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When he said he did, the two men went out into the corridor.
“You know that both Cronos and Cassandra were sick fucks, right?” said O after they’d left the room.
I nodded. “I do know. I also believe it’s very likely Cronos raped Cassandra.”
“Then convinced her it was love?”
“Something like that.”
“Thank God she didn’t give you to him.”
I thought about it for a minute. “I think I had a couple of guardian angels looking out for me.”
Oleander smiled. “Your parents?”
I smiled too. “Yeah.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s why Kai and I didn’t get blown up on thePerniciousthat night. Or Magnet.”
“Especially Magnet,” I said, winking.
Just as the guys came back in, we embraced, something I got the impression O didn’t do very often.
“We’ll touch base with Nemesis and then let you know what we decide,” Magnet said as we walked out.
“What’s going on?” I asked Magnet when we left the correctional facility and an SUV pulled up to transport us back to the place where we were staying.
“What makes you ask?”
“I’ve seen that look before. You’ve got something up your sleeve.”
“You know it’s something good, right?”
I put my arm through his and pressed myself against him. “I do know, and it’s the best feeling in the world.”
He leaned forward and kissed me. “I promise we’ve only begun sharing the best feelings in the world, Prisca.”
30
MAGNET
With Poseidon’s help, I had more than one surprise for Schön. First, we’d travel to Tuscany, where we’d spend three days in a guesthouse on his parents’ estate. From there—provided she agreed to marry me—we’d go wherever she wanted to for our honeymoon. And if she didn’t say yes, we’d still go wherever she wanted to, so I could convince her she and I were meant to be together from now until the end of time.
“I’m happy for you, Magnet,” Poseidon had said when I asked for his help. “I’d say I’m surprised, but it’s clear to everyone that you and Schön are in love.”
That was one thing I was certain of. I loved her, and she loved me. Whatever else happened in our lives, that would be a constant.
“Tell me,” she said when I wrapped my arm around her shoulders after we’d gotten in the backseat of the SUV.
“I will. As soon as we’re alone. I promise.”
When we arrivedat the penthouse, I told her my plan was to take her to Italy when we left Malta. She was thrilled.
“Tuscany? Really?” she shrieked, clapping her hands.
When I told her we’d be staying in a guesthouse on an estate in Val d’Orcia that belonged to Poseidon’s parents, her eyes were wide and her smile was broad.
And finally, when I got down on one knee and proposed with the ring that had been my grandmother’s, Prisca’s eyes filled with tears she swore were the happiest of her life. And then, she said yes.