Savage Mafia King (Vicious Heirs #3)

Chapter Twenty-One—Marcus

As I get out of my last class of the semester, my head is stuffed with everything I'm going to need to memorize before exams start in a few weeks. But when I see her standing there next to the statue in the center of the quad, holding a couple of takeout coffees and wearing the cutest smile, all of that vanishes from my mind.

I notice a few people shooting looks in our direction as I approach her, but I've grown used to that by now. Despite the fact we've publicly been a couple for a few months now, people still can't seem to wrap their heads around it—the head of the sorority, queen bee on campus, and she's dating someone like me?

I plant a kiss on her chilly cheek, and she hands me the coffee.

"Figured you might want a caffeine hit to start your exam prep with," she tells me, and I chuckle, lifting it to my lips and taking a long sip.

"You're right," I reply.

"But we've got dinner with my brother first," she reminds me.

I sigh. "Even more reason for the caffeine, then..."

"Hey!"

She lands a playful swat on my shoulder, and I grin. Truth be told, I've actually come to kind of like her brother. Now that our families have come to an understanding about working together, I can respect that he's focused on his family business. He works so hard to keep the storefronts he uses to launder money running as legitimately as possible. He takes good care of those who work for him, and that's more than can be said for a lot of people in this line of work.

While it's going to take a while before our families our truly comfortable with each other, we're getting there, and that's what matters. We've made news of our alliance common knowledge, and it seems to have kept the Castellanos at bay for the time being. It's also forced the O'Tooles, who at one point had some serious problems with Blake, to back off. Together, we're stronger than we ever could have been apart, and I'm glad I can finally see that for what it is.

We make our way across campus, and as we go, we're stopped by a couple of the new hopeful pledges for next semester.

"Isabella, I was at the pledge mixer last month," one of the girls gushes to her. "I'm so excited about potentially joining the sorority, I love the work you do, and I—"

"Thank you," Isabella tells her, gracious but firm as she always is with these kinds of girls. She never brushes them off outright, though, sometimes, I wish she would. She's always quick to tell me that they look up to her and that she's not going to treat them like they're not worth her time, especially when she was in their shoes once, too.

"But I have dinner with my boyfriend," she tells her, giving my hand a squeeze.

The girl flushes slightly and shoots a nervous look in my direction. "Uh, right, of course," she blurts out, and with that, she drops her head and scurries off.

"You think they're intimidated by me?" I ask as I watch the girl flee.

Isabella laughs. "Yeah, of course they are," she replies. "They think you're some big, bad asshole who runs those underground fight nights, and they have no idea what I'm doing with you."

"So how do you get away with it?"

"Because I run this place," she replies, as though it should have been obvious. "Nobody dares say shit to me about how I choose to make that happen."

The grin spreads wider over my face. I love hearing the confidence in her tone. It's one of the sexiest things about her, the certainty with which she carries herself, as though she knows she could take on the world and win.

We drive over to her brother's restaurant, which is already busy with guests and other patrons. He has a table set aside for us, and he greets me with a handshake. I notice, to my surprise, that there is someone else already sitting at the table we usually take up, and I cock an eyebrow.

"Unexpected guest?"

"Alex!" Isabella exclaims, and the man rises to his feet and gives her a hug. I feel a tinge of jealousy until she pulls back and explains the situation to me. "This is Alex, our cousin," she tells me brightly. "He's been away for a few months, but..."

"But I'm back now," Alex replies, and he extends his hand to me. "Good to meet you, Marcus, I've heard a lot about you."

I eye him for a moment before I take his hand. I'm not sure exactly what he's heard about me, but hey, if we're going to be working together as allies, I guess I need to make nice.

"You, too."

I shake his hand, and we settle down at the table. Soon, as the wine starts to flow, I begin to relax. I'm still getting used to working with these men, but I truly trust Isabella completely, and if she can put her faith in them, then the least I can do is offer them the same thing.

"How are your studies going?" Alex asks her as he lifts a glass of wine to his lips. There's something hard to read about him. I'm going to have to ask Isabella what he's doing back after all this time and where he's been while he's been out of town.

"I'm nearly finished," she gushes with a bright smile. "And so is Marcus. We're planning a trip away when the semester is done. Right, Marcus?"

"Somewhere warm," I reply, slipping my hand over the back of her seat. "Where no emails from professors can reach us."

Alex chuckles.

The rest of the evening passes by with ease. Because of the unexpected guest, we keep conversation away from work, and frankly, I'm glad for it. While I know there's still plenty for us to discuss when it comes to our still-nascent alliance, I'm still able to switch off for a while.

By the time the evening comes to a close, Blake insists on calling us a cab, and we head back to our place together. I'm still getting used to calling it that, our place. After all, for so long, I thought I would stay a bachelor. But now, with her at my side, it feels right to be able to share this place with her. Like we're building a life together here, a home.

We reach the penthouse, and she leans up against the window as I clean up, peering down over the city below. I make my way over to her, leaning my head on her shoulder and breathing in the scent of her.

"You looked so beautiful tonight," I murmur to her, and she laughs.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's just the wine talking," she shoots back playfully, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh, you want to find out?" I reply, and I reach down to scoop her up into my arms before she can come out with anything else. She shrieks and grabs hold of me for dear life, gripping tight to my shoulders.

"Don't you dare drop me!"

"Like I ever would."

I carry her toward the bedroom. It's amazing to me, how small and delicate she can feel in my arms when I know the strength she carries within her.

Once we reach the bed, she pulls me down on top of her, wrapping her arms around me and gazing into my eyes for a moment.

"I love you," she whispers to me.

I brush my lips across her cheek as I lower my mouth to her neck.

"I'm never going to get tired of hearing you say that. I love you, too, Isabella."

And with that, I sink my body into hers and let everything else fall away. It's just the two of us, and that's exactly how I like it.