“No, it’s not. I understand why they do it. You do, too. It's for your own safety. I mean, if you think about it, it’s like saying ‘I love you’ without even saying it. It’s like covering someone with a blanket at night.”
“You're taking me out. Knowing how dangerous.”
“Because I know we're smart. We can handle ourselves. What’s the use of having wings if you can’t use them to fly? It’s sort of like being trapped in a bottle. Besides, no one will know it's us. The masks. They will conceal who we are. You, especially.” She sighed. “You need to promise me one thing, though.”
I gave her a look that meantgo ahead.
“You'll have some fun. You don't even have to dance. Just...enjoy the sneaking out, you know? Like a normal twenty-year-old-ish would do, while she experiences what it feels like to be a rebellious teen.”
“Haha,” I breathed out a laugh.
It was true, though. I'd always had security around me because of who I was, and it only increased when I decided to dance in Paris. Even before the death threats.
“You ready to do this?”
I listened for a second. The house was silent. Papà had gone. He'd be halfway back to his and mamma’s place by now. Even though they spent time in the main estate, they had taken another house not too far from mine.
“Ready,” I said.
This time, the window went the entire way up and we got out without a sound. Evelina closed it behind us, and I followed behind her. We walked in sandals, heels dangling from our hands. Every move she made was planned. She held her hand up when she wanted me to stop and pushed it forward when it was time to move. A couple of times I held my breath because a man or two would stop to look more deeply into the night, probably feeling us.
I wasn't too worried about them. I was worried about the human feeling detector. Mamma.
We never got away with too much as kids, unless she let it slide. She felt too much. Not that my brothers lied. They knew better. It was all a part of being a Fausti. Their integrity was worth more than a lie. Besides that, a lie meant you feared something. They had nothing to fear. It was the world who feared them.
Outside of the property line, the closer we got to Evelina's car, the harder my heart pounded. My palms felt slick, like I was being chased by a monster, and the car handle was the safe point.Freedom.
I’d touched it.
“That wasn't so bad, was it?” Evelina grinned at me.
Before I could answer, the car revved under her foot, and my head was stuck to the seat after she took off.
“Give a rebel yell, Princess!” she said, a smile on her face. “This is the first time you've ever broken out!”
She turned the music up and we sang along to a bunch of songs. She turned it down when a romantic ballad started to play.
“Tell me about Saverio and Elio. What’s the deal between them?”
I sighed. “Me, I think.” I explained to her what I thought was going on. My grandfather had invited him for a reason. The entire time at dinner, if Elio wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at Saverio. Something had started between them, and it made me uneasy.
“Do you think your grandfather will make you marry him?” In the passing lights, I could see her face had tightened, turned pensive.
“No,” I said. “Not make me. Maybe persuade me, if…if he thinks it’s the right thing to do.”
I doubted my father would allow him to make me do anything, but again, we were at the mercy of the family because of the death threats.
“It’s probably a good thing we’re here,” she said, pulling down a long drive. “It might not be the arms dealer we have to worry about. It might be a fight between Saverio and Elio that will blow things up.”
The nightclub didn't look like a nightclub to me, but a mansion.
“Are you sure we're at the right place?” I narrowed my eyes at the line of cars ahead of us.
“Yeah,” she said. “This is it.”
We found a place to park, switched out our shoes, and then headed toward the place. Evelina refused to let the valet do it for us. Before we made it to the door, though, a man in a silver-plated mask that seemed created for his face stepped in front of us.
“Names,” he said in ayou rang?dull monotone.
