na De

Aria's cheek cracked through

d enough to snap h

nstantly, leaving a rin

She stared at me, eyes wide with feigned shock, before c

s already streaming, summoning a

she screamed, h

shing through the stunned guests. But h

pression tight. He looked annoyed-not at the vi

DJ, his voice booming to cover the

en behind the stag

harity work. Smiling orphans. Soup kitchens. The

was

shrieked throug

esolved through

video from

died in

nerability. The audio had been amplified to a deafening volume. My

thless whis

ic execution

vier than the silence before.

aked, skinned alive in front of th

e screen, then at me. His face was a mask of horror. He

oor, but I saw the smile

it. She had pul

iting for the ground

h shattered th

hrough the air, smashing into

e distorted, fractured into jagged pixel

ned m

au stood on

ket was discarded, his sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms c

d me. The crowd parted for him like the Red Sea

Alessandro. He d

w onl

embling shoulders. It was heavy and warm. It smelled of e

elding me from the prying eyes

turned to

lm. Terrifyingly

mine,"

Capos, the politicians, the

s of this, you had best pray for death.

ling me firmly into his side. His g

ed against my ear, his voice a

ted m

of the ballroom, leavi

in my marriage, I w

a De Lu