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At the time I was only twelve, but I understood enough about what was going on. Things were also hard and awkward for a long time, but it got better, and we all came to love her.
Our strong family image has served as an asset to push Dad further up the ladder of success.
“Do you understand me, principessa?”
Principessa—princess in Italian.
He used to call me that all the time when I was little. Now he does it in heartfelt moments I hardly see anymore because he’s always so busy.
Hearing him call me that now reaches the place inside me that would do anything for him.
“Yes.” My voice sounds as empty as I feel.
Dad’s face softens and he rests his hands on my shoulders, giving me a pensive stare. “You are not like Layla. You are Luna. It breaks my heart to say that I can’t count on Layla for anything. Not the way I can with you. The success of my campaign is as reliant on your marriage to Hunter as it is on everything else I do. It is key to the success of our legacy.”
Those words grip me to my core, igniting a different sort of emotion in my heart that goes beyond duty. Dad has never spoken so openly to me before.
He’s also never compared Layla and me before either.
We’ve always been assured of our father’s love for us. But of the two of us, I’m the only one who has sought to make him proud. He’s asking me to do that again now.
Dad swallows hard and continues to stare at me. “You should also know that marrying Hunter will open doors for Ryan, ones that I can't open myself."
My lips part on hearing this extra key piece of information that melts away the rest of my resolve.
Ryan…
He’s as focused as my father is and has always idolized him. He joined the Army and completed all those years of service because he knew it would look good on his resume. It was a foot in the door to politics when he and his family had nothing else.
I’d be helping him too, if I did this.
My heart longs to explore all the things I want, but not at the cost of an opportunity that will help my family’s legacy, and Ryan’s too.
Everything crumbles inside of me as I realize there’s no winning here for me. My heart is full and my soul is weeping, but I know I have to accept this new path.
“Okay… I’ll do it.” My voice sounds far away, like someone else is speaking for me, but it’s me.
I just agreed to this bizarre twist of events.
So… in six weeks I’ll become Hunter Le Blanche's wife.
Chapter 3
Hunter
Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own - Marcus Aurelius.
Roman emperor, stoic philosopher, and one of the greatest leaders this world has ever seen.
Marcus Aurelius was the kind of man who always knew how to get what he wanted. You knew not to fuck with him. To do so would mean death.
My father raised me on those sorts of teachings and philosophies that helped shape the man I am today—a ruthless motherfucker who knew exactly what to do with the hand fate dealt him.
Only such a man could come up with the plan to force Senator Dominic Bianchi to give him his daughter and make her his wife.
I’m in Dominic’s office, standing by a painting depicting the Italian countryside. Like the rest of the house, it’s very unbecoming of the man I’ve discovered him to be.
I kept the door open, knowing the wife—Kimberly—would follow soon after I left to see where I went. And what I was up to.
