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I wanted to make her feel good like I used to. Take that look away. It was pathetic. She wasn’t that girl anymore, and I wasn’t that boy.
I needed to wrap this job up and get out of here before I did something I couldn’t take back.
“You can leave,” Gio said. “We’re done for the night.”
I scoffed at the way he thought he could order me around. I was planning on going to Matteo’s. Maybe finding someone to take my anger out on. But the way Gio dismissed me got under my skin. Made me do something stupid.
“Zara’s party is tonight?”
“Yes. I’m going to find her a good match.” By good, he meant powerful.
I could hear his bitterness. He’d wanted Zara to marry Matteo. He didn’t care that they were practically siblings. If they married, he had a better chance of becoming the right-hand man, a position Matteo still hadn’t filled. But instead, Matteo had fallen in love with a normal girl.
“I’ll pick you up in an hour then,” I smirked as we pulled up to his house.
“What?” He snapped. Sweat dripped down his bald head as he glared at me. “You were not invited.”
“It’s funny you think I’d need an invitation.” I chuckled. For the first time all week, I was enjoying myself. Watching him panic was my new entertainment.
“You are not an option for my daughter!”
All the humor evaporated. Suddenly, I was that poor, desperate kid again. Worthless. Not enough. Hiding my feelings because Gio wouldn’t approve. Meeting the girl I loved in secret so we wouldn’t get killed. Losing my child because he’d demanded it.
“Get the fuck out of my car,” I growled.
I was two seconds away from ending his life. From showing him that I had more power and influence than he did. That I wasn’t that scared kid.
It was true. I might not have the title, but I was by Matteo’s side. And I’d probably killed more people than Gio had at this point. And unlike him, I did it because a sick part of me enjoyed taking my anger out on them. I liked ruining something beautiful.
And that’s what I planned to do tonight. Ruin his well-laid plans.
14
Ariella
“All set.” I smoothed a final hair in place and stepped back so Zara could look in the mirror.
She was beautiful in a simple white floor-length dress. It fit her perfectly, showing off her lithe body with a high neckline and lace sleeves. Her dark hair was loose and curled around her shoulders.
She still had to appear modest. That’s what they were paying for. A sweet little bride connected to the right family.
My own dress was black with one asymmetrical strap, leaving my shoulders bare. My hair was pinned up, showing off my neck. I wasn’t displaying any cleavage, but the dress clung to my ample curves. I was making it clear what I thought about my father’s rules and this night in general. It was the death of my sister’s choices.
“What do you think?” I nudged when after a few minutes, she was still silent, staring at herself.
“I look like a doll.” Her eyes slammed shut as if she couldn’t bear to see it.
“Zara.” I closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around her waist as I pulled her close. I couldn’t stand the agony in her expression. “You don’t have to do this. We’ll find you a way out.”
“No.” She cleared her throat as she subtly shifted away from me. “It’s what I was born to do.”
Sometimes I wondered if she really believed that was true. If she couldn’t see past all the things our father had said to us. He told us we weren’t worth more than what was between our legs. That he’d wished for sons but had been cursed with daughters. That it was our job to be good and marry well so we could make up for it.
Zara had always fallen in line, where I rebelled. In the end, it didn’t matter. Neither of us was going to get what we wanted. A man who truly loved us. Who would pick us above anything else.
I reapplied my lipstick as Zara bent over her desk, tapping away on her computer. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She turned the screens off before I could get a look. “Just checking a program I was working on.”
