Six weeks ago, I turned twenty-one and the freedom I craved, the freedom I told myself I would be given when Ifinallyturned twenty-one, turned out to be another padlock on the gilded cage of my life as my father made me his heir.
A move that sent shockwaves through the family because how could he overlook Giacomo, my older brother? If anyone was born to lead this family, it was him.
“Aerin?” Mom’s sharp, low voice drags me out of my thoughts and back to dinner. “Don’t stare.”
“I wasn’t staring. I was admiring and thinking about how you didn’t get me a birthday cake.”
Her brows lift and she stares at me as if I’ve just grown a third head, then her eyes flit briefly down to my body. “A birthday cake was not what you needed, dear.”
“But it was my birthday. My twenty-first. You didn’t even celebrate it with me.”
“What is there to celebrate?” She reaches for my hand and lays her bird-like fingers over mine. “You were granted the greatest gift of all.”
“What if I don’t want it?”
In a flash, she pulls my hand off the table and into her lap, forcing me closer to her so she can place those perfectly lined lips to my ear. “Stop. Don’t you dare start that nonsense here,” she hisses sharply. “Not another word about it, you hear me?”
“It’s not nonsense if I?—”
“Enough!” Her voice rises just enough to draw a few curious looks from some of the lieutenants around the table.
When she leans away from me, that perfect smile is back in place, but her grip on my hand is strong enough to form a lump in my throat as pain swells. “Now, sit up straight and wait for dessert. That should cheer you up.”
I still envy her. In a single breath, she can make me feel utterly terrible while still maintaining the elegant facade she’s known for.
I hate it here.
Warmth stings behind my eyes and I jerk my hand free, clasping them together in my lap and fighting the lump that grows larger in my throat.
Turning twenty-one was supposed to be different.
I was supposed to be free.
I was supposed to get all the things I dreamed of, like a car, and the chance to go out and have fun like a normal woman. Instead, I’m still shackled to this prison with no escape.
“Hey squirt.” A low voice suddenly tickles my ear and warm hands land on my shoulders. “Miss me?”
Turning slowly, my heart punches up into my throat and shatters that emotional lump as I come face to face with my older brother.
All thoughts of elegance and refinement flee my mind as I surge upward with a happy cry and throw my arms around his shoulders.
“Giacomo!”
He laughs and pulls me in for a tight hug, squeezing all the air out of me for a few long seconds.
“Giacomo!” Mom’s alarmed voice follows my excitement. “You didn’t tell me you were coming!” Code for heshouldn’thave come.
“I didn’t think I would have time,” Giacomo replies. “But some space opened up and I couldn’t pass up on family dinner night, could I?”
“You could.” Mom’s smile is ice. “We have one every month and we didn’t plan for you.”
“Allegra.” Dad’s warning voice is heavy with the implication for her not to make a scene. Not here. It’s too public. While Dad might own the place, there’s no telling who else is on the guest list. A family argument makes a man like my father seem weak.
“Dad.” Giacomo finally releases me from my hug and I gasp, grinning wildly.
“Giacomo. You’re looking…well.”
I step back into my chair, studying my brother while my mom’s picky fingers tug and pull at my dress to smooth out the rumples created from the hug.
