“He didn’t start out all that bad. In fact, for a time, he was decent to me. Even the…” she trails off and clears her throat, her cheeks heating as she murmurs, “Even the sex was good.”
She shrugs with a shake of her head, her blonde hair swishing over her shoulder blades as I painfully ignore the sheer jealousy flowing through my veins.
“Or maybe I was willfully ignorant. Maybe I made myself believe it was as good as I deserved… Who knows.”
She expels a heavy sigh, and I let the silence stretch out between us once again, giving her all the time she needs.
“It all soured on a winter weekend two years ago on his family’s property.” My spine stiffens, my senses on high alert as she continues softly. “All I know is that’s when he hurt me for the first time, but I don’t remember exactly why. That weekend is missing entirely.”
She slowly turns to face me as my heart ricochets within my chest, and she frowns when she sees the look on my face. “What’s wrong?”
“The Congress.”
Her frown deepens, and she shakes her head. “What’s that?”
“You were there. In Vermont two years ago with Conti.” I stand in a fluid motion, striding across to cup her cheeks with my palms. “Withme.”
“I don’t understandwhy webothmust attend.” I heave a sigh of annoyance as my father watches me while a smirk toys at the corner of his mouth. “You’re still young, the Five are at peace, and Alessio is ridiculously healthy despite the fact he’d fuck anything in a dress?—”
Both me and Papa laugh loudly when Alessio flips me the bird before returning his attention to the screen in his hand.
“I can just wait in the city and meet you two on Monday when it’s over,si?”
My intention to join my father and brother in the States was purely for selfish reasons. Beethoven’s Sonatas are being performed in Carnegie Hall this weekend, and if I can’t follow my passion for music, the least I can do is enjoy a damn show when the opportunity presents itself.
The SUV comes to a slow halt outside the enormous snow-covered house on the Conti’s compound in Vermont. It’s lit up from the inside with shining white lights, and I can make out both Cesare DeMarco and his son, Santino, arguing heatedly through the large floor-to-ceiling window at the front of the house.
The night sky above is pitch black and littered with stars, and the setting really is stunning, but I have absolutely no desire to be here.
“You’re too much of a dreamer for the role you must fill. This weekend will go a long way toward changing that.” He levels me with a hard look. “You’re attending, and that’s final, Rafael.”
Shit, shit, shit.
Knowing when the battle has been lost, I follow my father and brother inside, gruffly greeting the other Dons and their eldest sons before being shown to my room upstairs.
As I wasn’t meant to be attending, I’m grateful for the room allocated on the second floor among the staff quarters and away from the main players. Their eyes had been both wary and critical as they’d greeted me.
Second sons don’t attend Congress. Everyone knows that.
I slide my key into the lock, twisting it open with a sigh. “It’s going to be a long-ass weekend.”
The suite is larger than I’d have expected, with a super king-size bed in the middle of the floor. There’s an open fire on onewall and a decent-sized television taking over the other, with double doors leading out onto a snow-covered balcony.
I step outside, inhaling the crisp, cool air of the night as I look up at the millions of little stars twinkling above us.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?”
A soft American voice carries on the breeze from my right, and I look over to find I have a neighboring balcony. And its inhabitant is easily the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes upon.
It takes me a moment to realize I’m staring, and I shake my head like an idiot. “So fucking beautiful.”
She giggles, and a shit-eating smile spreads across my face. “I mean, the stars are beautiful, too, but come on. Have you looked in a mirror lately?” I blow a low whistle, making her cheeks flush delicately, and I want nothing more than to see her do that again.
“You outshine every single one of them,Stellina.”
She presses her lips together, trying in vain to stifle her smile as she holds me hostage with her eyes. I can’t quite make out the color in the artificial light shining out of her room, but they’re dark pools that I’d have no qualms about drowning in.
“You’re a new hire?”
