A

strangers feel intimate, like the world has nar

y voices rise into a tangled chorus of confusion and half-panicked laughter. Somewhere to my left, glass shat

through the chaos with the kind of authority that made people actually listen.

shoulders ease slightly, even as I stood there in the pitch black, uncertain

sed around

efore a low voice spoke directly against my ear, c

said, his voice carrying none of the polished charm I'd expect from someone phot

a confidence that suggested he'd already memorized the room's layout the moment he walked in. We stopped som

room you've never been in," I man

hirty seconds of entering any building," he s

very smart or d

even in the darkness, the faint trace of amusement in his voice. "Unt

ng, the ballroom blinking into sudden, blinding brightness

lose than any photograph had managed to capture, dark eyes that missed nothing, a jaw set with the particular tension of someone perpetually calcu

he said slowly, something curiou

Assistant to Nadia Farah. I sh

onfusion, maybe, or the beginning of s

my head of security just

ency, a tablet clutched in his hands, his expression carrying the par

e blackout, but we've located them now, along with the finalized contracts your legal team required before the ceremony." He glanced at me, so

aid, dread beginning to

riding on tonight's international partners actually witnessing the union confirmed in person, Mr. Marchet

se as the same smooth-voiced man who'd calmed the crowd earlier stepped onto a

Zayd Marchetti and his bride, Yasmine Conti, whose union tonight secures not only a partnership between two extraordinary familie

d to me, watching in growing horror as every eye in the ballroom turned toward us, toward

through my shock. "I'm not Yasmine Conti. My name is La

jaw that suggested he was processing something far more complicated than his composed e

ira or Nadia, anyone who might explain the horrifying mix-up currently unfolding in front of two hundred witnesse

back of the room, her expression carefully

ing forward to

saying anyt

trophically wrong despite having no idea what. "The international partners are already on video call, waiting fo

his eyes remained fixed on me, sharp and assessing in a way

desperation clawing up my throat. "Whatever's happening

ough that my next protest died in my throat. "Whic

stion," I

ing calculating and unread

trouble tonight to make absolutely certain everyone believed you were. And I intend to f