Page 59 of Cardinal

Grinning cheekily at Luciano, I picked up another filled shot glass from the coffee table. "Juliet, I swear, if you take another shot before you turn twenty-one, I will ground you until you are thirty." Luciano threatened with a tired groan while running his hand down his face.

"You're not my dad or the boss—"

Needless to say, I didn't dare finish that sentence because of the very pointed look of warning Luciano burned into me.

A chill washed over my body as I felt the color drain from my face when the corners of Luciano's lips twisted into a devious, taunting smirk. "I'm not what? I don't think I quite caught that, principessa."

"You're not my dad… You're my boyfriend… Sir." I uttered with a pout as I hung my head slightly.

Smiling victoriously, he reached out, grabbed me by the waist, and pulled me into his lap so I was no longer standing in the space between the armchair and couch. "Good girl." He whispered with a soft chuckle in my ear.

"Sorry about that, just a little hiccup back home, but I got it figured out." Sebastian appeared in the area with an apologetic smile and sat down between Aidan and Ares.

Starting from Luciano's position at one of the armchairs, on the couch next to us were Aidan, Sebastian, and Ares, and on the other armchair across from Luciano and I sat Leah—oh, and Evie was present in Aidan's lap.

The whole area became quiet almost instantly with everyone present, and the air quickly grew tense and dire. "Thank you, everyone, for coming earlier than planned for Juliet's graduation," Luciano said after clearing his throat. "And I'm sorry it's taken this long for this introduction to happen, but everyone, this is my Juliet."

Heat instantly flushed my cheeks at all the attention on me when Luciano presented me on a platter to everyone. At least the tender smile and passionate look from Luciano's heart-melting eyes eased my nerves some. "H-hi, uhh I guess it's nice to meet you all and put faces to the voices finally." I smiled courteously with a small wave of my hand.

What happened next confused and intrigued me.

Ares exclaimed with glee and smacked Sebastian right in the middle of his chest with the back of his hand the moment I finished speaking. "Fucking knew it! You owe me that new bike now fucker." He laughed victoriously while Sebastian groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Better pay up to me as well motherfucker." Aidan chimed in with his own triumphant smirk at Sebastian before looking at Evie with a bright grin and whispering something to her that made her squeal with delight.

Perplexed, I turned my head to look at Luciano for an answer, only to be met with a lost look and shrug from him as he looked between his friends with bewildered eyes. "The fuck are you three going on about? What bet did I miss out on?" He questioned them after he gave up trying to figure out the mess.

A sighing groan from Leah and a shake of her head caught my attention. "Idiots. Men, all of them are idiots, I swear." He heard her grumble while rubbing her temples.

"Ares and Aidan called bullshit on your ridiculous 'I have a headache' excuse at that video chat meeting a week ago and said you were getting head from your girl under the desk, which is why you were acting funny," Sebastian explained with a scoff and shake of his head.

Throwing his hands over his face, Sebastian leaned back fully on the couch, throwing his head over the back of it and groaning into his hands. Sitting back up with a sigh, he looked at Luciano and me pleadingly. "Please don't tell me you were getting blown during the meeting, man. Please tell me these idiots are just dirty-minded fuckers." He sounded so desperate that I was tempted to lie and deny the truth just to save him and myself.

Running a hand down his face, Luciano remained quiet as he rested his hand across his jaw. His silence basically answered everything.

In response to the silent answer from Luciano, Evie snapped her head at me and shot me an overly interested look as she turned her body around to face me with a growing grin. "Girl, did you seriously blow him under the desk? Spill it. I need to know how much my little Juliet has grown into a kickass woman." She prodded me in Vietnamese, making me blush at the fact I'd been caught.

Of course, Leah jumped in as well. "Did you really?" She wasn't judgmental or disappointed, just rather interested, too, it seemed.

"Y-yeah, I was upset at him and wanted to mess with him. I mean, I thought I was sneaky and got away with it." I admitted with a cherry red face and embarrassed smile.

Giggling with a small wave of her hand, Leah replied, "Well, if it weren't for those two idiots being so dirty-minded, then you would have. I mean, I didn't know. I honestly thought he was having a bad headache. Don't ask me how those two came to the conclusion that you were under the desk. I don't want to know their reasoning myself for the sake of keeping my brain cells intact."

"Do you have any idea how happy I am for you right now? It's so good to see you getting more confident each and every time I see you. It really is amazing to see how much you've changed in a good direction since I met you that night at the fight." Evie's eyes started to tear up with her happy smile and cracking voice.

"We are all really happy for you with the progress you have made. It truly is stunning." Leah chimed in with her own happy and proud smile.

"You guys, you're going to make me cry." I could feel the emotions welling up in my eyes, ready to spill over if one more sappy thing came out of their mouths.

"What are you guys talking about? Did they upset you, principessa?" Luciano's concern made me let out a small sob as I shook my head in response. "Then what's wrong? You look like you're going to cry."

"Happy tears, don't worry," I assured him with a giggling grin.

"Alright, alright, everyone regroup. We can all chit-chat about other shit later after we get Juliet up to speed." Luciano's firm voice projected throughout the living area, commanding the place.

Tightening his arm around my waist, Luciano settled a kiss against my temple before smiling at me softly. "I am sorry for not filling you in on the whole situation before this, but things have been hectic." He whispered to me before looking at the others as he cleared his throat. "Juliet, this is everyone from The East Coast Syndicate. You have already met Aidan and Leah, but the other two blockheads are Sebastian Caro and Ares Drakos." He gestured toward the two men, who rolled their eyes at Luciano in response. "They are in charge of Florida, so they remain there for the most part."

Twisting my eyebrows together, I settled my eyes on Leah. "You're a part of The Syndicate?" Yeah, call me stupid for not putting two and two together, but I honestly thought she hung around because she was their good friend. She was their good friend, and she grew up together with them, so I just figured she stuck around out for the sake of their relationship.

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