Chapter Ten
Ishouldn’t be gawking at them like this.
But he stayed right there, rooted to the spot, staring out the window at Besian and Marley together in his garden. Somewhere out there, a puppy ran wild, but he’d lost sight of it. Neither Besian nor Marley seemed too worried about the missing dog.
No, they were too enthralled with each other. Besian held her waist in both hands, and she caressed his face, drawing her thumb along his cheek and lower lip. She smiled up at her husband, but it was Besian’s expression that left Luka all twisted up inside.
Tender. Vulnerable. Loving.
As he watched them talk quietly and embrace, Luka felt someone approach. He didn’t have to glance back to identify the intruder. Zec had what could only be described as a dark aura that seemed to radiate from him in thrumming waves. It wasn’t threatening exactly, but it felt unnerving.
Zec stopped next to him. He crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly.
He seemed to be studying the married couple as if they were research subjects.
Eventually, he said, “I hope you’re not envisioning this with your soon-to-be wife.
If she lets you get that close, it’s only so she can slip the knife in tight between your ribs. ”
Luka scowled. “You’re an asshole.”
Zec shrugged carelessly. “No one likes hearing the truth.”
“I don’t remember asking your opinion.”
Zec glanced at him, his eyes dark and cold. “If you had, I would have told you to put a stop to this marriage nonsense ten years ago when the money didn’t matter and the Raffaelli family was weak. We could have made a big move and gotten out from under this shadow.”
“Well, you didn’t, and it’s too late now.” He turned away from the window, away from the sight of Besian and Marley kissing so sweetly, away from the happiness he would never know. “What’s the situation with the Raffaellis?”
“The same as it always is,” Zec rasped. “Bullshit and bullshit and more bullshit.”
Luka’s cheek twitched. “You still think they’re playing games with the money in the trust?”
For the last few months, Zec had been hissing in his ear about his suspicions that Carlo Raffaelli had not been simply guarding and keeping the trust money safe.
Zec had even gone so far as to demand to see the actual books, to audit the account.
It had caused a great deal of consternation and even threats.
In the end, Carlo had allowed Zec to look at them.
“You already went through their files like a forensic accountant. You didn’t find anything,” Luka tersely reminded him.
“I didn’t find anything in the files they gave me access to,” Zec retorted.
Luka sighed. “The Dushku accountant didn’t find anything untoward either.”
Zec scoffed. “We’re trusting our enemy’s math now?”
“They’re not our enemies anymore.”
Zec laughed harshly. “They’ll be our enemies as long as one drop of their traitorous blood walks this earth.”
Luka glared at him. “Someday, my child will share that blood. My heir. Your next boss.”
Zec stared back at him, his gaze unsettlingly still. Whatever he wanted to say, he kept to himself. Instead, he said, “I sent Drita to have lunch with your ex-girlfriend.”
He frowned. “Liliana?”
“Is there another ex-girlfriend I need to worry about?”
“You know there’s not.” So far, Zec hadn’t brought up that messy situation with the two dancers back in Houston.
“It didn’t go well. Liliana left the restaurant in hysterics. Drita is refusing to talk about what was said.”
That didn’t bode well. “What is the plan for the wedding? What if she tries to make a scene?”
“We have security in place.”
“And the rehearsal dinner?” Luka still hadn’t told Dafina about the strippers in Houston.
He needed to come clean about that before they walked down the aisle, and it would be infinitely more difficult to convince her he was committed to making this arranged marriage work if his ex-girlfriend barged into the middle of things.
“It’s handled.” Zec slipped his hand into his suit jacket and retrieved his phone. “It’s all handled. Your soon-to-be wife and her mother will be here in a few hours. Artan comes in from Montenegro tomorrow. Skender from Bologna after that. The only missing pieces are Kristo and the sister.”
And then, because, of course Zec had someone following Kristo, he flashed his phone screen and said, “Those two missing pieces are together right now in China.”
“I know they are.” Luka schooled his features even though his stomach was in knots. “Kristo told me.”
Didn’t just tell him. Had been sending videos and photos of Elona practically nonstop since they had crossed paths in Shanghai. Needling him. Taunting him.
“I don’t know what game he’s playing, but it ends when he returns to Tirana,” Zec declared.
“You don’t get to make that decision.” Luka hated Zec’s high-handedness. He might be the family’s fixer, but that was as far as his power went. “Kristo and Elona can do whatever they want. They don’t answer to me or you.”
“That’s the problem,” Zec muttered under his breath.
Luka ignored it because he didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want to be forced into a verbal battle with a man who could flay him alive with only a few carefully chosen words. “I’m going outside for a walk.”
“Watch out for the little presents that dog has been leaving all over the yard.”
That dog had better not be shitting all over my yard.
Luka stepped onto the patio. He scanned the garden for his uncle but found only Marley. She tromped after her wildly exuberant shepherd puppy running amok by the pool. She waved and squeezed a quacking duck toy in the air to get his attention.
He still couldn’t believe Besian had agreed to let her take a dog from Albania to Texas. He didn’t even want to know what that cost or how many hoops his uncle had to jump through to do it legally.
He walked across the patio, down the stone steps and out to the chairs under his favorite tree. His phone vibrated again, and Kristo’s name appeared with another message.
“Everything okay?” Marley had conceded defeat with her puppy. He had flopped down under a nearby tree and gnawed on the toy, squeezing it over and over and over to make it honk and squeak.
“It’s fine.” He noticed that she didn’t ask if he wanted company.
She plopped down in the wrought iron chair next to his, curling her legs to the side and getting comfortable.
He might have been imagining it, but she seemed a bit tired.
The night prior, she’d stayed home rather than join in on the family dinner in town.
He had his suspicions, but he wasn’t going to pry.
“Doesn’t look fine.” She eyed the phone clutched in his hand. “Wedding problems?”
He huffed out a sharp breath. “No, for once, it’s not the wedding.”
Her brow furrowed with concern. “Not something more serious?”
He shook his head. Then, against his better judgement, he admitted, “It’s Kristo.”
“Is he delayed again in Shanghai? I thought he was coming back tomorrow.”
“He is. Or, rather, he hasn’t told me otherwise.”
“Did his meetings go poorly?” Marley asked carefully. He wasn’t sure how much she knew about the business, but he was sure it was more than he’d like.
“Yes.” There was no point in lying to her. She was family, after all. “But that’s not what he’s messaging nonstop about today.” He hesitated before unlocking his phone, opening the messaging app and handing over his phone. “See for yourself.”
She reluctantly took the phone and slowly turned her gaze on the screen. He watched the surprise filter across her face. Amusement followed, and it irritated him even more. “Is that—? Is Kristo with Dafina’s sister? In China? At Disneyland?”
“Yes.”
She tapped the screen with her thumb and played a short video of Kristo and Elona modeling matching tees and obnoxiously pink sets of Disney ears.
She laughed at their antics but hastily squashed her smile when she noticed the perturbed expression he wore.
“I, um, I guess this isn’t what you sent him to Shanghai to do. ”
“No, it’s not.”
“I didn’t even know they were friends.”
“They weren’t. Not until two nights ago, apparently.
They crossed paths on a sidewalk outside a restaurant in the business district.
” He snatched his phone back, scrolled up and showed her the ridiculous photos and videos of the two of them drunk and singing yacht rock karaoke in a Shanghai bar.
“Look at them! He’s out there cavorting with our enemy! ”
“Cavorting?” Marley snickered and took the phone back from him.
“Is that what this is?” Her eyes widened as she watched a video of Elona and Kristo singing some ridiculous song together.
Kristo had obviously handed off his phone to someone else in the crowd to capture the memory. “Oh, that’s clever.”
“What is?” He didn’t think there was anything clever about those two drunken idiots.
“Come on! Rich Girl? It’s a funny song for them to sing considering her situation.” She seemed to notice he didn’t think there was anything clever about those two drunken idiots embarrassing themselves on a stage. “I mean, you know, because she’s, like, rich rich.”
“Her stepfather is. She’s not.” He didn’t know why he felt the need to point that out.
“Okay.” Marley eyed him curiously. “What is this really about? Because I don’t think this is about you beefing with the Dushku family or feeling some kind of betrayed way about Kristo becoming friendly with your soon-to-be sister-in-law.”
Luka stretched his neck, trying to ease the tension gripping him by the throat. He could lie and insist it was exactly that. To himself and only himself, he’d admit the truth.
It was her.
Elona.
Seeing her with Kristo set his teeth on edge. Made his muscles tighten and knot. Made his lungs feel too small.