Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
And you look like you’ve been working too hard, I want to say. I want to ask him if he’s eating enough and scold him about his long hours. My mom would’ve. But I bite my tongue.
“You wanted to see me.” My arms hang awkwardly at my side. I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I fold them in front of me. “Is everything okay?”
“I merely wanted to check on you. I’m told you caused quite a stir at one of Fraternitas’s places of business.”
He called me here to chew me out for Pandemonium. I know it was a ruckus, but what happened to having a little fun?
I shrug. “It was a joke. I’ve already apologized.” To my friends. Not to Fraternitas. If they want this alliance, they’ll have to deal.
He sighs. “I told them I’d address your behavior.”
“Why? Are they going to break the engagement?” My heart speeds up. Last time we spoke by phone, I was frothing at the mouth to get out of this wedding. Now? I still want out, but I feel some reluctance. If the contract ends, will Kaiser leave? Do I want him to?
“No.” My father frowns.
“Right.” I relax, ignoring how relieved I feel, knowing that I’m still shackled to Kaiser. “Then everyone needs to chillax. I’m not a child.”
“And yet you insist on acting like one.”
“I wouldn’t if I were treated like an adult who gets to choose who she wants to marry.” Just because you like Kaiser, doesn’t mean you want to marry anyone, I scold myself. I don’t want Fraternitas to have the upper hand. It’s a matter of principle.
“We’ve been over this.” He picks up his goggles and polishes them with a cloth. I stare at his bare ring finger. He used to wear a wedding ring, but not since Mom died. It bothers me, but I’ve never said anything about it.
“We have not. I’m still waiting for an explanation.” I fold my arms over my chest, holding my breath. It’s hard to stand up to my father like this.
He shakes his head slightly. “Not here.” He glances up toward the corner of the ceiling, and I look, but I don’t see anything. But I get it. He’s warning me about cameras.
Even if this place is bugged and we’re being watched, there are many ways he can communicate with me. All these weeks, waiting, and he couldn’t just slip me a note?
“Papa, you sold me into marriage. I deserve to understand why.” If I understand the politics at play in this alliance, maybe I can craft a new, better solution. “This is all a mistake.” My voice rings out in the quiet lab. “I tried to tell them you didn’t kill Alfredo Vesuvio but—”
“Belladonna,” he snaps, then softens his voice. “It’s done.” He closes his eyes as if he’s very tired. “I admitted that I sold the poison to Livia.”
“What?”
“Livia Vesuvio. Alfredo’s wife. Fraternitas knows she came to me, here, after hours, and I sold her the compound she could use to kill her husband.”
My mouth is open, but I don’t know what to say. I swallow. “That’s not—”
“It’s the truth. It happened. And now I am paying for it. We both have to live with the consequences.”
I shake my head. That’s not what happened, and he knows it. “I—”
“Do you know what happened to her? Livia? After Alfredo died, his father ordered an autopsy. Dominus is the head of the Vesuvio crime family. He has three children, all boys, but Alfredo was the oldest and his favorite. His heir. When the autopsy revealed traces of poison, Dominus was out for blood.” He pauses to let me figure out where this is going.
Out for blood… Livia. “No,” I whisper.
“Yes.” He braces his hands on the counter, his expression bleak. “He killed her. Well, he handed her over to his other sons. I will spare you the details of everything they did to her before they dumped her body in an alleyway behind their house. They claim they have no idea who murdered her, but everyone knows they did it. The police have closed the investigation. Livia’s body is unclaimed. It will go to a pauper’s grave as a message to everyone who would mess with the family.
“Not only that, but Alfredo and Livia’s three children are missing. No one knows what happened to them. Dominus might have killed them. Or disinherited them and turned them over to his enemies to be tortured as they see fit. Or he’s imprisoned them for his own purposes. His own grandchildren.”
Hecate, help me. I press my hands to my heart and stomach, trying to keep my horror in.
He leans on the counter like it’s the only thing keeping him upright. “I can tell you more tales of their brutality, but I believe you understand the stakes.”