"Don't you think they'd know, Lucian?"
"Frankly, I don't give a good goddamn at this point. You haven't had the chance to hurt someone I love since I was a child, but I'm not a little boy anymore. If you think I'd make it easy on you to die, I wouldn't. For my mother and my father, I'd watch you bleed and enjoy it. But for Jordyn? For her, I'd slit your vocal cords so I could watch you scream for days and not hear a fucking thing. You have no idea what I am capable of doing for that woman. And you really don't want to find out."
"Such violence," Kate said with a tsk. "Do you kiss her with that mouth? Does hers taste as dirty as yours?"
"Don't push me, Kate. I'm so done with your bullshit."
Lucian bared his teeth in warning, but the tender placement of a hand lying flat to the spot between his shoulder blades stopped him from saying more. Jordyn's touch calmed him instantly. He would know her smell, her aura, and her presence anywhere without her even needing to say a thing.
"Lucian?" Jordyn asked quietly. "Everything okay?"
No, he wanted to say. It was far from okay.
Fact was, he was too close to Kate and for her safety, needed to move away.
Jordyn's arm curling around his side and pushing him backwards so she could move almost protectively in front of him saved him the time. Really, it only irked him more, because now she was too close to the bitch against the wall.
"Good evening, Kate," Jordyn greeted, her hand fisting into Lucian's dress shirt to keep him rooted in place behind her. "We haven't had the chance to speak tonight, so let's do that now."
"I'd rather not," Kate said. "I think I'll go find my sister."
"Oh, no, I think you won't," Jordyn responded severely.
"Sweetheart … " Lucian started to say.
"Shush." Jordyn's one word effectively quieted Lucian from opening his mouth again. "Do you know how much his brothers adore him, Kate?"
When Kate said nothing, Jordyn flicked Lucian a look over her shoulder that showcased a gentle smile.
"Enough that they barreled into his room at seven in the morning to douse him with cold water because he hadn't gotten up first to do it to Dante. I didn't know, but it's a tradition between the three. Too bad I was in the bed and they didn't think about me. Funny thing is, Lucian hasn't been soaked on his birthday morning in years because he's never been able to sleep as well as he does beside me.
"And Cecelia," Jordyn continued in her same, soft tenor. "She knows he's a grown man who certainly doesn't need to be babied or coddled, but she still kissed his cheek good morning and sang him happy birthday, just like she did for his brother. What about Antony? Lucian didn't want gifts from his family, but his father didn't listen. The custom watch he's wearing with the Marcello crest engraved in the face … just another reminder of where he belongs."
Kate looked as if she'd swallowed cyanide. "What is your point?"
"It eats at you, doesn't it?" Jordyn asked sweetly. "That they love him and hold him so much closer than they do you. It must be awful to know he's succeeded, thrived even, in this world that should have been yours. The nightmares you must have knowing his father made damn sure he would never want for a thing, but the man couldn't even be bothered to leave you the marital bed he fucked you in."
"You little bitch-"
"Oh, I wouldn't start tossing names, Kate," Jordyn warned. "Because I guarantee the names you have for me won't compare to the ones already labeled and stuck to you for the rest of your life. Don't you see? You can call me anything and it's really not going to make a difference. Unfortunately for you, it doesn't matter how much silicone and plastic there is under your skin to make you pretty, everybody still knows exactly who you are underneath it all. You're so dirty. That feeling on your hands you can't get off no matter how many times you wash? That's called filth. It's ingrained in your pores. It's never coming out."
"Jordyn," Lucian murmured, squeezing her waist gently. "It's all right, bella."
"No, I don't think it is," Jordyn replied, shrugging. "I think someone needs to say it."
"I don't have to listen to a thing from you," Kate said, trying to sound dismissive but failing miserably. "You're certainly not worth the effort."
"Aren't I?" Jordyn scoffed quietly. "Take a good look at me, Kate, and then look at him, too. God, it must cut you up inside to think he's happy. That makes you an awful, terrible person."
Lucian decided Jordyn didn't need him to step in after that. People were far enough away not to overhear the conversation, and she hadn't raised her voice once. She was the kind of woman who didn't need to shout to get her point across and that made him all the more proud of her.
"And what bothers you the very most, Kate, above everything he has that you don't, and all that he is despite what you've done to hurt him," Jordyn said in a murmur, leaning a little closer, " … is that Lucian could have been your child and he wasn't. Deny that when you look at him, you see his father in his eyes staring back at you, the very man you married and received nothing for doing so. Deny he could have been your little boy, your son to spoil, and your baby to love. His father wouldn't give that to you, though, would he? I'd bet he knew just the kind of woman you are and couldn't stomach even the thought of letting you raise a child of his."
Kate opened her mouth to speak, but Jordyn beat her to it. "Lucian was born to a woman much better than you, and raised by one who has more worth in her left pinky than you do in your entire body. They made him exactly who he is, and he is wonderful. Nothing about you is good, while everything about him is. And it absolutely kills you inside to see it, to know it, to watch Cecelia love him despite your hatred, and to know Antony is proud of him, regardless of his last name.
"You are poison," Jordyn whispered darkly. "Evil in your heart and angry in your soul. Everything you've ever had has turned to ruins and it was all by your own hands. If you want to destroy the things surrounding you, that's fine, but you will not destroy what wasn't yours to begin with. Lucian was never yours, and that's what hurts you the most. I hope someday it kills you, too. Don't choke on your jealousy, Kate. It's a big pill to swallow."
With a choked noise catching in the back of her throat, Kate's eyes widened before she pushed off the wall and ran to hide somewhere in the crowd behind them. Lucian's pride swelled for Jordyn as his lover took a big enough breath to make her shoulders rise. Then, she turned to him with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Lucian laughed, loud and honest. "Dio, bella! For what? That was great."
"Still … " Jordyn made a face, sighing.
"Don't do that, sweetheart," Lucian said with a shake of his head. "Don't feel badly for her or for hurting her with the truth. You were right, she deserved to hear it. I've bit my tongue long enough when it comes to her abuse because in some way, I felt like she was due her anger. Kate has always had to look at me and know where I came from. I don't doubt it was hard, but she hasn't made it easier, that's for sure."
"What does she truly get from it?" Jordyn asked.
"Nothing. My confusion and hurt, maybe. Especially when I was younger."
"No more of that. She isn't important enough to deserve it from you."
Lucian nodded. "Yeah, I know."
"I am sorry she tried to ruin your party."
"She didn't-couldn't. You're here. Nothing makes me happier than you."
Jordyn graced Lucian with one of her brilliant smiles. The desire to kiss her surged up swift and furious in his gut, so Lucian did just that. The kiss was hard and passionate, as it usually was between them. He could taste the remnants of a White Russian drink on the back of her tongue as Jordyn fell into his lips and embrace, sighing softly.
Even the sudden catcall whistles breaking out in the crowd didn't stop them.
Chapter Twenty
"So, what do you think?" Fraser, a luxury Lexus dealer the Marcellos frequently used, asked.
Lucian hummed indecisively, looking the dark Lexus LFA Supercar over again. It was a sporty coupe offering fantastic horsepower and a great body. None of that was his problem, though.
"I prefer the silver chrome paint."
"I'm aware. If you want that color, I'm going to need to order it and you'll have to wait."
Jordyn bumped Lucian's hip with hers to gain his attention. "I don't mind this matte style."
That was the first time Jordyn opened her mouth about any vehicles in the lot since they arrived an hour ago to begin shopping. Other than very clearly explaining if he bought her a car without her consent, he'd sleep in the guest bedroom for a month, she hadn't said much or given an opinion.
"It's dark. It's always going to look dirty," Lucian explained, eyeing the black paint job. "I know this new matte paint is popular, but I don't know. Maybe … "