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26
Things were tense. After the lapse in sanity that sent me scaling up the side of Cat’s home, I returned home to find Alex, Nicu, and Tatum sleeping on my couch and floor. Considering I had two spare bedrooms, I surmised by the empty bottles of liquor strewn across the living room that they had passed out where they’d been drinking at some point during the night, most likely waiting for me to return.
I wanted to howl in rage. It had nothing to do with my family and everything to do with Cat’s broken eyes last night when I wouldn’t tell her the reason that drove me to her. They haunted me with their remorse, which I was closer to forgiving than was healthy. She’d done everything in her power to comfort me, from sucking my cock to cuddling in my arms. It took herculean willpower to sneak out of her bedroom before the crack of dawn. At least her family was none the wiser.
Walking up to the men splayed out on my furniture, I smacked at their heads. One by one, they woke up, alternating between cursing and groaning as they clutched their heads. My mother had called Alex to tell him what had gone down. My brothers had a speech prepared, a bumbling declaration of love and fealty toward me as their true brother.
Uneasy with the emotions at play, I grumbled about how if they really loved me, they’d stop sobbing and get back to normal. To accelerate their exit from my living space, I shot off a text to Nina, Alex’s wife, to come over and pick him up. I bit my nails waiting for her arrival, and together, we got Alex onto his swaying feet and into the elevator.
One down, two to go. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as easy to get rid of the remaining pains in my ass.
Tatum and Nicu decided that it was best to stay and get hydrated while urging me to make something to eat. Since I was the only sober one, I cooked and nursed them back to health. They returned the favor by lounging around my apartment for the rest of the day, covertly monitoring me. They thought they were so smart, but their ruse was absurdly transparent.
They worried that I’d fall apart, but it was a relief to learn the truth from Mama. It explained why I was so different from my brothers, not only in my blond hair and pale eyes, but in my personality. Did my birth mother also prefer her own company?
By evening, I was long over their oppressive worrying and finally kicked them out.
I had to hand it to them, they were persistent in their determination to prove how much I meant to them. It had brought us closer, chipping away at the distance created by my father’s abuse and my continual silence. A code of silence I had no intention of breaking any further. Maybe one day, but for now, I was satisfied that we’d landed safely on the other side of the big revelation. As per Alex and my mother’s decision, we’d maintain the secret about my birth, even to Sebastian and Emma.
As for my mother, I visited her that evening, and we talked more about it. With her, I did break the code. Why? Because she was my mother, and she’d done right by me. Her love was unwavering. A true constant in my life, she deserved to know my truth after revealing hers. Plus, seeing this other side of her, I felt that she could handle it. Needless to say, there was a barrage of tears. I was a little surprised to see her indignation on my behalf, and I think it shook her worship of my father, something even discovering he had another family hadn’t succeeded in doing.
On the topic of forgiveness, Mama tried to get me to discuss Cat. If you can forgive me, then why not her? Everyone makes mistakes. You may make one. In fact, I’m fairly certain you’re making one now. She had a point, but I argued that her so-called “mistake” had been a form of protection. Misguided, but concern over my happiness was at the heart of her decision. The same could not be said of Cat.
No one was perfect, she countered. Cat was protecting her brother and should be given a second chance. I couldn’t admit how close I was to caving after last night. Cat had accepted my limits and comforted me without pressuring me to tell her what had happened. Her care had unmanned me, but fear kept me away. Complicated didn’t begin to describe my feelings. I was paralyzed by the struggle between my need for her and my fear of getting hurt again.
I should’ve been pleased, a few days later, when Nicu’s deference toward me crumbled, signaling that everything was back to normal. His tone had thankfully reverted to its usual tone, but our conversation wrecked what little oasis of peace I’d managed to carve out for myself in the gloomy depression I felt over Cat.
We were in my apartment, nursing a beer together over a soccer game, AC Milan playing against their archrivals, Inter Milan, in a quarter-final clash of the Coppa Italia.
It started with him chastising me over not marrying Cat. “Not sure what you expected, Luca. It was a fucked-up thing to do, taking her virginity. And I’m not saying that because I was her fiancé. I’m saying it ’cause it’s the truth.”
“You act like I forced her or something. Trust me,” I drawled. “It was entirely consensual.”
“I don’t doubt it, but she’s young and a woman.”
“So what? If she’s old enough to get married and lose her virginity to her husband, then she’s old enough to choose who she wants to give it up to. Cat has her own agency, regardless of her gender.”
“A blood bond is a blood bond. That supersedes a little snooping behind your back,” he refuted.
My jaw clenched so hard, swear to God, it was going to crack. “Fuck no, it doesn’t,” I snapped. I was being obstinate, but Nicu butting into my business made me argue with him.
“You’re talking like an idiot, like you don’t know the rules of our world.”
“She betrayed me.”
“So did Mama, but you forgave her. I don’t get you, I really don’t. You’re into her. Despite what some of the busybody mamas go around saying, this wasn’t about hurting me. We both know I don’t give a shit. You sure as hell didn’t hit that for your ego. So that leaves one reason. You care for her. Are you really going to let another man touch what’s yours? Especially him?”
My spine snapped straight up. “What other man? Who the hell is him?”
“Slimy Simu,” Nicu replied with the pithy nickname he’d given the Popescu consilier.
“What?” The blood drained from my face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You didn’t hear?” he replied with a sly smirk. “Simu asked for her hand. He doesn’t care that she’s not a virgin. Apparently, he doesn’t care that she’s still in love with you, either. My spies told me that he refused to help her brother if she didn’t marry him. Get this, his uncle is the Hagi consilier. Simu’s influence is their last hope, so she has no choice but to accept him. She’s his now.”
“She’s not,” I denied.
Pity was written over my little brother’s face as he shook his head. “Believe me, it’s true. The point is, are you going to allow another man, the enemy, to clean up your mess? It’s not a good look for you, brother.”
