De rigueur

THE RINGING BETWEENmy ears in deafening, and I find myself following blindly behind Theía as the elders opt to stay behind while the rest of us is redirected to the rooftop bar.

A waiter offers us a selection of drinks, and my eyebrows shoot up when Theía swipes one of the mojitos from the tray before downing the entire thing in one gulp.

"Are you okay?" I ask under my breath.

"I"ve been better."

"It"s silly, right? What the Familia is asking of us?"

Theía doesn"t answer me, and I look at her uneasily. "What"s on your mind?"

"Something you probably wouldn"t want to hear."

I look at her in horror. "You can"t possibly be in agreement—-"

"I am."

Crap!

I should"ve known she won"t be on my side about this. Theía has always been fiercely protective towards me, but it"s gotten worse since my parents were killed, and downright crazy when she found out about her condition.

"C"mon, Theía. You really think marrying me off will keep me safe?"

"Safer, at least."

"Safer from what? It"s not like someone out there hates me enough to kill me—-"

"Don"t be an idiot." The older girl"s tone is matter-of-fact. "You"re a Petinos. That"s enough reason for some people."

"I get that, I really do. But—-"

Theía gestures for me to keep quiet when her phone starts to ring. "I need to take this."

Oh boy.

People have been giving us a wide berth because of Theía"s "condition", but it"s the complete opposite as soon as my aunt walks away.

"You won"t find fault with my boy, little Babita."

Mama sharks come at me one after another, and while some of them only have their own families" advantage in mind—-

"You haven"t heard this from me, but I was told that Ricardo"s boy called you "plump". I wouldn"t choose him if I were you."

Others would prefer to see my family or someone else"s at a disadvantage.

"Your family has money. Ours has firepower."

"Fight for yourself! You are not some mindless cattle for them to order as they please."

"Is there any guy you have an eye on? I know the dirt about everyone here."

I get it either way.

Family is what matters most for all of us here. Always has, always will, and if my marriage is what would keep the Petinos clan from getting expelled from the Familia—-

"My nephew thinks you"re pretty."

"How do you feel about experimenting? My daughter believes the two of you would make a great couple."

"Our family is very modern. We wouldn"t expect you to be monogamous."

I...can do it, right?

Arranged marriages have always been a thing with families like ours, and maybe, if I play my cards right, I can end up with a guy I can at least...tolerate?

You can do this, B.

My chest squeezes at the thought of marrying someone I"m not in love with, but I tell myself I"m being stupid and selfish.

Familia primum, B!

It"s Latin for "family first", and I mentally chant the words over and over even when I feel like I"m about to have a heart attack. I can"t afford to make any impulsive mistakes. I need to take my time in order to do what"s best—-

"There you are," a lazy voice drawls from behind me, and the sound of it has all the matchmaking mama sharks around me suddenly shut up.

Whoa.

I"m half-expecting the Prince of Darkness himself to be standing behind me as I turn around, but...WHOA.

My heart bangs against my chest as I find myself gazing up at a sinfully gorgeous stranger with the most stunning pair of slate-gray eyes.

Who is this guy...and why is he smiling down at me like we have this insanely wicked secret between us?

"Theé mou!" Oh my God! " One of the mama sharks gapes at him like he"s the dead come to life. "Is that really you, Stelios Diamandis?"

Holy crap.

The name instantly rings a bell, for more reasons than one.

No one really knows what went on in that fateful meeting between Stelios and the most powerful elders of the Familia, but he"s somehow convinced all of the clans to quit the drug trade before walking away from us for good.

Since then, he"s become more Bruce Wayne than Batman, with how and his other billionaire friends have turned into celebrities after successfully launching America"s most popular gentleman"s club.

"It"s already been years," another mama sharks exclaims as she squints up at him. "What brings you back?"

I"d love to know the answer to that, too...especially since Mr. Billionaire has just curved an arm around my waist before pulling me close.

"You and Babita?"

I can"t even find it in me to feel offended at how shocked everyone looks...since I"m pretty shocked myself. Stelios Diamandis is holding me to him like I"m his property, and I"m torn between playing it safe by keeping me cool...and pushing him away even if it means risking getting stabbed to death.

Astro"s bedtime stories for me had always been about bad guys defeating "badder" guys, and since some of them had been of Stelios defending himself with just a screwdriver—-

It feels like I"m meeting one of my childhood antiheroes on one hand...and that I"m about to witness a murder on the other, with Theía suddenly showing up, and I see the way her gaze swings between Mr. Ex-Greek-Mafia-Royalty and me.

Say something, B!

I open my mouth even when nothing comes to mind, but my aunt beats me to speaking.

"You found her first," Theía says in her usual brisk voice.

"I told you I would."

Uh...what the heck?

Here I was, worried that the older girl would blow up at the sight of some terribly handsome terrible stranger holding her niece captive, but it seems like I"m the one who"s in the dark with the way they"re talking to each other like everything about this makes perfect sense...even when it doesn"t.

Or am I the only one who"s missing something here?