Page 4 of Blood in the Water

“Happy birthday,” he murmured.

I grinned while taking a quick sip. He was never great at physical affection. “Thanks.”

Then my eyes caught on Max, and my body became as taut as a tightrope. He was even more breathtaking up close than he was from across the room. It had been a few weeks since I last saw him, which somehow made him seem all the more gorgeous.Absence makes the heart grow fonder. So does the sharp jawbone I could cut my hand on, the beautiful light color of his hair, and the playful look in his normally reserved steel-grey eyes.

I thought my heart would burst out of my chest when he leaned down and kissed my cheek.

He had changed since we were kids. He had always been the gentle one, the quiet one. And even though our parents had beeninseparable as the leaders of the Vero crime Family, his reserved nature initially drew me to him. He was the brain in an army of brawn, and even as a teenager, I could tell he was different. Strategic. Calculating. Smart. He was the prince to my mafia princess.

“Happy birthday, Leona,” Max said with a gentle smile that belied the deadly man underneath. I often overheard some of the things he did to maintain control over our empire. But he reserved these gentle smiles, these moments of his true face, only for me and Cas. “You look breathtaking.”

“Thanks, Max.” I beamed, relishing the way his eyes lingered on the length of my dress. Was that a flash of heat in his eyes, or was I being crazy? I glanced over my shoulder at Dad. Was he watching? How could he not see from how Max looked at me that we were meant for each other? How could this not be the perfect pairing to keep our Family strong?

“Enjoying your birthday so far?” Max swirled the champagne around his glass.

“Very much.” I took another sip to hide my smile. “Cas has only been moderately annoying today, so that’s been a relief.”

Max laughed. “Cas is the best in the country. You should be grateful he chooses to protect you.”

I bumped Cas’s shoulder. “I am, I promise. You know that, right, Cas? I just love to tease you.”

“Yeah, you love totortureme, you mean.” He grunted, but a ghost of a smile pulled up the corner of his lip. For some reason, my breath caught on the way he brushed a lock of his inky black hair out of his eyes. I wasn’t lying earlier when I said he looked very handsome.

“Torture, please,” I scoffed once I cleared that weird sticking in my throat. “You’re such a big baby.”

“At least I don’t whine like you do.”

“I do not!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, no?”

I clamped my lips shut and narrowed my eyes. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.” I lifted my chin only to find Max watching us both with an unusual expression. “What?”

Max shook his head with a reserved smile. “You two always make me smile.”

Cas’s eyes flicked from me to Max and back.

Awkwardness filled the air, our conversation souring, as Max shifted on his feet and Cas cleared his throat. Where was this tension coming from?

“Do you like my dress? Cas said I looked gorgeous,” I teased, trying to get us back into our typical banter.

Cas took a huge sip of his champagne and scowled as Max laughed.

“It’s stunning.” With his smile, some of the underlying tension lessened. “Careful, though, or you’ll catch the eye of every man here.”

“There’s only one man whose attention I want to catch,” I murmured, keeping an eye on him over the top of my glass while I took another sip. He held my gaze with the confidence that only a twenty-five-year-old man with multiple weapons on his person could have.

Before the night was over, I would tell him how the two of us belonged together, how we were meant to be, and how I’d loved him for years. I’d get confirmation that he felt the same. Then, together, we’d convince my father. Our future would be set.

“Is there?” Max whispered conspiratorially. He looked at Cas with eyes wide. “Is it Cas?”

“Absolutely not,” Cas grimaced while looking around the party. “Don’t bring me into this.”

I scoffed and pushed his arm. I knew he was just dishing all that teasing back at me, but something about the look on his faceannoyed me. He didn’t have to act like I repulsed himthatmuch, even if it was a joke. “Don’t be an asshole.”

“Cas can’t picture any man brave enough to claim the Vero daughter. After all, your father would probably make the suitor fight Cas to the death for the right to your hand,” Max joked. I opened my mouth to contest the fact that Cas would ever stand in the way of me getting married, but he continued. “And for me, it’s hard to imagine the girl I grew up with getting married. I understand where Cas is at, though. Like a little sister, whoever wants to get with you must get through both of us first.”

My face froze in an awkward smile. My stomach dropped to my knees.