AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I don’t know about them, but I do know this"—I reach forward and place my hand over both of hers—"it would be a pity if you didn’t share your voice with the world. It would be wrong if you hid away here, and spent your life married to someone who doesn’t want you. It would be a serious error if you didn’t take this opportunity I’m offering you."
"You’re offering me an op-p-p-portunity?"
I nod. "Come with me to LA."
"What?" She gapes at me. "W-what do you mean?"
"Just that. Come with me to the city where dreams are made. Try your luck. I’ll even use my contacts and introduce you around to the right people."
"You’re j-joking."
"I’m not. This is your chance, Solene, to make all of your dreams come true." When I mentioned LA to her the first time we met, I saw her eyes light up. Not that she’ll necessarily go for this proposition, but my instinct says the fiery girl who stepped between me and her brother—before pretending she never met me—had too much determination in her to not want to do something with her talent. And I didn't lie when I told her how distinctive her voice was. I fully intend to introduce her around to the right people in LA. Of course, she’ll have to trust me enough to come with me and live with me, which means, she’ll be at my mercy. And while I'll support her efforts, whether she’ll be successful in making a career out of her singing or not will be up to her hard work and luck. She changed the trajectory of my life; it's only right I do the same for her.
“Why should I trust your offer? Why should I come with you, especially after you made it clear you hold me responsible for what happened to your face?”
I curl my lips. “Because your fiancé has made it clear he prefers your sister over you.”
Her face falls. My heart lurches at the look of hurt that crosses it, but I push aside my emotions. This is right. I’m doing her a favor by offering her a ticket to LA. I’m giving her a chance to fulfill her dreams, after all. And if, along the way, I have the opportunity to take revenge for what she did to me, then that’s a fringe benefit. She owes me, after all.
“If you stay back, you lose face. You’re spoiled goods. No one is going to marry you now. You don’t have a choice.” I push back my seat and begin to rise, but she swoops down and grabs my arm. "W-where are you going?"
"To find out what’s keepingyourfiancé andmyfiancée."
"Olivia…" She narrows her gaze. "Did you befriend Olivia so you could get to me? Did you know she was my sister when you met her?"
I allow myself a small smile. "Now, that would be telling." I try to pull away, but she tightens her grip.
"How dare you pretend to be engaged to her! How dare you play with her life? It’s me you have a grudge with, not her."
I stare at her fingers, then back at her face.
You’ll address me as Master when it's just the two of us. You will keep your eyes lowered, unless I give you permission to look at me.
She releases her grasp at once. Good. It’s important she know her place in the scheme of things. She may still pretend to be an innocent Mafia princess, but I've changed. My inclinations and proclivities have changed, thanks to that one incident which altered the course of my life.
I set my jaw. "My relationship with your sister is separate from my non-relationship with you."
She winces.
"Olivia is my friend, and I’m only helping her out —against my better judgment—because she asked me to." I roll my shoulders.Why the hell am I justifying myself to her? I don’t owe her anything.
"She asked you to—" Her forehead clears. "I see, she’s trying to—"
"Make Massimo jealous enough that he’ll break up with you? Yes."
She opens and shuts her mouth. "I don’t understand. Why didn’t she just talk to me?"
"For the same reason you didn’t confide in her? I assume she’s as petrified of your brother as you are."
"With good reason. If Diego gets wind of the fact she's pretending to be engaged to you, he’ll be furious."
"We’ll let Massimo deal with that, shall we?"
Her frown deepens. "Do you know something I don’t?"
I raise my hands. "What are you talking about?"
"For someone who’s walked into the middle of a business arrangement, you’re too calm."
