“Yes.” Mariano grinned at him, but there was nothing warm or jovial about it. It was the kind of grin that came before the slaughter. “The kind of voice that speaks the truth of love. Not the one cold enough to sabotage the woman I vowed my life to.”
Signor Dandolo cleared his throat, extra loudly this time. “We have come to an agreement then. What is at stake here is not only the union, but the priceless blood diamond, do we all agree?”
Mariano’s eyes went to Luca’s.
Nonno nodded instantly, and Mariano seemed to sit up taller, an appreciation in his eyes I had never seen for his grandfather before. Essentially, Luca was putting up a pricelessFausti artifact, a priceless artifact in general, as a stake for our love.
My grandfather agreed, but SignorDandolo’s eyes went to my father. My grandfather set a hand on my father’s shoulder. Minutes ticked by. Finally, he nodded.
“However, the law will continue, evenifMariano Fausti finds my daughter in the maze,” my father said. “Look how much trouble this situation is causing the two families. This is not a way to conductbusiness.”
“Business,” Nonno Luca repeated, and I could tell he did not appreciate the tone of my father’s voice, or what the one word implied about the relationship between the two families.
It had been a relationship built on romance, and my father was implying that part of it had been stripped away, and it was all about business transactions—essentially, he was painting my family as a whore because of my falling in love. If that was the truth, the Fausti family was conducting business in bed with them.
My grandfather eyed my father. “We did not speak of this, Flavio.”
“It is for the best,” my father snapped at him.
“What if a man of Fausti blood wants to marry Capri?” my grandfather asked.
“We have talked about this. She can marry into the family. We have the right to give that permission.”
Ah. So none of this would be happening if my name was Capri instead of Sistine. My sister made her own rules, and my family followed them. They were afraid of her. Afraid of how colossal her tantrums were. The way my family operated was so odd. They made me feel as though they could not care less about me. However, my father was willing to cause trouble for the family if it had to do with me marrying a Fausti.
I understood in that moment how hard the truth was.
My family made me feel worthless to keep me working, where I had a little worth. Capri knew she had all the worth, as far as their favor, but past that, she did not mean much when it came to the Fausti family.
This was not about the Fausti family at all.
It was about controlling me.
“We do not agree to this term,” Nonno Luca said. “The couple that earns the ring will set the rule free. This is customary. Traditional.”
“I agree,” my grandfather said, overruling my father. “If fate sets this couple free, it will free future generations.”
My father grumbled. He was just being petulant. My sister in a male form.
SignorDandolo jotted down something. He even looked at the clock and recorded the time.
“All parties will sign this form,” he said. “The information shared at this table will be recorded in our records. As always, our records are open to either family, if proof of either lineage is given at the time the documents are being requested. We have logged into our records every attempt for the blood diamond after the law was first put into effect. This spans generations.” He brought all the papers together, making one neat pile of them, before he spoke again. “These are the standard terms to the agreement. There are not many.”
He began to go over them.
The palazzo where the maze was located would only be disclosed on the day of the challenge. The maze would be heavily guarded with men that SignorDandolo chose. He said these were men who still had a romantic interest in the situation that brought the two families close but also kept them separated.
He gave the time. The date.
This, SignorDandolo said, was the date the original couple had parted ways. He reiterated that it would take a new coupleto change the law of the family. When Mariano found me in the maze, it would change the course of history, as far as our two families went.
Mariano had forty-five minutes to find me in the maze.
It was standard practice that the “intended,”me, was to stay with her parents until the time of the maze. Her “intended,”Mariano, had to stay away from the intended.
“Wait,” I breathed toward Mariano, when I knew his voice was about to come out swift and sharp.
My eyes locked with my father’s. He knew this was going to be a point of contention. Mariano was going to fight for this not to happen, when this was a part of the terms that could not be changed.
