Once my hair and makeup are done, Eva gets me into this ridiculous lingerie set that feels slutty. It’s a white and pink thong, with garters that hold up my sheer stockings. There isn’t a bra because the dress has a corset, and I’m almost relieved to step into the dress because Tony’s eyes won’t stop roaming over my body.
If I could blow up my entire family, I think it would be considered a public service. When did they all get so fucking creepy?
Eva pulls and cinches in my corset until I can barely breathe, and then helps me into a pair of high heels. She presses something into my hair, and I glance at her while she’s on her knees, focusing on making sure my shoes are properly strapped to my feet. They’re four inch heels, and now that I’m not in as much pain, I should be able to walk without feeling as if I’m going to fall.
Standing slowly, Eva glances at Tony. “Will you see how much longer we have until she needs to be downstairs, please? I need to place her veil, Tony. It’s the most important part.”
She pouts prettily at him, and I bet he thinks he’ll be getting lucky, despite the threats he lobbed at her earlier. I don’t understand what her deal is, but I have a feeling she’ll be telling me soon.
“Fine,” he groans. “Keep the sharp objects away from her.”
I roll my eyes in a way he can’t see me, and he clomps off to speak to my father or Elio. One of them would know when we need to leave for the church.
“If you feel as if you really can’t do this, drink that,” Eva hisses at me. “There will be no pain, you’ll just fall asleep forever. It’s something my grandmother taught me and happens to grow in your garden. There’s actually a lot of toxic plants outside.”
My lips part as I stare at the vial hidden in my palm, and I suck in a sip of air as I glance at my cleavage, wondering if I can hide it in there.
“Smart choice,” she murmurs, plucking it from my hand and shoving it inside the vee of my tits until it won’t move or travel. “You need to be very sure when you take this, Rosalia.”
I nod, my ability to speak taken from me as she goes back to fluffing my skirts and placing my veil fully over my face. My hair is up in a complicated, braided bun, and Eva fixes the veil so it's fixed to the tiara on my head.
Carefully, she throws the veil up and behind me so it’s out of my face until I’m at the church.
“I’ll be in the car with you to make sure everything is perfect,” she murmurs.
Tony strolls back into the bedroom with a glass in his hand, and it’s all I can do to swallow back a groan of disgust. I was really hoping that everyone had forgotten about this.
“One of the staff prepared this,” he drawls. “It shouldn’t be as chunky.”
“Don’t fuck up my hard work,” Eva reminds me.
If it doesn’t taste like someone’s putrid remains, then I’ll be fine. Taking the glass, I sip tentatively, finding it’s not too bad. I drink it quickly, not thinking anything of it when Tony’s lips spread into a wide smile.
“It’s good to know you can still respect the authority of the men in your family. Eva, you have five minutes before you need to be in the car with her. Make sure she’s wearing a gun. The boss doesn’t want her to have anything she can stab herself with today, but a weapon is nonnegotiable.”
Once Tony is gone, Eva shakes her head at him. “But she could shoot herself?”
Killing myself with a gun isn’t something I’m interested in. There are too many ways to fuck it up. If I’m going to do it, I want to go quickly and know I won’t end up a vegetable.
Eva stops grumbling long enough for me to show her where my holster is, and we place it above the garter so it won’t affect her aesthetic.
“Go brush your teeth,” she suggests. “It doesn’t matter who prepared that shit, I bet it tasted awful.”
I don’t bother to tell her it wasn't the worst it’s been, I simply take the gift and head to the bathroom to quickly scrub the taste of the smoothie from my mouth.
Eva carefully fixes my makeup, and then adds enough setting spray that I swoon from the smell of it. This is the kind that reminds me of hairspray and turns your makeup into glowy concrete. It’s not going anywhere.
Before I returned to my father’s home, I managed to find a shop and Nico paid to have my makeup done. The artist kept giving him ugly looks as if he’d put the bruises and dark circleson my face, but still managed to save my ass. Nico gave her a big tip, and my father didn’t say a word when I returned home.
“Time to go,” she murmurs, helping me stand.
My vision gets blurry as I swoon on my heels, and Eva calls out for help from Tony.
“What’s wrong with her?” she asks, pretending she’s merely irritated people won’t see her incredible efforts as Tony lifts me into his arms.
“The boss slipped a sedative into her drink,” he grunts. “She can’t get cold feet. Soon, Rosa won’t even be able to say much, other than the most important words she’ll say for this family in her entire life. I fucking do. There’s too much fight inside her body, and we can’t take any chances.”
Blinking to clear my eyes as heaviness settles in my muscles, I rest my head on Tony’s shoulder, despite how much I hate him. The bond connecting Vero and I is weakening with each passing moment, and I find my father standing smugly at the bottom of the stairs.
