Page 78 of Just a Friend for the Lion
Uncle Uzzi’s glitter-soaked parade of minions part as he makes his way toward us, velvet smoking jacket swishing dramatically, blue eyes lit with fury and—hell, satisfaction.
“Well, Mrs. Leone,” Uzzi purrs, his voice carrying across the room like a damn Broadway performance. “It seems your little Lioness club is still playing god with bloodlines. Pairings. Matings. A littleillegal lottery breeding system,wasn’t it?”
The room goes quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
And fuck me—that’s when the truth hits like a freight train.
My mother’s littlelotterywasn’t sanctioned. Not now, probably not ever.
Not by King Donovan. Not by Queen Patricia.
Which means thiswhole mess?
It’s on her.
My chest goes tight, rage boiling beneath my skin.
“You didn’t,” I whisper, staring at her.
But she won’t meet my eyes.
“What are you saying?” she hisses, clutching her pearls like the villain in a bad soap opera. “You haveno ideawhat the Blue Valley Pride?—”
“I happen,” Uzzi cuts her off, his smile sharp as glass, “to be very good friends with King Donovan. And I’ve already sent word about your littlemechanisms.”
He twirls his fingers, and glitter floats down like condemning stardust. “I suggest you go home swiftly and present yourself to the King and Queen, because there is anaudience waiting for you.”
My mother blanches. “What? You can’t?—”
“Look,” April blurts, her voice high and panicked. “I don’t know what the heck she’s done, but I amout of here.”
And she bolts, heels clicking a frantic staccato across the floor before the door bangs shut behind her.
“Carter!” My mother grabs my arm, nails biting into my skin. “You can’t let him do this!”
My Lion surges, golden heat blazing in my eyes as I shake her off.
“Mom, you made your bed,” I snarl, the betrayal ripping my voice raw. “I suggest you go beg the King for leniency.”
Her lips tremble. For a second, she lookssmall. Fragile. Like the mother who once tucked me into bed and kissed my forehead.
But the second passes.
Because I know the truth now. She didn’t just disappoint me. She tried to sell me—even worse—she tried to manipulate me into giving myself away!
And if I lose MJ because of this shit?
I’ll never forgive her.
I turn back to MJ, and the only thing that matters is the way her big, beautiful eyes search mine, full of pain but also something else.
Hope.
“So,” she whispers, voice trembling, “I’m your fated mate?”
“Yes,” I say, every ounce of truth in me pouring into those words. “You’re it, MJ. The only woman I want. The only one I’ll ever want.”
Chapter 27
