“Please,” he said. “Call me Sandro. My position may require a certain degree of gruffness, but I promise not to direct too much of it at you unless absolutely necessary.”
That startled a laugh out of me.
“Thank you,” I said, a little more easily. “That’s generous.”
“I am known for it.”
Pietro let out a soft sound beside me that might have been a sigh or a warning. It was hard to tell.
Before anyone could say anything else, a blur of dark curls and determination came hurtling into the hall.
“Is that her?”
Victoria.
She couldn’t have been more of a force of nature in human form, all bright eyes and impatient energy and the kind of confidence that came from being loved and entirely unafraid of the world as a result. She skidded to a stop in front of me, looked me up and down with brutal scrutiny, then nodded once like a tiny queen approving a diplomatic envoy.
“You’re pretty,” she announced.
“Vicky,” Pietro said.
“What?” She glanced back at him. “She is.”
Then she looked at me again. “Do you want to see my doll collection? I have one from Japan and one from Paris and one that Dad says is creepy but he’s wrong.”
I blinked.
Lily closed her eyes briefly in a way that suggested this was not unusual.
“Victoria—” Sandro began.
But I was already smiling.
“I would love to.”
“Excellent,” she said, and took my hand with shocking confidence. “Come on.”
I barely had time to glance back before she was towing me toward the staircase.
Behind me, I heard Pietro say, “You are not kidnapping her.”
Victoria didn’t even turn around. “I’m borrowing.”
“She gets that from him,” Lily murmured, and though I didn’t look back I knew exactly which him she meant.
Victoria’s room was exactly what I should have expected and more. Beautiful, chaotic, and curated with the absolute certainty of a child who had never once doubted the world would make room for her tastes. The dolls were displayed with solemn importance, and she introduced them all by name, backstory, and a ranking system I only half understood.
I listened anyway. She was charming and terrifying and so obviously adored that it was impossible not to be won over by her.
“And this one,” she said, holding up a doll in an elaborate blue dress, “is my favorite, but only when Pietro isn’t here because then he says I’m neglecting the others.”
I laughed. “He actually says that?”
“He has a lot of opinions.”
“That,” I said gravely, “I believe.”
Victoria narrowed her eyes at me with sudden curiosity. “Are you staying forever?”
