Page 45 of Bitter Prince

“I will,mie belle. Baci.” She blew us all a kiss, then pecked me on the cheek. “See you tomorrow, okay?”

I nodded, then she drifted out of the room like a fairy godmother on a mission.

22

REINA

An hour later, we lounged in the pool drinking sex on the beaches and listening to Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova” on the pool speaker. The sun was hot, sparkling off the blue water as my head emerged from beneath. I opted for no alcohol, but the girls sipped on their little umbrella drinks like they were their lifeline.

The cool liquid ran down my shoulders as I swam to my sister, who was wearing sunglasses and lay on a large floaty next to Athena. Both of them loved to just lounge around. Raven, Isla, and I were a lot more fun. We did cannonballs, dived, played water volleyball, but even that got boring after a while.

Isla and Raven swam from the opposite side of the pool and reached the floaty. We shared a look and grinned.

“One, two, three,” we mouthed, tipping them over. A squeal. A scream. Then nothing but giggles as Phoenix and Athena came up sputtering, pulling their sunglasses off and pushing their hair from their face.

“Y’all are so immature,” Athena grumbled.

Phoenix had a better sense of humor and laughed it off, swimming to the edge of the pool and pulling herself out. I followed her, smiling.

“You okay?” I signed.

She rolled her eyes. “My sunglasses are ruined.”

I grinned. “I’ll design you better ones.”

Phoenix beamed. “Until you do, I’ll steal yours.” Fair enough.

Soon, we were all out of the pool and sunbathing. The sun warmed my skin while the cool water trickled down my body. Country songs played, giving a taste of home. The States. California. Grandma.

I untied the back of my white bikini so I wouldn’t have tan lines and let my mind drift. Of course, it found its way to Amon. As it always did lately.

As I lay on my back, arms out with my eyes closed, I wondered what kind of women Amon liked. He hadn’t reached out after that night in the club. Finals kept me busy, but not busy enough not to wonder why. Seven days without seeing each other and all I did was think about him.

“Well, duh,” I whispered to myself. “He doesn’t have my phone number.”

And just like that, that little flicker of hope ignited into a raging fire in my chest.

“Are you talking to yourself?” I heard Isla ask.

“No.”

I wondered if Amon and his brother came back to Italy much. To that castello by the sea. It could have been such a magical place, yet somehow darkness swallowed it. Just the way it swallowed Amon. Dante, too. I blamed their father for it.

The evil lion.I snickered at the nickname I assigned Angelo Leone when I was a little girl. For a while there, I watchedThe Lion Kingevery night and relished in the defeat of the evil Scar, Mufasa’s brother.

A quiet ruffle had me opening my eyes, and the moment I saw it, I jumped up, my hands gripping my bikini top to my chest.

“Snake!” I screeched, trying to climb on top of the table. That got everyone screaming. I kept waiting for Phoenix to move. She didn’t. Horror shot through me as the snake made its way to her.She can’t hear us.

I jumped off the table, still gripping my top to my chest, and ran to Phoenix, yanking her to the right. She fell, scraping her knee, the designer sunglasses sliding off her face again and shattering on the ground.

She looked at me like I was nuts when I pointed to the snake that was approaching us. Her eyes widened and we both jumped back onto the table. The girls huddled closer. If the table had been anything but solid wood, it would have collapsed.

“What in the fuck is going on here?”

Silence draped over the backyard and our heads whipped in the direction of my papà’s voice.

My mouth gaped. Amon and Dante stood next to Papà. Tall, dark, and grim. A cold sweat drifted through me. Why were they here? Would they tell Papà I got roofied in his club?