PROLOGUE
Zeus - 10 years ago
“Are you paying attention?”
That’s one of my father’s favorite phrases. Thank fuck he’s on the end of the phone, rather than standing in front of me. He used to terrify me when I was younger, punctuating each of his words with a slap, to toughen me up. Now I can look him in the eye, the slaps have stopped, but the lingering threat is always there.
“Si, Papà,” I’m telling him what he wants to hear, even though I’m running through dance steps in my head.
“I’m sending the car for you. It will be there in three hours. Be packed and ready to leave. I need you here in the city.” He coughs.
“I have a commitment tomorrow, I can come after that? You remember my best friend here, Dylan? He and his sister Chloe are raising money at an event, I’m dancing with Chloe because her partner twisted his ankle. There’s nobody else…”
“This is more important, Zeus. I don’t know what your Mama, god rest her soul, was thinking when she sent you to all those dance classes when you were a boy. Must be a Greek thing. But a Marchetti, like me, has no time for dancing. Business is more important to us Italians. Now you’re a man and it’s time for you to step up. Be ready by four o’clock.” He puts the phone down.
Shit.
In a second, my father has swept all my dreams off the table and replaced them with responsibilities. His wishesalwaystake precedence. I consider calling him back and telling him to go fuck himself, but I don’t. His cough sounded even worse today.
I get my suitcase out from under the bed and start throwing clothes in it. Now I have to tell Chloe I won’t be able to dance with her and I want to do it in person. She’s been so thankful that I stepped in, and I’ve been delighted to spend quality time with my best friend’s gorgeous sister. I don’t think Dylan’s too happy about it, though. The last time he came to watch us he left early.
Dylan’s been my partner in crime since I moved to Darlinton three years ago. My father sent me here to keep a low profile, get a taste of small-town life and go to a regular high school. My arrival set a lot of people talking, especially girls, and Dylan loved being my wingman. Not that I was ever serious about anyone, since I’ve had the biggest crush on his younger sister ever since I met her. Now I’ve graduated, I don’t see her in school, so I jumped at the chance to fill in as her dance partner.
We’ve made the routine more complicated and changed it to a slower track. My main problem is that whenever I’m around her I just want to kiss her, which is impossible. Dylan would hate me forever if I made the moves on his sister. He thinks I’m some kind of ladykiller, but he’s wrong.
I shout at my cousin that I’ll be back soon and walk over to the dance studio. There’s a knot in my stomach as I approach. I don’t know how long I’ll be staying up in the city with my father or what I should tell Chloe. She’s going to be so disappointed. Something in me wants to run away, but my father would just send his men to hunt me down.
When I reach the steps of the studio, I push through the door and Chloe looks over, surprised.
“Hey, partner! I didn’t think I’d be seeing you until tomorrow?”
I walk over. Her long blonde hair is scooped up in a ponytail and she’s wearing a form-fitting leotard and dance skirt that makes my mouth water.
“Hey. Can we talk?” Now that she’s in front of me I can’t bear to ruin everything. I’m going to have to work up to it.
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Okay? You sound serious. I hope you’re not having second thoughts about the sequins…”
I smile. “I would never want to disappoint your Mom. She spent such a long time on the outfits. But…”
She holds up her hand. “You turn off the lights at the end and I’ll meet you outside. I need to collect my bag. Walk me home?”
I nod and walk to the end of the studio to shut the lights off while Chloe heads out the door to the office. This place is so familiar to me; we’ve rehearsed three times a week for the last six weeks. There’s a strange ache inside at the idea of not seeing Chloe, not touching her waist and spinning her around, and never laughing with her again about some awkward move. I turn the lights off and stand there in the darkness for a moment.
The sound of raised voices makes me hurry out of the door. Shawn, who was in some of my classes at school, is gripping Chloe by the shoulder way too tightly for my liking. She mentioned they’d had a few dates last year.
He whips his head round as I come down the steps. “Turn back around, Zoo or whatever your name is…”
“Is he bothering you, Chloe?”
“I was just making it clear to Shawn that I wasn’t going to go on another date with him. I keep telling him but he’s not taking it in. He seems to think squeezing my shoulder would get me to agree. Hopefully, now you’re here he’ll be ashamed of himself,” Chloe’s voice is higher than usual. She’s upset.
“Take your hand off her, Shawn.” My voice is low and steady.
“Fuck you, Marchetti. And I don’t know why a plus-size girl like Chloe thinks she has that many choices…”
Chloe’s cheeks flush bright red.
I knock his hand off her shoulder and he backs up, preparing for the world’s most obvious roundhouse punch. Instead, I kick his legs away and he crashes to the floor. All my anger at having to travel back to the city spills over and I grab his hair, slamming his thick head into the ground over and over. There’s a crunching noise as his nose connects with the sidewalk and he starts squealing.
