My mouth opens and closes a few times before words emerge. "I can't."
The woman's mind is made up. "You can and you will. And I will ensure Tommy is well looked after."
"But…This is insane. How long would I have to pretend?"
She walks around me in a full circle, still inspecting the goods. "Leave the details to me," she finally answers, which is hardly reassuring.
The woman staring back at me from the full-length mirror has gone as white as her gown. "And if he realizes I'm not Frances?"
Her silence stretches, heavy with implication. "If Alessandro Rosetti discovers you've been lying to him, even God won't be able to help you," she finally says, adjusting the dress's train.
A dark thrill runs through me alongside the fear. I've cleaned these floors for two years, invisible as dust. Tomorrow, I could be walking these same halls as Frances Hewson, and everyone who looked through me will bow. The thought sends a frisson straight through my chest. Power, even borrowed, even dangerous, tastes sweeter than I imagined.
"Here's my bargain," she continues, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "Tomorrow, you pretend to be my daughter. You walk down that aisle, you marry Alessandro Rosetti, you play the part through the ceremony and beyond. In exchange, Tommy lives. I make one call, and the guards become his protectors."
"This can't work. Someone will notice."
"No one's seen Frances in years. She's been at boarding school in Switzerland, one of those places that guards privacy better than Fort Knox." Her smile could cut glass. "Refuse me, and Tommy dies tonight. I have connections at that prison. One riot, one convenient accident, and your brother is gone. Choose quickly. The wedding is in fifteen hours."
Fifteen hours. No preparation, no understanding of Frances's life, walking blind into a marriage with Chicago's most dangerous man. I've never even met Frances Hewson. My heart pounds so hard I'm sure she can see it through the silk.
"The servants will recognize…"
"The servants see what I tell them to see. We'll escort you out quickly in the morning. And after tomorrow, you won't be here anyway. The Rosettis have their own household."
She laces my gown and peels it off me, staring relentlessly as I pull on my maid's dress. "You have thirty minutes," she declares, dismissing me with a wave. I am so sick of being dismissed by people who think they are better than me.
I slink out of the room and make my way upstairs. The rooftop has always been my sanctuary, the only place in the Hewson mansion where I can breathe. Tonight, the city spreads below like scattered diamonds on black velvet, beautiful and cold. I open my grandmother's astronomy book, its pages soft with age and memory, and trace the constellation maps while my mind races.
Orion watches from above, constant and indifferent, as I make my choice. The night air carries the scent of an approaching thunderstorm mixed with the city's perfume of exhaust and ambition. Somewhere in that glittering darkness, Alessandro Rosetti is preparing to claim his bride. The thought sends shivers down my spine.
For Tommy's freedom, I would do anything. I would become Frances Hewson, marry a stranger, vanish into whatever lifeawaited me as a mafia wife. The alternative, my brother dead, his blood on my hands, is unthinkable.
My fingers find my servant's cap and slowly remove it, letting my hair fall free. It's ordinary brown, nothing special, but tomorrow it will be styled by professionals, transformed like everything else about me. Tomorrow, Emma Pitt will disappear.
I look up at the stars one last time, memorizing their positions, wondering if I'd ever see them the same way again. My grandmother used to say the stars never lie, that they show us who we really are. Tonight, they show me a girl about to gamble everything on a deception that could destroy her.
Mrs.Hewson's study smells of leather and fresh flowers. She barely looks up when I enter, as if she knew I'd come.
"I'll do it," I say, each word feeling like a step off a cliff. "I accept your deal. But I want guarantees. Tommy gets complete freedom after the wedding. After he's served his sentence. New identity, clean record, money to disappear safely."
"Of course." She's already pulling out documents, preparations she'd clearly made before even asking me. The presumption should anger me, but I'm too numb to care. "Once the ceremony is complete, once you're legally Mrs.Alessandro Rosetti, I will work my connections to have your brother released as soon as possible, and with everything he needs."
I step closer to her desk, noting the tremor in her hands as she writes. "How do I convince him? Alessandro, I mean. How do I fool someone like that?"
Her laugh is low and bitter. "My dear, men like Alessandro see what they expect to see. Be beautiful, be silent, only speak when spoken to, and he won't look deeper. That man is a player, and he would prefer a wife who stays out of his way."
She pauses, studying me with those calculating eyes. "Though I wonder what he'll do when he discovers the truth. The last person who tried to deceive Alessandro Rosetti… These mendon't forgive betrayal. But then again, you'll be his wife. That carries its own… protections. And dangers."
Tomorrow I'll marry Alessandro Rosetti. Tomorrow I'll become property of Chicago's most dangerous family. I'll wear his ring, take his name, belong to him in every way the law recognizes.
A flame ignites in my chest, dark and unfamiliar. I've spent two years invisible, scrubbing floors while the wealthy walked over me. Tomorrow, I'll be Mrs.Alessandro Rosetti, and everyone who ignored me will have to look me in the eye.
Tomorrow, I'll belong to a Rosetti.
And God help me, part of me wants to know exactly what that means.
2 - Alessandro
