I don’t miss Lion’s body going rigid in front of me. His spine snaps like straight, and now the predator’s at his front. That hellfire of fury flashes behind his eyes before he blinks it away.
“I’m willing to make her disappear,” he says playfully, but there’s no humor behind it.
He watches me for a moment as rage and shame battle my emotions. Sighing, Lion flicks his finger under my chin to steal my attention from my thoughts.
“Come to work with me, and you’re out of it. Or you could lock Donnie up and just take your rightful place.”
He smiles shamelessly, and I roll my eyes with a chuckle. Lion crosses his arms as if he’s preparing for me to argue. But I’m too tired to argue, and there’s no point in it, anyway. I’m being married off, and there’s nothing I can do.
“You’re just full of advice tonight, aren’t you?”
“Don’t be like that. I know you missed me,” he winks.
“Sometimes, but then you open that dumb mouth of yours, and I wonder why.”
He scoffs while I bat my eyelashes at him.
“You’re welcome to come back with me, Mal. You’ll always have a position with us.”
The offer’s tempting, but we both know I wouldn’t be happy in another mafia. Sure, I’d be away from my mother’s bullshit, but not happy. I could never turn my back on my father like that.
This insecurity isn’t me. Whether or not this mafia is under my control, it’s where I belong; I won’t let Tawny succeed in her attempts to send me away. I’ve never rolled over in submission, and I don’t intend to start now.
“I won’t let her win, and I won’t run from my problems, Lion.”
Lion’s eyes bounce between mine, searching for any of the insecurity that neither of us is used to. Maybe, if my life wasn’t a rolling shitstorm now with the mission and Brenner, I could better deal with this whole arranged-marriage thing. But that’s not how life works, is it?
When he’s satisfied with what he sees in my eyes, Lion nods his head.
“Thought I lost you there for a minute. We aren’t quitters, Mal. My papa didn’t raise us that way, and neither did yours. Don’t let that bitch have any more power over you.”
He’s right.
I vowed she never would again, and conceding to her arranged marriage idea gives her exactly that. I’ve clawed myself away from her torment and taken the power back. Now I hold all the control.
Lion gives me a cocky smirk, watching my wheels turn. This isn’t me. I don’t wallow in self-pity.
“There’s my girl,” Lion teases.
I chuckle and slap at his bulky chest. “I guess with Donovan’s induction coming up, I’m letting shit get to me.”
“You know, I think Uncle Nate is a brilliant man, Mal. But I don’t agree with his choice, and I don’t think he does either. If he had thought Donnie was the better choice, he wouldn’t have spent so much time on you and grooming you to take over.”
He crosses his arms. We stand in silence, trying to make sense of his words.
“Sometimes, I think he follows through with our family’s code because he wants to save me the headache. Mafia men don’t respect women, and most men in the underground generally don’t.” I roll my eyes.
“And what have you done to every motherfucker that stands in your way?”
A mischievous glint shines in Lion’s eye.
“Tell that to my old man.”
We bullshit in our old spot for a while before, with a few words of tough love to remind me who the hell I am, he leaves to make the trip back home.
THE REST OF THE week goes by pretty quickly. I manage to dodge my mother, which can be tricky since the woman’s not allowed to leave the mansion. The day she took my gun’s grip to my face was the day this house became her prison.
With a house this size, though, it’s possible to stay out of someone’s way if you’re motivated enough. Not to mention I have my own shit going on, and I don’t linger around much, anyway. Tawny is most likely sucked into whatever she has planned for this ball.