know him inside out.Sefhoodisn’t going to change Cristo. He may have his faults. Don’t we all? But he’s not one to meddle in the affairs of his men. Unless there’s abuse or something like that.”
I cock a brow. “You sure about that?”
He dips his chin and stares at me intently. “What are you suggesting?”
“Well, there are rumors about what happened between him and Una…”
