Her fingers tightened around mine in response as if she was worried I’d bolt. She would have been right.
‘What were you thinking?’ What I really should’ve asked was what wasIthinking? Because this idea, which had ‘ill-conceived’ stamped all over it to start with, was now bullet-ridden with ‘worst idea ever’.
‘Relax, Maddie,’ she admonished. ‘Besides, if we didn’t do this, you would be stuck in your bedroom, having the worst birthday ever.’
‘But at least I’ll still be alive. You know what will happen if my father or my grandfather catches us?’
‘Yeah, my father will stand right alongside yours as they skin us both alive.’ She said it with a flippancy that made my heart lurch. Because I wished I could say she was joking. Therewere strict parents, and then there was Matteo and Bonafacio Mancinelli.
Recently they’d been making threats about sending my sisters and me to some mountain convent in Sicily. I was convinced it was partly why I’d agreed to this escapade my best friend had talked me into.
As a newly minted seventeen, some could have said I was a late bloomer on the rebellion front. One of those was Ciara, who couldn’t believe her luck when I’d agreed to her sneaking me out tonight for a surprise event. Emphasis on the surprise. Because if I had knownthiswas what she’d planned, I probably would’ve chickened out.
My ill-advised heels sunk into mud and I groaned. ‘At least you could’ve told me what I was wearing was wildly inappropriate,’ I grumbled, slanting her a glare.
Her beautiful smile flashed in the dull lights strung around the field.
‘That would’ve given away the surprise. Trust me, babe, your mind is going to be blown by what I have in store for you.’
The dark, ominous building loomed even larger and scarier as we got closer.
‘Seriously, Ciara, where are we?’ I asked, a little worried. All the dire warnings my father and uncles had drilled into me since before I was out of diapers crowded in my brain as I looked around. Visions of being kidnapped and thrown into some hell hole just to get back at my family reeled across my brain. ‘And how long are we staying here?’
‘Don’t you trust me?’ came the classic blackmail technique of all best friends.
I rolled my eyes. ‘You know I do.’
Ciara’s smile returned just as the door to the barn cracked open. ‘Then get ready for the best night of your life.’
A mountain of a man appeared out of the darkness and glared at us for a half-minute before he jerked his head.
‘Hand over your phones over there.’ He pointed to a shadowy corner. ‘You can pick them up on your way out.’
I felt a quick surge of helpless relief. Neither my father or the minders I’d successfully ditched could reach me if my phone was turned off, at least for the next hour or so.
I could toss off the shackles of my dubious birthright for a short time and actually enjoy my birthday, even if turning seventeen meant I was one year closer to the horrible and inevitable fate my father and grandfather had set out for me. Marrying me off at the first opportunity so I could be bred like a heifer.
Ciara’s hand tightened around mine and she pushed me into the large gloomy space. It took several seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. To realise what I was looking at.
Hundreds of bodies. Heaving back-and-forth, all wearing headphones.
We were at one of those silent-discos-in-the-dark, which was all the rage.
Despite my deep reservations, my excitement built as I turned to Ciara. She was Cheshire-cat grinning, satisfied that she’d blown my mind.
‘Happy birthday, bestie.’ She threw her arms around me. ‘And don’t worry, my brother is on alert to let us know if the old dogs discover we’re not really having a sleepover at my house. He’s waiting down the road to drive us back when we’re ready.’
Relief whistled through me. ‘Really?’
She nodded. ‘Really. I told you, I’ve got your back. Now come on. Drinks first, then we get some serious moves on!’
She seemed familiar with the set-up, and I wondered how many times she’d been here. Although we were best friends, herhome life wasn’t anywhere near as strict as mine, despite her whole family working for mine.
Ciara’s parents were childhood sweethearts who’d married for love. I was old enough to know that marriages were hard but that a little love went a long way. The acute absence of it in my own home put its presence in other homes in great relief.
Ciara’s lucky mother had her father wrapped around her little finger, and my best friend had learned to manipulate that same advantage from the crib. The result of which was that she got away with murder on a nauseatingly regular basis.
It was only because her father was a trusted lieutenant that she hadn’t been forbidden from hanging around with me. That could all change tonight if we got caught.
