VIOLA
I’m still reeling after leaving the pavilion.
Dante wants to marry me…since when? And why now? I already have a wedding to Dino on the horizon that’s being planned at supersonic speed without my actual consent or involvement. I once wanted a leafy London flat, proper running shoes with reflective strips, basil in a window box, and movies to watch with friends on weekends. And now I have one wedding and two proposals to contend with.
I still haven’t gotten over Jude’s declaration of undying love in the bathroom earlier.
Dino looks up at me when I return to the dinner table. Soaked through like me, Dante is already seated next to his date, arm around her, staring into her eyes like everything to him. Is that how he looks when he’s with me? Is it all an act? I don’t care if it is. If Dante is using me, then I’m using him too.
Dino sees me shivering and takes off his jacket and drapes it over my shoulders as I slip into my seat next to him. It’s warm and smells of his cologne. I’m not cold. I’m burning up inside after Dante’s offer.
“You’re soaking wet,” Dino murmurs, slipping a warm hand over the icy skin of my leg.
“It’s raining outside,” is all I say.
“Are we all good?”
I nod. “We made a deal,” I say as I try to focus on my plate. Everyone is already eating around me.
“What kind of deal?”
“One that benefits us all.” I will tell them about Dante running the agency, but not about his offer to marry me. I don’t need that in the mix. One proposal is bad enough. The last thing I need is the boys getting jealous.
Because…
I agreed to marry Dante in return for one thing only—his agency to take out the entirety of the child prostitution network tonight. He has the means and the reach that I don’t have. What would take me years, Dante could do in a matter of hours. I promised the boys that I would end this for them, and this is the only way to do it before I walk off into the sunset. And then, only then, will I hand over my father’s business and officially give all the power to the blond, blue-eyed fucking Devil.
Still, marriage means nothing. Giving my name to Dante is just a formality. He won’t be my husband in any way but on paper.
I should tell the boys. Lorcan would understand. But as soon as I think about how to say the words, they stick in my throat. I can’t say it to Dino while he’s sitting next to me with his baby blues fixed worriedly on me.
And what the fuck do I say to Jude after telling him I won’t marry anyone.
There’s a pause while Dino watches me eating or trying to. The slab of meat on my plate is cold now, so it’s like trying to carve up leather. “How do you know you can trust him this time?”
“Because I have something he wants,” I snap at him.
Me.
I focus on moving the blade back and forth, letting all the thoughts float inside my head so I can examine them individually. Dante…he was my blade. It’s clear now that Dante has been playing my family just as much as my father has been playing him.
And all for what?
The Harper Black name.
Unless Savino wants both?
Lorcan.
A shiver runs down my spine as it hits me. Something Sorrow said to me earlier when she was snooping around the bridal guest wing…jumping at shadows. I stop cutting and look up. Lorcan is not at his seat anymore, and neither is Sorrow.
“Where the fuck did they go?” I hear myself say.
“Who?” Dino asks.
“Lorcan and Sorrow?” I croak.
Dino frowns at me. “Sorrow spilled her drink on him. Lorcan went to clean up. Why?”