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)
“Senator,” I say. I glare at him until he releases Bella’s hand. I can’t kill him. St. James will have my head.
“This way,” I tell Bella. I’m to take her to a private room and give her a sleeping draught that Atticus prepared.
There’s so much riding on this meeting. We can’t mess this up. But I have the feeling that I already have.
My cell buzzes with a text. St. James and Damien have arrived. They’re waiting in the study with the Senator.
I walk Bella into the room. A library with a low couch.
“It’s time. The Vesuvios will be here soon. I need you to drink this.” I hold up a glass of wine. We agreed that we’d drug her tonight because she’s a wild card. And the way she’s acting now? I’m missing something. I need to figure out what it is before it’s too late.
She takes the glass and swirls the wine, studying it like she knows what’s in it.
I feel like Judas. Except Judas betrayed his love with a kiss, and I can’t even kiss her.
She drains the wine in one long gulp.
I want to tell her I’m sorry, but I can’t get the words out. Everything’s changed between us, and I don’t know how to fix it.
In five minutes, she’s out. I hesitate before arranging her on the couch and covering her with a blanket.
When I walk out of the room, Jaeger is waiting. He’s wearing a white tux. I study his black eye.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing,” he returns easily. He never lets anything bother him for long. “I’ll keep her safe.”
I head to the study where the senator is holding court. He’s behind his desk, showing off a bottle of wine to the Vesuvio capos. I join St. James and Damien beside the window.
“Did Atticus test that?” I ask St. James, looking at the bottle of wine.
“We did one better,” St. James says. “We swapped it out with our own.”
“Save some for Sal. He loves this shit,” one of the capos says.
“They better get here soon,” the senator jokes.
“They’re coming,” the capo says. “Frankie just texted me.”
The wait is killing me.
Out in the hall, the clock chimes midnight.
It’s now or never.
I face my Fraternitas brothers. “I need to speak with you.”
St. James and Damien glance at each other as if to say, ‘Now?’
“I want to call off the engagement.”
“Now?” St. James shakes his head, like he doesn’t believe what he’s hearing. “It’s done.”
Damien frowns, studying me. “You don’t want her anymore?”
“I want her.” I struggle to explain. “I don’t want to force Bella to marry me.” I look apologetically at St. James, who did all this work to give me what I want on a silver platter when I asked him for Bella a few weeks ago.
“The marriage will convince the Vesuvios we’re in lockstep with the Poisoner,” St. James says. “You mess with the Boscos, you mess with us.”
“I understand, and I still want to protect her.”
“Without the marriage?” Damien has a shadow of a smile on his face. “You want to claim her.”
“I want her to claim me.”
“It’s too late.” St. James waves a hand at the window. Outside, several black cars have pulled into the mansion’s circular driveway. The rest of the Vesuvios are here.
“There has to be a way,” I say, feeling desperate. “Some sort of contract. I’ll do anything—”
“A toast to the truce,” the senator says and raises his glass, but a tremor goes through his hand.
He opens his mouth again, then chokes.
The capos stop talking and stare.
The senator drops the glass. It shatters on the floor while he clutches at his collar. Slowly, he falls, hitting his desk on the way down to the floor. St. James and Damien cross the room with me on their heels. St. James checks the senator’s pulse, while Damien rips open the senator’s shirt, sending buttons flying and starts chest compressions.
But the senator’s face is purple. The capos back away. With muttered curses, they run out of the room.
The worst has happened. Someone poisoned the senator. But, how? Bella.
I race down the hall, back to the library.
Jaeger is there, leaning against the door. He sees my face and opens the door for me. “She’s safe,” he says, letting me pass.
But I don’t breathe until I see her lying there, looking peaceful.
Still asleep.
Bella
I wake up in a dark room. My mouth feels grimy, like I need to brush my teeth. The last thing I remember was falling asleep on the love seat in the senator’s house. Now I’m in my bed. Alone. “Kaiser?”
“I’m here.” His voice comes from my left. He’s sitting in the armchair beside the bed, where he’s been sleeping lately.
I sit up, still in my ball gown. He took off my shoes but didn’t tuck me in. He just set me on the bed. “What time is it?” It feels late.