Page 114 of Sinful King

“Yeah. We’re team now, Ms. second-in-command.”

Just a big brother making his rounds, I thought.

We rode the rest of the way in silence, arriving atTroja—the restaurant with known connections to the Albanian mafia—after an hour in traffic.

“Got an actual plan?” Violet asked after we rolled to a stop.

I shook my head with a smile on my face, fingers already pulling the door handle.

“Winging it…” I cut my eyes at her. “As soon as we step in there, the one in charge will know. That’s all we need.”

She nodded and we got out, both scanning the street before I pulled the door open and waved her inside.

The second the hostess met eyes with me, she frowned.

“You want to eat here?” she asked, accent thick.

I tipped my head, wondering what she meant by that.

It’s clear my face didn’t ring a bell for her, so my mind immediately went to her wondering why two Black people were in their establishment. But this was New York; we were fucking cultured in all things food. Our presence shouldn’t be a fucking surprise.

“We walked in here, didn’t we?” Violet asked, voice soft with a slight edge to it. “Should we go spend our money elsewhere, because—”

The man I spotted sitting in a corner, who hadn’t stopped ogling us since we entered, stood. “Ulini ato!”seat them.

I wasn’t fluent in Albanian, but I’d gotten the gist of his order when she jumped, immediately grabbed two menus and led us to a booth on the other side of the damn near empty restaurant.

She introduced herself as Blerina, took are drink orders and scurried away.

“How long do you think before the boss shows up?” Violet asked, eyes on the hostess as she prepared our drinks at the drink machine. “I’m hoping I can actually eat.”

I regarded her closely, while she watched our surroundings like a hawk.

“How’s your brother?” I asked, chuckling as her gaze snapped in my direction.

She smiled and it reached her eyes, which was rare. At least in front of me.

“He’s good. Deciding on what he wants to do with his life. I think he’s a little confused, especially since Nozi is set on ranking up.”

I hummed, keeping quiet until our server—who’d come to take our orders and drop off the drinks the hostess made—left.

Noziah was basically Finn’s kid. He was an adult by law now but still a kid in my book, same as her brother Valen.

After he’d tried to kidnap her, I could only guess he wanted to stay on Finn’s good side.

“But…” she shrugged and sipped her lemonade. “He’s just not built for this life. I’m sure he’ll figure it out though. The support is there now.”

Her eyes met mine and she tipped her head with a faint teasing smile on it.

I was slowly wearing her down and she didn’t even know it.

“All this time, I thought you were lonely. But then I remembered something you said at the hospital after Finn got shot and now all of this makes sense. You and Blair, I mean.”

It was lost on me, whatever I said to her that day. All I remembered was being frustrated with Finn’s lack of focus and then him being shot.

But truthfully, it was about me missing Blair and putting our happiness on the back burner for the family, while my brothers were openly loving their women.

All this time, I felt like I had to take all the necessary steps before claiming who always belonged to me.

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