"Yes. He's trying to stop it but Father won't listen. Says it's good for the family alliance. That my personal feelings are irrelevant." She pulled back, looked at me with red, swollen eyes. "I don't want to die, Aria. I don't want to be married to someone who'll hurt me. I'm so scared."
I held her tighter. Stroked her hair. Made soothing sounds while my mind raced.
This was Salvatore's leverage. His way of keeping Kai in line. Lia's fate hanging over his head like a sword, ready to drop the second he stepped out of line.
"We'll figure something out. Kai is working on a plan. Gathering evidence to take your father down. We just need more time."
"Do you really believe he can do it? Take down our father? The man has the Council in his pocket. Has connections everywhere. How can Kai possibly win against that?"
The question hung heavy between us. The same question I'd been asking myself every night when I couldn't sleep.
"I have to believe it. We all have to believe it. Because if Kai can't pull this off, if his plan fails, then we're all lost. You, me, him, everyone.So yeah, I believe. I have to."
Lia nodded against my shoulder. Her crying had subsided to hiccups and shuddering breaths.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall apart on you. You have enough to deal with."
"Don't apologize. We're in this together. Sisters in suffering." I tried for levity. Failed. "Besides, you've been my lifeline this week. The only thing keeping me sane. Let me return the favor."
She managed a watery smile. "You really love him, don't you? My brother."
The question caught me off guard. I'd been so careful not to acknowledge it out loud. As if saying the words would make everything more real, more painful, more impossible.
But sitting here with Lia, both of us trapped in situations we hadn't chosen, both of us loving people we couldn't have the way we wanted, the truth just spilled out.
"Yeah. I really love him. More than I thought it was possible to love anyone. It's terrifying and consuming and probably the stupidest thing I've ever felt. But yes."
"He loves you too. I've never seen him like this with anyone. He's always been so controlled, so careful about who he lets in. But with you, he's different. Softer somehow. More human."
Her words made my chest ache. Made me miss him even more.
"Come on." I stood, pulled her toward the bed. "Let's not think about doom and gloom for a few hours. Let's just be two girls dreaming about impossible futures."
We lay side by side on the bed, staring at the ceiling like we could see our futures written there.
"If you could do anything, go anywhere, be anyone, what would you choose?" I turned my head to look at her.
Lia's eyes went distant. Dreamy. "I'd study art in Paris. Live in a tiny apartment in Montmartre with a view of the Sacré-Cœur. Spend my days in museums and my nights in cafés arguing about philosophy with people who didn't know or care about my lastname. I'd paint. Actually paint instead of just sketching in secret. Maybe even sell a few pieces."
The longing in her voice was palpable. A whole life imagined in vivid detail, knowing it would probably never happen.
"That sounds perfect. You'd be amazing at it. Your sketches are incredible."
"What about you? If you weren't marrying my father, if you could choose your own path, what would it be?"
I thought about it. Really thought about it instead of just pushing the dreams down where they couldn't hurt.
"I'd teach literature somewhere quiet. A small college town where everyone knows everyone. I'd have a little house with a garden and too many books. Spend my days discussing Shakespeare and Austen with students who actually cared. Come home to someone who loved me. Someone who chose me." I paused. "Someone like Kai."
"You'd be a great teacher. Patient. Passionate about the material. The kind of teacher students remember years later."
We fell silent. Both imagining futures that felt more like fairy tales than possibilities.
"Maybe when Kai takes down our father, we'll both get our dreams." Lia's voice was small. Hopeful in a way that hurt to hear.
"Maybe. Or maybe we'll create new dreams. Better ones that we can't imagine yet."
She reached over, laced her fingers through mine. We lay there holding hands, two girls trapped in a nightmare, trying to keep hope alive through sheer force of will.
