Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Can this really be true?
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, just to make sure she wasn't imagining the headlines on Boston's most popular online tabloid.
Signora Potenziana Marchetti is proud and delighted to announce the engagement of her grandson, Massimo Marchetti, to Signorina Ysabel Ossini.
Two
"COULD THIS BE A TYPO?"
Massimo had imagined Ysabel saying a lot of things in response to his grandmother's official announcement of their engagement, but none of it was that.
Ysabel tried not to wince at the way Massimo's lip curled in response to her words. "What I mean is...could they have gotten your names switched with Ezio—-"
"No, signorina."
Ysabel almost jumped back at the icy bite in Massimo's voice. Why did he sound so mad? Did he have some kind of brother complex for Ezio—-or was it just her that he found particularly lacking as a prospective bride for his family?
"Every word you have read is perfectly accurate. I am the one my grandmother has chosen to be your groom, not Ezio."
Ysabel could only stare at Massimo as she tried to wrap her head around what he was saying. If every word was accurate, then...
No. Impossible. It can't be.
Massimo couldn't understand why it had pissed him off to hear Ysabel think of himself as a possible bride for his younger brother. What was wrong with him, dammit? And when he heard her laugh nervously yet again, he even had the strangest compulsion to punish her with a kiss.
What. The. Hell.
Ysabel waited for Massimo to say he was joking. But all he did was look at her like he wanted to drag her to his lap to give her a spanking.
Which she would love...to object to, Ysabel mentally hurried to add, just to keep her conscience clear.
Ysabel tried her best to gather her thoughts even as the thought of Massimo spanking her ass refused to leave her. "I think there's some kind of misunderstanding. Because you can't actually be saying that I'm your bride—-"
"You are."
Another laugh escaped her, and Massimo's lips tightened at the urge to cover her lips with a punishing kiss.
"But Ynez—-"
"Your sister was the first one outside my famiglia to know of my arranged marriage. She understands that this is my duty as a Marchetti."
Ysabel was starting to remember what had happened earlier. This was why, she realized, so many more people than usual had been staring at her like she was a freak. It was because they had already read La Strega's announcement about her engagement to Massimo, and it seemed she was the only one who hadn't known about it.
Massimo used to trust his instincts as a rule, but his ex-girlfriend's unexpected act of infidelity had changed this. Ynez had warned him long ago about her sister's ability to manipulate and deceive people, and it was this memory that had him grimly observing Ynez's reaction to his words.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ysabel asked uneasily.
"Your reaction to my breakup with your sister was rather...lacking." Was she secretly taking pleasure in the fact that Massimo had dumped her sister because of her?
Ysabel struggled to find the safest way to respond to this without lying. "Our relationship isn't...like others."
"Why not?"
"It's just how it is..." Ysabel knew she should be used to this by now, but her heart still ached every time she was forced to confront the reality of her relationship with Ynez.
She had loved her sister from the moment she was born, and Ynez had...tolerated Ysabel's presence for the most part. But everything had changed following their father's unexpected death, and since then Ynez hadn't even bothered to hide her disinterest in Ysabel.
"I do not think that is quite true, signorina...since I know exactly what you did."
"I don't understand—-"
"Ynez told me about what happened to her when she was sixteen."
Ysabel's confusion faded. "I see."
Massimo raised a brow at Ysabel's continued silence. "You do not intend to deny it?"
Ysabel couldn't answer right away, with how her heart was still hurting over Ynez's betrayal.
Perché, Ynez?
That should have been just between them, and she still remembered how Ynez had been crying so, so hard when she herself swore not to speak of it to any other living soul. That was, in fact, the only and last time Ynez had hugged her, and even now, Ysabel could not forget how she had been so full of hope, thinking that she and her sister could finally have the kind of bond she had always dreamed of.
"Your silence is good enough, I suppose. You at least know it is best not to lie to me, and I would have known if you were to lie." Massimo saw Ysabel's eyes widen, and a sardonic smile twisted over his lips. "Sì, signorina. I was able to obtain a copy of your taped confession to the police, and so I know every detail about the incident."