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CLARA
Itook a deep breath and slumped back in my seat in the reception hall of the biggest mafie society wedding of the year. The Lupu clan hadn’t spared any expense. There were hundreds of people in attendance in some over-the-top fancy Marriot hotel in Times Square. Every table had a monstrous bouquet of flowers as a centerpiece on top of linen tablecloths, and the guests ate off fine-bone Limoges floral dinnerware, trimmed in gold, no less.
I’d been to my fair share of weddings, and this one was both a statement of Lupu wealth and a celebration of the alliance between Luca and his bride, the princess of another strong family, the Popescus. First comes feud. Then comes arranged marriage. Then comes baby in the baby carriage. Only in the mafie world did the pendulum swing from one extreme to the other so abruptly.
Looking out at the huge dance floor from the dais, where I’d been seated at the tables for the two families as a courtesy, I watched the loving couple twirl around for their first wedding dance. Had to admit, the way they lovingly gazed into each other’s eyes couldn’t be faked. I stifled a little groan of lament, knowing I’d never have a first wedding dance. Hell, I’d never have a groom.
I hadn’t been here long, but I’d quickly learned the Lupu clan was exceptional. This wedding was a prime example of their tenacity and cleverness. It was no small feat to kill a feud with an arranged marriage and manage to create a couple as lovely as Luca and Cat.
I wanted to hate the Lupu clan, I did, but I had to admit that since my arrival, Alex’s mother and grandmother had been extremely kind to me. They poked and prodded my hips and waist, tsking about how skinny I was, and promised to fatten me up with good, homemade cooking. So far, they hadn’t disappointed.
Alex kept his distance, as was expected. That was part of how a sef maintained his mystique, something I would use as well once I became sef. I observed him closely with his wife, Nina, during the party. By the looks of her, she was clearly an outsider, which was a rare thing indeed. He was extremely solicitous of her. Another rarity. Husbands usually ignored their wives in public. I know my father did. He ignored my mother in private as well, which is what led to her infidelity and the reason my father placed the virginity condition on my rule. Love and sef-hood couldn’t mix. You could have one or the other, but not both.
Unlike Alex, there was nothing rare or precious in the way Tatum, my handler, treated me. Which was particularly grating since he was impeccably charming to everyone…except me. I rolled my eyes as yet another pretty, young thing stopped by our table to flirt with him.
I eyed him discreetly. Ugh, his attractiveness was irritating. He moved with a certain sleek grace, which was surprising considering how large he was. And speaking of large, I couldn’t help but notice how his biceps bulged and stretched the fine wool of his dinner jacket. The width of his upper arm rivaled the size of my thigh. Okay, it might be an exaggeration, but not by much. Damn, now I was thinking about his arms and my thighs.
Lifting my gaze, I noted how his blond hair was coiffed just so, not a hair out of place. Made my fingers itch to ruffle his head and dislodge strands until they stuck out in every direction.
His dark eyes scanned and processed everything. He was always watchful, that one. It was unusual that he was still unmarried, given his age. In mafie years, a man of thirty-two was practically a dinosaur.
As the flirty girl took her leave, Tatum angled his head in my direction and murmured low for my ears only, “I know I’m handsome, but there’s no need to stare.”
My fingers curled into my palms, balling into fists to punch him with.
There it was.
His arrogance.
He only acted this way with me. With everyone else, he was solicitous as fuck, but with me, he brandished his condensation with rabid zeal.
“I want to ruin the coif you’ve spent a lot of time perfecting,” I sneered. “It’s always so perfect. You’re always so perfect.”
He stiffened beside me. I wanted to crow in delight.
“Don’t you ever get messy?” I asked, rolling my eyes at him because I knew how much any show of disrespect irritated him.
His opaque black gaze turned on me and checked me out slowly. Disdain radiated from his inspection, but my skin pebbled with goose bumps, my pulse slowing under his careful perusal.
“I could ask the same of you,” he replied casually.
I harrumphed. “As if I could ever be messy.”
He and I weren’t equals. As a woman, I had to be impeccably put-together. Moreover, I represented my clan. He could look however he wanted, and he’d automatically garner respect, whereas I had to earn it every single day of my life. First impressions were a necessary step in getting that respect. I couldn’t afford to ever get messy.
I gave him a disgusted once-over. “What you said just proves how little you know me, fool.”
He pulled back with a scowl on his drop-dead gorgeous face. Even provoked, he dripped arrogance and sensuality. His onyx eyes snapped to me. Tatum’s eyes were guarded, and yet, they could burn me alive at the same time. He stared as if he wanted to lift me onto the table with one hand, tear my clothes off, and rut with me in front of all these people. It made no sense whatsoever because I knew for a fact, he couldn’t stand me.
His chiseled jaw flexed, and his wide, generous mouth lifted in a snarl. Right then and there, I decided he looked even hotter enraged.
“No one calls me a fool. You, of all people, have no right to insult me. You know nothing about me.”
I gave him a dismissive shrug. “I can read people, and I’m never wrong, so if the shoe fits…”
“Oh, is that right? Then please, enlighten me as to how I’m an ignorant idiot.”
I dragged my eyes down the line of pristine tuxedo buttons and back up to his gaze. “You’ve never looked beyond this insulated little world of yours. Before going to LA, I bet you’ve never dealt with a family you hadn’t known since birth. I’m certain you’ve never once in your life considered what it’s like to be a woman. And never as a woman in a position of power, like me. As consilier, you’re the best at what you do, and you do it in a big enough pond that you don’t need to consider any other person. Other family. Other clan. Other world.”
