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“Did you find your dress?”
“I did.”
Salvatore huffs, clearly annoyed by Cecilia’s behavior. “Right. Can you tell me what it looks like?”
“No.” She crosses her arms. “That would be bad luck. You’re not supposed to know what my dress looks like before the wedding. That’s just common knowledge.”
“Yes, well, you can throw me a bone. I want to know.”
“She said no,” I say before I can stop myself. Cecilia looks pleased.
Salvatore throws me a glare before turning back to Cecilia. She has to quickly remove her smile. “Right. Is there anything you can tell me about the wedding?”
“Not really,” she replies. “You’ll just have to wait and find out the day of the wedding.”
Salvatore looks like he wants to object, but he closes his mouth and smiles tightly. “All right, dear. Care to talk somewhere else? Without … present company?”
Cecilia’s eyes flick to me. “No. I’m good. Where I go, Theo goes. I’m sure that will still be the case even after we’re married.”
“Oh, not at all. I’ll hire brand new guards to watch over you. Your …currentguard won’t be joining us after we’re married.”
“Well, he’s here now, and he’s not going anywhere.” Cecilia stands. “Now, it was nice talking to you, but I have things I have to do. Wedding planning and all that.” She hurries out of the room without a backward glance.
I lead a prissy Salvatore to the front door. “Have a good day,” I tell him, shutting the door.
He slams his hand against it, stopping me.
“Yes?” I ask.
If looks to could kill … Salvatore once again tries to make himself look taller and utterly fails. “Just …”
“Yes?”
“Cecilia doesn’t need you,” he says. “I’m going to be her husband.”
“I never said you weren’t. Now, have a good day.” I shut the door on him even as he opens his mouth to speak. The blessed silence of the house fills my ears.
Salvatore will be trouble. His entitlement toward Cecilia is concerning.
A memory I don’t want to think about enters my mind.
It was before I was deployed to Afghanistan when I was still in training at the academy. I had a girl in my class named Mara. She was always proving herself to be as tough as the boys, and she could hold her own. A lot of the men respected her.
But a few didn’t.
One day, I was heading back to the barracks to grab something—I don’t even remember what—when I heard the sound of grunting. Almost like the sound of someone whimpering.
I paused, then quickened my pace. When I looked into the barracks, I saw Mara. Two men were on top of her. The pain on her face was unmistakable.
“Hey” I shouted, rushing over to the men. One was a guy named Jimmy who was in the same class as me. The other one was named Noah. He was the son of a colonel. He was privileged, and he let everyone know it.
I shoved Jimmy off Mara, and he landed flat on his ass. He took one look at me and ran. One problem solved. Noah was another matter.
He took his time getting off Mara. “Hey, man. We were just messing around.”
Mara was looking at the ceiling, not moving. “Are you ok?” I asked her.
“She’s ok,” Noah snapped. “None of this was your business. Keep walking, Theo.”
