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It’s still uncertain, and even I don’t know where this is going, but I still can’t help but kiss him.

I capture his mouth firmly, and he kisses me back slow and deep. His mouth tastes like heaven, a place I’ll never know except through him.

I talk with my father and he agrees to allow guards to tail Ethan. He seems irritated by my choice in lovers, but doesn’t disagree that the problem needs to be handled.

However, he insists that we deal with the Greivans after Tessa and Yvette’s ritual.

Needless to say, it’s difficult to focus on class when I don’t know what they’re planning next. Ethan seems distracted, too, but goes to his classes for the rest of that day and the next as usual. I pick him up and drop him off at his apartment, since his car was totaled.

I haven’t asked what he’s decided to tell Nathan and Lena, and a part of me doesn’t want to know. We haven’t touched each other since before he left the safe house.

I’m starting to wonder if he’s having regrets.

Regardless, once it’s dark, I pick him up to bring him to the family mansion. I know that tonight could make or break us. He could run scared, and I won’t be able to blame gay denial for why we aren’t together this time.

“Does your family know I’ll be there?” Ethan asks from the passenger seat.

“They know. Not everyone agrees, but it’s not up to them.” I tap my fingers on the steering wheel.

“What should I expect?”

I feel his eyes on me from the side.

“No ritual is exactly the same. They choose where they cut themselves, and when the ritual happens,” I explain.

“When?” he asks.

“Some people, couples specifically, choose to do it earlier in their relationship. Tessa and Yvette wanted to do it closer to the wedding.”

“Tessa and Yvette…they’re getting married, then. When?”

“In a month. Contessa is my cousin. Yvette is from a family that, until recently, was one of our rivals. Their marriage will seal the merging of and alliance between our families.”

“That’s intense. I can only imagine how much pressure that must be for them.”

I turn into the long driveway of the Romano estate. “It’s how things are done in our family. They happen to actually love each other, but my father would push for it either way.”

Ethan is quiet as I pull up and park. His eyes go wide as he looks out of the window and up at the building. It’s not so large as to draw the attention that a celebrity’s mansion might, but it’s significantly lavish and traditional.

I unbuckle, but he doesn’t.

“Are you sure I should be here?”

“I want you here,” I say. “You need to see this. You need to understand what my life is like.”

He nods slowly, and finally unbuckles his seatbelt.

We get out of the car, and I lead him up the stairs to the large door bordered by tall windows made of frosted glass.

There are a dozen or so other cars in the driveway, and as I unlock and open the door, I hear low classical music flowing down the hall along with the sound of voices, muffled and serious.

“Is there anything else I should know?” Ethan asks as I lead him down the hallway after we take our coats off.

“Stay quiet during the ritual,” I tell him. “Interruption is a major offense.”

Ethan looks away from me nervously, but continues to follow me up the spiral staircase and into a large room.

I feel eyes on us—my family’s, both blood and hire—but I couldn’t give any less of a shit. My main focus is Ethan.