“Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
The bluntness of her response gets to me even though it logically shouldn’t. I don’t want this either.
“Does that actually offend you?” she asks, failing to conceal a smug expression.
“No.” I roll my eyes. “I dread the thought of having to share my life with you.”
“How romantic.”
My watch buzzes on my wrist, and I can feel adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream.
Why is it going off?
I grab her arm instinctively, and she jolts under my touch.
But when I look down at it, I see that the damn thing is giving me a stress reminder. My heart rate must be skyrocketing around Sofia, and so it’s telling me to take calming breaths. I’ll need to get that turned off before the ceremony because my heart rate is going to be high the entire time.
When I finally notice how pale Sofia is, I let go of her. She’s frightened of me suddenly. One moment she didn’t hesitate to speak her mind, and now she looks as if I’m going to kill her.
I open my mouth to say something, but words escape me. Does she suspect that something is going to happen at the reception?
I lift her chin so her eyes meet mine, and that fear is simply not going away.
Part of me hates it.
I want her fire back.
“You’re afraid of me.”
She swallows and then jerks from my grip. “No, I’m not.”
That almost makes me smile. “Sorry for grabbing you, I thought you were stumbling and didn’t want you to fall down and ruin that pretty dress before the ceremony.”
She narrows her eyes at me, studying me. It’s obvious that I’m lying, but I’m curious whether she’ll call me out on that or not. “I really should go. My family will start worrying about me soon.”
Right. I had a lovely phone call with her father, where I was told exactly how he’d kill me if I harmed his daughter. The last thing I need is to set him off today. Because once we make it through Marco’s plan, he’ll be scrambling so much with his new role and losing his son and father that he won’t be organized enough to fight back. At least, that’s the hope.
I point behind me. “The courtyard is that way. Once you reach a fork in the hallway, take a right, and after that, you should hear the crowd to guide you.”
“Thanks.” She gives me a look that I can’t read before hurrying off.
Then I glance at this damn watch and realize that if I don’t rush and get ready, I’m going to be late for my own wedding.
Chapter 7
Sofia
“Whatiswrongwithhim?” Bianca hisses in my ear as we take a seat at one of the tables in the courtyard.
“Who knows,” I mutter.
Alessandro hasn’t left my side during the entire reception. I thought he was giving me attention and trying to be; I don’t know, nice? Which does not make any sense. And it became annoying when we went out to the dance floor. All I wanted to do during the reception was hang out with my family since I wouldn’t be able to see them often anymore, and he just stood there like a scarecrow and watched.
I told my family about the odd encounter I had with him in the hallway. The way he grabbed me looked like he had something sinister planned, and my mind immediately went to the story Savannah told me. Alessandro lacks basic social skills, but you can’t chalk up grabbing my bicep and furiously glaring down at me after his watch buzzes as social ineptness. Our family is on high alert now. We assumed all was well since we had survived this long. What if we’re not safe? But it doesn’t make any sense for them to kill us today—when all of their vulnerable family members are present as well.
I glance up to see Alessandro looming over us, a few feet away. His green eyes barely even blink as he stares at me. There’s an intensity in the way he’s looking: anger, disgust, and even some nervousness. He behaved normally at the ceremony, completely at ease while we were the center of attention. He even acted charming—called me beautiful even though I know he was full of it.
