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I recoiled from the black anger in his eyes and lowered my eyes, directing all my desire for pain and violence at the spot of ashes below his cigar, wishing I could spark them into fire and burn everything down.
“I asked a question.” Father’s voice boomed sharply.
“…Yes, Father,” I said, digging my fingers into my palms. The pain kept me oddly grounded as the world spun around me.
“Good,” Father growled. “The terms have been accepted. You will depart for Chicago tomorrow morning. Now go downstairs and pick out your wedding dress. And don’t you evendarethink about embarrassing the family.”
Chapter One
Elia
“Another round over here!” My best friend, Lana Keller, waved down the cute bartender from the other end of the bar. He slid two fresh drinks before us, winking at Lana as she gave him an uncharacteristically coquettish giggle in response.
I rolled my eyes, toying with my empty glass. The bar in Williamsburg was hopping tonight, full of college students and anyone looking for a quick hookup. It was also conveniently located near my apartment.
I needed to drink my sorrows away, and Lana was more than happy to oblige.
“Just one?” I eyed the drinks.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint!” Lana leaned against the bar, her hazel eyes laughing at me. “There’s a lot of open water to cover.”
“Please don’t remind me,” I muttered as I played with a strand of my hair.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t imagined this day before. Every girl did. But somehow, I hadn’t expected…this. I had dreamed of the moment when my husband to me would propose, of the way my husband would look at me with love in his eyes on the altar. I had thought that I’d at least be happy. But instead, all I felt was an impending sense of doom.
At least I had the chance to pick my own dress, not that it meant anything.
I could wear a sack to my wedding for all I cared. I wasn’t going to have the fairy tale ending of my dreams. I wasn’t going to fall in love with the groom. Not after everything he had done to my family.
I still can’t believe Father agreed to this. I can’t believe he’d do this to me.
But deep down, I knew that this was exactly the kind of thing Ludovico Tarallowoulddo to his only daughter.
I tilted my head in the direction of the bartender, who was busy serving up drinks to a cooing crowd of girls. In another corner of the bar, two men were staring at us as they whispered between themselves, their eyes hungry. I shook my head, ignoring them, and turned my attention back to Lana instead.
“Why don’t you just take Jake up on his offer?” I asked as I picked up my drink. The bartender had readily introduced himself the moment we walked in. I had seen Lana cutting her eyes at him more than once in the hours we had been there.
“Because,” Lana replied. “I like the chase.”
Smiling, I shook my head. The alcohol had provided a comfortable amount of numbness, enough to let me loosen up and enjoy time with my best friend before my entire life was turned upside down. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring or what I was going to find when I finally met Aleksey in person, so I settled on the next best thing: getting trashed in as little time as possible.
“It’s this wholebullshit,Lana.” I slumped against the bar. “I’m marrying the asshole who killed my brother…and I can’t do shit about it except bend over and take it up the ass.”
I whimpered pathetically and groaned when I felt Lana’s hand rest on my back, stroking me over my blouse soothingly.
“I know this probably means absolutely nothing to you,” she said. “And Iswearthis is the alcohol talking, but…at least he’s hot?”
I stared at her accusingly. “I thought you were supposed to be on my side.”
“I am!” Lana held up her hand. “And I will always be on your side! But come on, it could be worse. Much worse. He could be one of those dime-a-dozen greasy fat fucks that Berkowitz is prosecuting these days.” She held up a finger as I opened my mouth to argue. “Listen—no, seriously,listen—the man belongs on a runway. If I knew he wasn’t going to be your husband, I would have climbed him like a tree.”
“Isn’t it against the law to fraternize with the enemy?” I asked her.
She rolled her eyes. “If that were the case, you might as well lock up half the NYPD right here and now.” She took a sip of her drink. “I’m just saying. Worse things are possible. And God knows I’ve seen my fair share of worse things in these last couple of months.”
“Yeah, I know.” I nodded. Lana worked for the office of District Attorney Berkowitz, who had spearheaded one of the largest crackdowns on organized crime over the last few months after a scandal revealed that a significant portion of the city’s police force had been under the payroll of one of the biggest mob bosses on the East Coast.
The fact that my father didn’t get swept up in this whole thing was sheer luck. A part of me always suspected that Lana had done whatever was in her power to keep me out of the eyes of the law. But another part of me suspected that the real reason was because my father knew better than to reach higher than his station. Until now.
