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Prologue – Morgan
I tucked my knees up against my chest, peering out through the gaps in the banister at the party happening beyond. There was so much life and brightness in the room next door, it was hard to believe that I was hiding out from it.
But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. This was Leo’s day, his eighteenth birthday, and the last thing I wanted was to let my attitude get in the way of my brother’s good time. He deserved to have a great night. That was what this was all about, wasn’t it?
And if my anxiety hadn’t been as sky-high as it was, maybe I could have gone over there and joined them. Joined in on that good time, instead of keeping myself hidden, hoping nobody noticed that I was keeping to myself. I wished I wasn’t so tense right now, but how could I not be, knowing what was going on …?
I drew back into the shadows a little when my father emerged from the kitchen, a beer in his hand, and a deep furrow in his brow. I didn’t know exactly what was going on with him, but judging by the look on his face, it wasn’t good. I’d overheard tense words exchanged between him and Gregor earlier in the day, and I didn’t know what was happening between them, only that the once-close bond between our families seemed to be falling away with each and every passing moment.
It had something to do with Dad’s gambling, I was sure of that much. His gambling had been causing trouble in our lives for as long as I could remember, but never more than in the last few years. It was as though he had seen us, his kids, growing up and becoming our own people, and that had triggered something in him—something that wanted to wrest back control any way he could. Even if he lost more than he won, even if it was obvious to everyone else how out of control he was with it. Gregor might have tried to cover for his losses for a while, but the longer this went on, the harder it was going to be for him to keep doing so.
And I didn’t want to find out what was going to happen when he ran out of patience for my father.
My father didn’t even look up to see me sitting there on the steps, much to my relief, and I watched as he headed through to join the rest of the family, slapping Leo on the shoulder and plastering a quick smile on his face. I eyed my brother, wondering if he bought it, even for a second. It was hard for me to believe that he couldn’t see through the front Dad was putting up, but maybe he was willing to ignore it, just for the time being, just so he could have a good birthday.
And, beside him, Alex leaned over to join the conversation. My heart skipped a beat when he entered my line of sight. God, if there was one person I really did want to notice me at this party, it was Alex. But he would never have looked twice at someone like me, would he? He never would have thought to pay me the barest bit of attention. I was nothing more than his best friend’s little sister, some annoying brat he rolled his eyes at, if he even acknowledged my existence at all …
But I noticed him. I always had. Ever since I had been young, when I had first met him all those years ago, he’d made something in my chest sparkle with excitement, something brighten in my heart. As I’d grown older, it had shifted into something more … pronounced.
I knew nothing would ever happen between us. Alex was from a different world, a different family—the Caroni family—and I wasn’t stupid enough to let the implications of that go over my head. They were mafia, even though I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, or how that affected him. I just knew it meant I had to keep my distance as best I could, because getting involved with someone like that would have been trouble all the way down.
My mother bustled out of the kitchen and planted her hands on her hips when she saw me sitting on the stairs.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, shaking her head and tutting at me. "You should be out there enjoying yourself!”
I tried to smile, but it came out a little twisted. My mom could tell as clear as I could that there was something up right now, but she was trying to cover it up for her son. She was sweet like that, caring, willing to do whatever she could for her kids, even though Dad hadn’t exactly been doing the same thing. It wasn’t fair that she’d had to go through so much with his gambling, but he had sworn to her up and down the other week that he was done with it. I had hung outside the kitchen door, listening to him, wishing I could believe him.
And knowing I couldn’t.
"Come on," she told me, waving me down. "Your brother will be wondering where you are."
"I doubt it," I replied, and she raised her eyebrows at me.
"You should join in," she added. "You need to have some fun, Morgan. Before you know it, you’ll be all grown up, and you’ll have all the anxieties of a grown-up on your shoulders."
"That doesn’t sound fun," I protested, and she nodded.
"All the more reason for you to get out there and enjoy it while you still can," she pointed out.
I knew there was no point arguing with her. I rose to my feet, smoothing down the skirt of the pretty party dress I had picked out for the night. I wanted to be there for my brother. I wanted to make sure he had fun at his eighteenth birthday party, but I wasn’t sure I could keep dismissing the heavy storm clouds that hung over my head right now.
Or what might happen when they finally burst.
Chapter One – Morgan
I gripped tight to the bouquet of flowers in my hand, the thorns from the roses digging into the flesh of my palms. I couldn’t believe I was doing this.
I couldn’t believe that I didn’t have a choice.
The music from the organ filled the church, ringing in my ears till it felt like the only thing I could make out at all. I could feel all these eyes on me, as everyone turned around to look at me coming down the aisle—the rustle of taffeta at my feet, the corset of the dress clenched tight around my lungs, making certain I couldn’t draw in a full breath.
Like there was any chance I could have anyway.
And there, at the end of the aisle, was the man I was going to marry, grinning at me like I was a fish swimming into his open jaw; like he was the predator, and I was the prey, and I had to walk straight into his trap of my own volition.
I blinked back the tears biting at my eyes and forced myself to start walking. I had to remember why I was doing this—for my family. To protect the family I had left. If there was any other way out of this, I knew they would have taken it over making me do this, but what choice did we have? We had to see this through. We had to get this done.
Even if I wanted nothing more than to scream and toss the flowers away and sprint out of this church before I was married off to Gregor Mazuri.
