Page 111 of Beauty and the Daddy

Even if I'm trembling like a fucking coward.

But hey, I'm doing this for Sofia and our baby. For the family.

Fuck fear.

Luca puts his most trusted men in position throughout the house.

Maps are drawn. Signals established. Every possible exit is covered.

Sofia will be kept far away, in the east wing. Once I cause a scene, I'll run off to her.

He'll never think to find me near the kid.

And while he hunts for me, Luca will have him by the balls.

I get dressed that evening and to stop the crowding in my head, try to look as damn good as I can.

Choosing the right shade of lipstick, believe it or not, dulls every unhelpful thought.

I walk into the dining room on trembling legs.

God damn it, Belle. Run.

Ten men and their wives, the most dangerous families in the city, sit around and sip cocktails like we're vacationing in Aruba.

It looks like just another party… but I see the claws in those vultures.

Luca sits at the head of the table, every inch the don.

He watches with a cold smile as I take my seat to his right, nervously twisting my napkin under the table.

We wait through soup. Through fish. Through the kind of laughter that feel like teeth straight through your skin.

I find Sofia with my gaze every other minute, until the nanny whisks her away.

She looks over her shoulder, waving at me. I wiggle my fingers back, and then?—

Luca puts his hand around my wrist and squeezes once. Now.

I put my hand down.

"A toast," Luca stands suddenly, raising his glass. "To family. The most important thing in our world."

Everyone raises their glasses. Declan narrows his eyes. It's showtime.

I stand. My chair thunders backward. The room stops.

Heads lift. Glasses set down with tiny clicks.

"Are we done pretending?" I say, loud enough for the dead to hear. "Because I am."

Luca doesn't look at me for a second.

He stares ahead like he's choosing which part of me to slice off first.

Then he speaks, voice silk over steel. "Sit down, Belle."

"No." I spear him with the kind of smile you only practice when you've been underestimated your entire life. "I'm calling off the wedding."