“And this,” Alden says, gesturing towards the children, “Is my son Romulus and my daughter Estrella. Your…ah. Your half siblings, I suppose.” He runs a hand awkwardly through his hair.I smile at Romulus, who looks up at me with excited eyes. He’s the picture of his mother, really – dark hair, delic
Willingly, I follow Jerome and my other guard out of the room and into the hall. The three of us scurry towards the door, guilt roiling in me to be the cause of so much strife. Before I step out the door, though, I hear a little voice call out behind me.“Wait!” it says.I turn to see Romulus runnin
I fall back against my pillows then, tears slipping down my cheeks. I know it’s not my fault – I was just a little kid – but I feel absolutely rotten. I must have broken his heart into a million pieces. My door creeks open again and I see Daniel’s dark head peak in. “Fay?” he asks, hesitating. “Are
Kent storms into the dining room, where the table is set for four. He sits down hard in his chair at the head of the table, waving at the place settings on either side of him.“Remove these,” he says to the waitstaff, biting off the words in his frustration. “Have Daniel’s and Fay’s plates sent up t
Yet as every day passed, Kent felt his control over himself slipping, bit by bit. If he loses control of himself, he knows that he will lose everything. And yet…It doesn’t help, sometimes, when she looks at him that way. When she half-lids her eyes and pulls her lower lip into her mouth. Like she’s
I’m wolfing my breakfast down as fast as I can the next day, already wearing my riding boots and the tight fawn-colored jodhpurs I found not-so-mysteriously in my room this morning. I look towards the galley, but Kent isn’t cooking today.Where is he? I can’t wait to get to the stable – to see Heath
Daniel nods but I look between them again. “Wait,” I say, “catch me up. What’s so bad about that?”Kent says nothing, staring at me – challenging me, I think, to figure it out myself. But Daniel shakes his head and explains. “Fay,” he says, “when big families get together like this, sometimes other
Fiona gives me a tart little smack on the butt then, breaking my reverie and laughing as she hurries over to the jewelry box waiting on my vanity. I give her a weird look and cover my ass with my hands. “What is with people today,” I murmur.She laughs again as she comes over to me, standing behind
My dad greets him with such genuine joy and excitement that it makes my heart swell with joy. They talk for a few minutes about Dominic’s day before dad gives him a little nudge back towards the gate where Kent and I are waiting. Dominic gives dad a kiss before running ahead again. My dad waves to
“Papa!” Dominic shouts, startling me out of my reverie as he drops my hand and darts down the road. I look up, a huge smile breaking out on my face again as I see Kent on the sidewalk just ahead. His back is to us as he speaks companionably with the butcher, a heavy bag of his purchases already hung
As I walk down the street towards the little Italian kindergarten, the whispers start around me, as they always do. I listen to all of them, a big German Shepherd padding quietly at my heels. “Is that her?” “Yes, that’s the one – I heard she was her husband’s mistress before he married her – tha
Both Kent and I laugh, but Don Bianci – across the baptismal font from us – snaps his eyes up, perhaps not liking the joke as much as we do. But I just ignore it, because dad’s right, frankly – and it’s too happy a day to care. After the final blessing everyone applauds Dominic – he likes that, bl
“Well, it didn’t seem to affect your first very badly,” Ivan says with a shrug, peering around Kent to where Daniel is laughing with an arm around Jerome’s shoulders. “So…maybe keep it up.” I smirk, squeezing Ivan’s hand once more before standing and moving to Kent’s side, tucking myself against h
“Hey, gorgeous,” Ivan says, his mouth turned up in a smirk as I cross the churchyard, beaming at him. “Look who’s talking,” I say, laughing and reaching for him when I come close enough. Ivan wraps me in a hug, dropping a kiss to my cheek as I hold Dominic a bit to the side so he doesn’t get squis
He laughs, smiling at me genuinely. “Do I make you nervous?” he asks, blunt. I laugh, unable to help it. “Has no one bothered to tell you, in all these years, that you’re a little terrifying, Don Bianci?” He grins and shakes his head at me. “Well, considering what you accomplished, young lady, I
Two months later, we’re all gathered together again. And it is only with frustration that I see Gio and Janeen standing so close together that their arms nearly brush, even though they’re still not together. I roll my eyes, dismissing the problem for a moment as I move my eyes down to Dominic and
It's an incredible night. Kent didn’t lie, not at all, about the food either. I’m shocked by the mountains of dishes that continue to follow each other, one after another, long into the night. After a few hours of it I just mournfully watch the waiters go by because I couldn’t eat another bite if I