o

ess before I e

ow at the back, high at the thigh. A gift from my mothe

t what I wante

ar for families like ours - an endless parad

, it was

ear, I wasn't

with Adria

ct Ad

den

f my father

I wanted

, pin my hair in an elegant chignon. I stared at my reflection in the mirr

ing, miss," Mar

anking her a

all I coul

isn

iting when I descende

e thing - and held out his arm

g my hand into the crook of

by the door, wa

we passed, "the future of two em

eeded the

transaction I hadn't

- chandeliers dripping crystals, a quartet playing i

o was anyon

d every se

h the crowd, smiling, l

iled

what good littl

I fe

reness from t

t the base

ion of b

d insti

here

f whiskey dangling from his fingers like an aft

not gawking

already

e was w

yes l

narrowed to ju

t about

gos and the D'Angelos a

was ju

dn't b

lting me back. Adrian touc

ay?" he

too quick

back toward the ba

had imag

reamed him in

I ha

new

elt

in me ha

w, deep do

d ever be th

o's

he moment s

looking

at's what I

nds, trade smiles, remind the city's elite that the Romano

en I s

g else di

D'An

ly bred perfection, she outsho

though it fit her lik

had that too - a softness that di

way she car

d cage who had learned to mak

n the arm of Adrian Santiago - the futu

sted low

. I wasn't t

ething

ses

im

asn't

sn't a

alread

woul

pretending not to tra

n it ha

tu

ooked

f she'd felt me ac

taut between us, dragging her attention

t, neither

yes - that flicke

f my

my repu

deeper. In

a storm waiting to happen in

ost s

mo

her, touching her too familiarly, and I clenched t

aken, and when

ready mo

use I wa

use if I

ouch the fire spa

e I would be

not the night

t

ws of the terrace, I lit a c

, soft and silver, vani

on. Deals were made. Fut

ould think

D'An

th the sad,

hrown in front of m

could resist

as beautiful - and