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Roxie and I gasp in unison.
I shake my head.No, no, he can’t mean that.
“What?” she shrieks. Her head swings back and forth to her friends on either side of her, looking for guidance.
“You can’t mean that,” she says, echoing my own thoughts.
“Like hell I can’t,” he sneers. “The only person who tells me what to do is mysef. And when it comes to my personal life, not even him. I’m a grown-ass man and you sure as hell have no say in what I do.”
Roxie’s face is flushed with fury, her jaw tight and the tendons in her neck popping out. At her sides, her hands flex and clench into fists.
Stamping her foot like a spoiled child, she says, “I won’t have it. I won’t!”
Lucian widens his stance as if he’s going to go toe to toe with her, but then seems to change his mind. He pivots on his heel, showing her his back and swings an arm around my shoulder. Tugging me into his side, he orders, “Come on.”
I’m too stunned to do anything but follow his lead.
Pausing in midstep, he turns around and, speaking in a suspiciously calm tone, he drops the bombshell of the century. “Oh, and one more thing. Star is under my protection. No one touches her.”
His glare transfers to her friends, who cringe under his fierce expression. “If I hear that either you or one of your posse has fucked with her, you’re fucking with me. And Roxie…you don’t want to fuck with me and mine.”
I’m rooted to my spot, speechless with shock.
The man put a target on my back, an even bigger one than I already had, and then he threw a cloak of invincibility over it. Why would he take my side over his future fiancée? I open my mouth to ask, but then snap it shut when he crushes me into his hard body and drags me down the hall with him. I hear a feminine screech behind me and cringe at the high-pitched sound.
My head is a jumbled mess, trying to make sense of what just happened. Maybe he publicly scolded Roxie because she’d overstepped. Yeah, that’s it.
Before I can sift through my jumbled thoughts, Lucian deposits me in front of my classroom, opens the door, and shoves me through it with a relaxed “See you soon, baby girl.”
Stunned, I let the door smack me in the ass.
“You’re late,” the math teacher says. “Take a seat, Star.”
I shake the daze from my head, slink into my seat, and hunch down. I feel like a balloon full of helium floating high in the sky, untethered. Gripping the smooth laminated surface of my desk, I let out a shaky breath.
I can’t read into what just happened. Squeezing my eyes shut, I rack my brain for explanations and the only rational one is that it was a power play between Lucian and Roxie. They’re still very much a couple. This was simply a lover’s spat and I was a pawn in their game of love. Yes, that makes much more sense. Anything else is a figment of my imagination.
My heart squeezes in pain, but I nod my head firmly as I open my backpack to take out my laptop and math book.
Nothing’s changed.
I repeat, nothing’s changed.
CHAPTER16
LUCIAN
I’d rather spend the evening with Star, preferably in bed, but no clan member would dare miss Nelu’s sixtieth birthday/retirement party, a black-tie reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It’s being hosted in one of the reception rooms of the Egyptian Wing. One wall is lined with paintings on papyrus while another side captures a view overlooking Central Park. In the twilight, there isn’t much to see beyond a few flickering lights and the pyramid top of the obelisk, Cleopatra’s Needle, poking out above the treetops.
At least I’m confident Star will show up.
Not for me or Nelu, of course. I didn’t bother asking her, knowing she’d never attend if I did. No, I’ve guaranteed she’ll be here via Marku’s mother, who invited Crina’s family. Crina’s mother is a stickler for rules, and if Crina is here, there’s no doubt she’ll guilt Star and Gabby into joining her. With every clan, big and small, present, this is my chance to put everything to rights with her and claim her as I should.
I’m in the middle of a conversation with Marku when Star enters the room alongside Crina’s entire family.
For a black-tie event, she doesn’t disappoint.
