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I do look beautiful, and that’s not the intention. James most likely won’t be at this ball, meaning I won’t have anyone to protect me from the villainous Isiah Darcy.
“Come on, we’re going to be late,” Nina says, hooking her arm with mine and leading me out of our shared bedroom.
We descend the stairs into the main hall of the house, where Luciana, Maria and Cain are waiting already. However, there’s no sign of Mom or Dad.
Luciana’s eyes widen as she notices us. “You both look like you are trying to win over a hottie,” Luciana says, smirking. “No doubt Bella can’t wait to get Isiah into bed.” She winks.
I clench my fists by my sides. “Don’t be an ass, Luciana.”
Maria chuckles, only encouraging her. “We’ve all seen the way you look at him, Bella.”
“What, like I want to kill him?”
“Fuck him more like,” Cain sneers.
Nina growls. “You’re a fucking dickhead, Cain.”
Cain raises an amused brow, simply throwing a ball up in the air and catching it again. “You two are so easy to wind up.”
“And you would be easy to murder,” I say.
“Please, you don’t have it in you to murder a fucking fly, Bella Benedetto.”
My mom appears then. “Please stop squabbling. You’d think you were all toddlers again.”
Dad follows behind her. “Indeed, I don’t want any arguments tonight. You all need to be on your best behavior. This ball is being thrown by one of my most important business partners.”
All of us grumble in response and fall silent.
“Let’s go before we’re late,” Dad says, leading the way out of the house and into the driveway, where a limousine is waiting to take us to the event.
“Great,” Nina whispers. “I’d hoped there would be two cars so we could escape our rotten siblings.”
“Me too,” I reply.
All seven of us climb into the limousine and an awkward silence falls over us. It’s hard to believe that we’re a family at all, as there’s nothing natural about us spending time together.
The limousine pulls to a stop outside of the luxurious hotel where the charity ball is being held. It’s the kind of place only celebrities stay. We walk through the grand entranceway under giant crystal chandeliers that cast prisms of light onto the sparkling Amalfi marble floors, creating a surreal magical setting, even if tonight will be anything but magical.
The walls are hung with ornately framed paintings depicting different scenes from classical literature and history.
As we move from the entrance of the hotel and into the events hall, the sound of pretentious classical music swells. Everyone in the room is dressed in their finest attire, a lot of the clothes probably worth more than what most normal people make in a year for nothing more than fabric.
“Shall we find our table?” I whisper to Nina, wanting to get away from our family, who will no doubt want to mingle.
Nina nods eagerly as we slip away from our flesh and blood, finding the table with our name cards on it. Instantly, I notice the name card next to mine and want to run the other way.
Isiah Darcy.
“Goddamn it,” I say.
“What’s wrong?” Nina asks.
I hold up the card so she can read it.
“Oh, must be Dad.”
I sigh heavily. “I hope he’s late.”
