Saints, what the fuck was wrong with her?
I should have pushed her away. Should have put about five hundred miles between us and a restraining order.
But I didn’t.
I told myself I was being strategic. That letting Valeria cling to me like a leech kept the crowd wondering, kept Marcello distracted, kept everyone thinking I was nothing but a reckless idiot, not a threat that would tear their corrupt little world down around them.
Cheater, a quieter part of me whispered. The part that had my skin crawling every time she touched me. The part that hated being touched, remembering nothing but the pain of the pits.
The bite of the Overseer’s whip.
A wave of quiet spread through the room, the air sizzling with tension, conversations snapping off, music softening.
Then I saw her.
Emberline halted ten paces away, midnight velvet hugging her curves, her back straight as a queen’s, the absolute picture of regal perfection. Her eyes flared, then narrowed, that careful mask sliding seamlessly into place, replacing that split-second of vulnerability that knocked something loose in my chest.
For a heartbeat, I forgot Valeria’s hand on my arm, forgot Rocco’s wicked amusement. Forgot the noise, the heat, the crowd, all of it falling away like the world didn’t exist.
There was only her.
My wife.
The knife I’d willingly put at my own throat. The blade I’d willingly let her sink into my heart, if only this could all be real, if everything wasn’t pretend.
But it was.
I had to keep reminding myself…it was.
Then Rocco slung an arm around my shoulders, yanking me a step closer. Valeria stayed glued to my other side, fingernails dug into my chest like claws, drawing lazy little circles over the fabric of my shirt.
“Smile, my friend.” Rocco clapped his hand on my shoulder. “You’re on stage.”
42
DANTE
The attention of the crowd fell on me like a spotlight, and I let a lazy smile slide over my face like armor.
“Friends,” Rocco’s voice boomed through the ballroom, “allies, enemies who pretend otherwise… welcome to my little mountain escape. Tonight is about unity, survival, and reminding Don Marcello of our enduring loyalty and support.”
A faint smattering of applause and uneasy laughter rippled around us.
Rocco gave my shoulder a little shake as Valeria pressed closer. “We have a new player on the board. Tonight, I welcome Dante Dominico into the fold; he’s helping me with a pesky problem involving a mortal arms dealer, soon to be out of business.”
I sharpened my smile. “You left out the part where you blackmailed me.”
More laughter, meaner this time.
“Semantics,” Rocco demurred, and again, everyone laughed on cue.
“And of course,” Rocco held out his hand and beckoned, “we must toast his… astonishing bride. Emberline, my dear, come closer so everyone can see your stunning gown.”
The room hummed with delighted cruelty, a symphony of jealous smiles hidden behind raised glasses of bloodwine, of malicious whispers parading as flattery as Emberline drifted through the crowd, her bare shoulders glowing in the candlelight.
She looked fragile, vulnerable.Breakable.
This was what I despised about the Dynasty.
