He nods.
“Could you tell me where the service entrance is?” I ask.
His eyes flick over me quickly—not maliciously, more like he’s wondering why someone clearly not dressed for work would be asking that.
A very fair question.
“Just follow this path and turn left,” he says, gesturing.
“Thank you,” I reply, heading in that direction.
The sensation that settled on my skin when I got out of the car now coils in my stomach too. I consider calling Nero, but decide not to.
My first impression of his mother was awful—there’s no denying that—but I can swallow my pride if it means making my fiancé happy.
It’s just a misunderstanding, Nina. You just need to clear it up.
The service entrance is open. With no one to announce myself to, I step inside. I walk down a long corridor until I reach a white kitchen—white in every detail—and completely empty.
God. What am I supposed to do?
I don’t have to wait long for the answer.
Lysandra appears.
“Are you stupid enough to have gotten lost?” she asks, sounding genuinely curious.
I clench my teeth, swallowing the response I really want to give.
“I’m not an employee. I’m here for Nero,” I explain.
Her mouth opens as her head nods slowly, as if she’s finally understood.
“Oh, of course! Thalyssa, right?”
“No.”
“Diana?”
“No.”
“Aphrodite, perhaps?” She rolls her eyes dismissively. “No, definitely not Aphrodite. That would be far too divine a name for someone like you.”
“I think you know very well that I’m none of those,” I say, tired of playing her game.
She smiles broadly.
“Oh, you’re right. How could I confuse you?” she says sweetly. “You’re the one being shared by my son and the three leeches who refuse to let go of him.”
I press my tongue against my lower lip, stunned that this is actually happening.
“It looks like a scene pulled straight from the worst nightmare a woman can have about meeting her future mother-in-law,” I think—except I’m wide awake.
“I’ll say this only once,” she continues, looking me up and down with such contempt that an outright insult would’ve been kinder. “My son is not going to fall for your little scheme. If you didn’t have a mother to raise you properly and protect you from becomingthis—” she points at me, making it clear she considers me a full defect, “—know that Nero does.”
She spits the words.
My hands immediately move to my stomach, instinctively protective.
