“Vincenzo.” He’s polite but there is both worry and confusion in his voice.
“Mr. Bellamorte.” I extend my hand and he takes it. “Thank you again for coming. I know it wasn’t easy for you to be here.”
“Yes, of course.” He waits for me to speak.
“I appreciate it.” I pause, clearing my throat. Fuck, this is harder than I thought it would be. “There’s something I’d like to ask you, sir, if you have a moment.”
He nods and waits.
“I don’t know how to say it other than to just say it. I’m in love with your daughter. I’ve been in love with her for longer than I’ve admitted to myself or anyone else. Even to her. She’s the most extraordinary person I’ve ever known and I don’t say that lightly.” I keep his gaze. “I would like your permission to ask for her hand.”
He is quiet for a long moment. Then he looks past my shoulder.I follow his gaze out the tall pavilion windows.
Outside on the winter terrace, Gavin has his arm around Sophie’s shoulders. She is turned toward him, speaking, and he is listening carefully.
Her father looks back at me.
“Are you sure, son,” he says quietly, “that this is what she wants?”
I open my mouth to answer him.
And everything goes black.
37
SOPHIE
The sound hits before the heat does.
A concussive wall of air that knocks me sideways into Gavin’s arm, and then it’s just ringing. High pitched ringing in my ears. Gavin’s mouth is moving, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.
Then everything is noise. Screaming, glass, the whoosh of wind whipping fire into a frenzy—and I cannot breathe. I can’t breathe and my ears are ringing, and the pavilion is on fire.
Just like the Arsenal. It’s the Arsenal all over again.
The thought locks every muscle in my body. Smoke and the smell of burning roses burn my lungs. I stand frozen, my vision tunneling at the edges. Gavin has my arm. He’s saying something. His mouth is moving but I cannot hear him over theringing and the screaming and the sound of another piece of the pavilion ceiling giving way.
Breathe, Sophie. Breathe.
I press my fist against my sternum and force my lungs open by sheer will. In. Out. My tunnel vision widens by a fraction.
Around me is chaos. Matti and his men are already mobilizing, cutting through the panicked crowd, directing guards. Tommy has his phone up to one ear, his finger plugging the other ear, yelling orders. Guards are materializing out of nowhere. In the middle of it, I see Siena and Giovanna being hurried through the crowd, protected on all sides by guards.
“Sophie.” Gavin has both my arms now and he gives me a shake to get my attention. “Sophie, I need you to come with me. We have boats ready to go—”
“I need to find Siena—” I try to twist away from him in the direction I saw her headed, but he pulls me back.
“She’ll be fine. I need you to come with me so I can get you away fromhim. Now, Sophie, while there’s still time.”
His expression is harder, more urgent that I’ve ever seen, and it startles me enough to stop moving.
“Away from—” I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere. I need to find—”
“Sophie—”
“Let go of me.” I try to jerk my arm out of his grasp. “Gavin, let go.”
He doesn’t let go.
