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Prologue
RAOUL 15
“Isn’t she pretty, Raoul?” Mother stands beside me, with the rest of our family, as we prepare to greet the Quinns at the front of the house. She’s right, Briella Quinn is beautiful, with her perfect pale skin, curly hair the color of flames, and freckles that match, she really is a rare beauty.
But she isn’t Evelyn Lane.
“It’s a pleasure to have you here.” My father extends his hand to Brian Quinn, the Irish mobster who he’s determined to form an allegiance with.
So determined that he’s prepared to offer up his eldest son's freedom. My freedom. Being heir to the family who has been running the southern coast for the past fifty years comes with a price.
“This is my wife, Mariella, and my eldest son, Raoul.” When father introduces me, I make sure to give Quinn’s hand a firm shake, exactly like I’ve been taught.
A handshake says a lot about a man apparently, and Burlusconi men don’t give out weak handshakes.
“My other son, Rhett.” Father moves on to my brother, who extends his hand as he steps forward, and looks over the Quinn girl hungrily. Maybe, since she is to be my wife, it should bother me, but it doesn’t. I don’t feel the same anger as I do when he gives his attention to Evelyn. The last time we played together he chased her and pinned her to the floor. I pounded him so hard that I made him bleed, then Father gave me a pounding back for it. Because that’s another thing Burlusconi men don’t do. We never fight each other.
“And my daughter, Violetta.” He continues moving down the line to where the nanny urges my little sister forward, and she curtsies at the man like he’s some kind of royalty.
Briella looks at me shyly, and I nod her a greeting. I have no idea how she feels about our parents’ arrangement, or if she even knows about it yet.
“Please come in and make yourself at home. I bet you're hungry.” Mother takes Briella by the hand and starts to lead her inside the house, and the rest of us follow.
“We can discuss business after we eat,” Father pats Brian Quinn on his shoulder. “Tonight is a special night. My son becomes a man, and you get to witness it,” he promises.
***
“So, is she beautiful?” Evelyn asks me, pushing her legs out so the swing I built for her in the tree near the lake goes higher. Flying through the air makes her smile, and I like the way happiness looks on her. It’s a shame I can’t stay with her for long. Soon, someone back at the house will notice I’m missing and I’ll get in trouble for leaving while we have such important guests. But when I saw her out here by herself, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be alone with her.
Evelyn and her mother live on my family estate, they have done since she was seven years old and her father started to work for mine. His loyalty to our family is the reason he died a few years ago, and my father sees that they are taken care of now.
I shrug my shoulders, scuffing my shoe a little deeper into the ground. Just lately, I find myself constantly angry when I’m around Evelyn, my frustration seems to grow each time I see her. The girl’s so beautiful that sometimes it hurts me just to look at her, and I swear she gets prettier every time I see her.
The boys at school are starting to notice her the same way I do now, and I fucking hate it. I thought about asking my father to stop paying her tuition fees so she didn’t attend the same private school as me and Rhett. But after consideration, I realized I was being selfish. Evelyn deserves a good education, she shouldn't have to suffer because of my jealousy. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her if she went to a regular high school.
“You should hear the way she speaks, it's funny.” I crouch down to the water’s edge and snap one of the lotus flowers from its stem.
“You talka funny too,” Evelyn over exaggerates the slight accent I’ve inherited from my parents, then giggles as she jumps off the swing while it’s in mid-air. My arms automatically reach out to break her fall, but she lands in front of me and balances herself just fine without my help.
“You gonna kiss her?” she asks, the smile on her face suggesting the idea might excite her.
“No,” I shake my head back at her, frustrated. The fact she’s comfortable with me kissing another girl pisses me off. The thought of her kissing anyone but me makes me want to hurt something.
“Are you scared?” She nudges at me playfully, and despite being irritated with her, I take the flower in my hand and tuck it behind her ear. It looks much prettier there than it did on the lake.
“Why would I be scared?” I stare deep into her pretty blue eyes, sometimes I think Evelyn forgets who I am. I’m not a regular teenager, I don't get to be afraid of something as simple as a kiss.
“Raoul, a first kiss is a huge deal. It has to be perfect,” she explains, touching her fingertips to the petals I put in her hair and beaming back at me.
“How would you know, you ever been kissed?” Even though the thought repulses me, it’s my turn to tease now. I know how much Evelyn hates it when I tease her, and if it makes her feel just a shred of the frustration I get when I’m around her, it’s the least she deserves.
“No, but I've thought about it plenty.” She rubs her dusky pink lips together, and suddenly they become the only thing I can focus on. “A first kiss should be soft and gentle, a moment that two people remember for the rest of their lives. A memory that will always bind them.” Her voice turns soft, her eyes turning dreamy, and I get the overwhelming urge to drag her on to me and make that memory of hers bound to me.
But I don’t.
Doesn’t matter how many times I’ve thought about it. I can never bring myself to do it. Maybe a kiss scares me after all.
“I gotta go, my father’s taking me out with Mr. Quinn tonight.”
