A memory surfaces, sharp and unwelcome. The Corinthian Hotel gala, months ago. A blond man materializing at my elbow with a too practiced smile and damp palms. His oily flattery. The way his gaze had lingered on the pendant between my breasts.I’d be grateful for your…expertise.
I thought he was a creep.
And now I’m supposed to marry him.
“I remember him,” I say faintly. “From the Corinthian gala. He…” I trail off, not wanting to say he made my skin crawl in front of Mom. That his smile never reached his eyes. That something about him felt wrong in a way I couldn’t put my finger on.
“Does Ariana know about this?” I ask instead, my voice hollow.
“Your father is telling her the good news right now,” Mom replies.
From several rooms down, we hear a piercing, blood-curdling sound.
Ariana’s anguished scream.
It echoes along the corridor and fills every corner of the house.
Mom’s serene expression doesn’t falter. “Marriage can be a surprise to a young woman, but Ariana is a good, obedient daughter who knows that we have her best interests at heart. Lucy, you had better be sweet and polite when you meet your future husband. You have one chance to make a good impression. I hope I don’t need to spell out what the consequences will be if you don’t win Andreas Montoni’s heart.” Her eyes harden, and so does her voice.
I understand perfectly. If I mess this up, there will be dire consequences, and no second chances.
I tried to be a daughter they could be proud of, but I wasn’t good enough. Now I’m going to be handed off to a man whose touch I already dread. My heart is being ripped out all over again.
“Am I still a prisoner in this room?” I ask.
Mom considers me. “I don’t see that it’s necessary, if you keep your word and behave like a model daughter from now on.”
Damiano is holding tightly to my hand, his eyes filled with anger directed at our mother.
It hurts so much to look at him. I tug my hand from his, grab my purse, and flee the room.
When I pass Ariana’s bedroom door, I hear sobbing from within.
The Barone mansion is filled with misery tonight.
Downstairs, I’m about to open the door into the garage when a hand with painted, pointed nails seizes my arm.
Mom has followed me, and her eyes are bright with malice. She speaks in a soft, menacing tone. “You had better smile for your future husband tomorrow night. If you ruin your engagement, or if one whisper of what you and your brother have been up to taints this family, your death won’t be swift and painless. I will see to it that you are given to my husband’s men to be beaten, raped, and passed around until you beg for death.”
I suck in a frightened breath and struggle to be free of her grip, but she won’t let me go.
“Damiano won’t be coming to save you. He’ll never even find your body, and there will be no grave where he can mourn.” Her nails dig viciously into my flesh. “But maybe we’ll give him photos. Do you think that will break him, Lucy?”
“You can havesomething stronger if you need it.”
Adora puts a glass of iced water into my hands and sits on the sofa beside me, holding her own glass. I drove across Malus in the dark to see my best friend. I didn’t know what else to do.
I watch moisture beading on the cold glass in silence, Mom’s devastating threat ringing in my ears. I feel the ghost of Mom’s nails digging into my arms. I used to believe there was something strange about my family. Something false and sinister behind Mom’s and Dad’s smiles.
There’s not just something strange about my family. They’re completely and utterly evil.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Adora asks gently.
I showed up at her home with no explanation or warning. I just seized her in a hug the moment she opened the front door, and I couldn’t let go of her. I look up and meet her beautiful, warm eyes. Her cheeks are pink and her complexion glows. She’sfound happiness with Vincenzo, and marriage suits her. I know I won’t be so lucky.
“I’m getting married,” I tell her, and then my composure cracks, and I let out a sob.
“Oh, Lucy,” Adora cries in dismay, and puts her arms around me.
