Page 45 of Claimed At First Sight

“Give me that,” I hiss, reaching for the card.

She holds it out of reach, reading it aloud with far too much dramatic flair.

They say pregnant women should avoid caffeine.

You may as well start adjusting now.

Maximo

“Oh my God,” I choke out.

Heat floods my face so fast I swear my skin burns.

“I’m going to kill him.”

Isa is bent over laughing now.

“This man skipped the courting phase entirely.” Her face turns a bright, unladylike shade of pink. “He bypassed the dinners and the small talk and went straight to planning the bloodline.”

“He’s insane,” I snap.

“The scary part,” Isa says, wiping tears from beneath her eyes, “is that I don’t think he’s joking.”

“He’s not.” Maximo Marco doesn’t possess a traditional sense of humor, only a sense of inevitability.

Isa points at the flowers. “Mia, I think this man really believes you’ll be his wife.”

My stomach does something deeply irritating. A fluttery, traitorous sensation that has no business being there.

Because the worst part is that Isa is probably right.

Maximo isn’t flirting. He’s informing me of my future.

Footsteps sound upstairs. Mamma appears at the top of the staircase, her silk robe fluttering around her ankles. She’s already smiling, her expression full of that soft, expectant glow.

“What did Aldo—”

She stops dead. Her eyes widen as she takes in the impossible amount of flowers filling the foyer.

“Oh,” she breathes, her hand fluttering to her chest.

Isa chuckles.

“That was our reaction too, Mamma,” she says through a grin, “but these aren’t for you.”

I wish the marble floor would just open up and swallow me whole. Preferably along with every single one of these beautiful, mocking, golden blooms.

Chapter Fourteen

Mialina

The day after Christmas feels lighter than it has in years.

Yesterday was the first Christmas I can remember where nobody spent half the day watching Father to see what mood he was in.

We ate too much, Sienna played Christmas music until Isa threatened to throw the speaker out the window, and Mamma actually laughed when Ari stole the last piece of panettone off her plate.

It was really nice.