Page 9

9

Stella

“T he boutique is on the way over!” Cami declares with an excited clap of her hands that wakes our mother.

“What’s that?” Mom asks as she blinks her eyes open.

“She was sleeping,” I tell Cami. “We could’ve waited until later…”

“No, no. I’m wide awake, so what are we doing?”

“Cami arranged for a bridal shop to send over some dresses for me to try on,” I explain to our drowsy mother.

“Aww, Stella, I can’t wait to see you in a wedding gown!” Mom’s eyes glisten. “What do you have in mind?”

I shrug. “I don’t really know. Whatever fits, since we’re on a deadline.”

I haven’t been able to do anything other than think about how quickly the wedding is approaching. I lie awake in my bed at night, wondering if there’s any way out of it.

There isn’t, unless Cami marries one of the Ferarros. It’s time for me to accept this wedding is going to happen. I need to suck it up and pretend to be happy for my mom. If she doesn’t think I’m excited about the wedding preparations, she’ll get suspicious and start asking questions about whether I’m sure I want to marry Andre. I don’t want to worry her with the truth, that I’m marrying him for her or because I hope to get close enough to find out if he’s responsible for Izaiah and our father’s deaths. And I can’t mention Saint believes they’re innocent and needs the Ferarros’ money to keep the house and construction business and their power to back him up when he stupidly goes after the Sannas.

“Even though it’ll be cold,” Cami starts, “I think you should go with a sleeveless gown. We can get you a warm little cashmere bolero to go around your shoulders.”

“I can handle the weather. It’s the only wedding dress I’ll ever wear, so I just want it to be gorgeous.”

“Oh, you’re going to look absolutely gorgeous, honey,” my mom says as she eases into a sitting position. “I can’t wait to see the dresses on you.”

* * *

An hour later it feels like I’ve been doing sixty minutes of cardio, getting in and out of the elegant gowns.

“Okay, is this the one?” I ask my sister and mom once and for all when I’m back in my favorite. It’s not exactly ideal for winter, but I love it. The A-line gown is nearly sheer with a plunging V-neckline that disappears into the snug bodice, accentuating my waist, before flowing to the ground with a simple train.

“That is definitely the one.” Cami nods vigorously.

“I agree,” my mom says. She swipes the tears from her cheeks. “You look like a whimsical princess. Andre is going to love it!”

“A whimsical princess?” I smile.

“You know, like a fairytale princess getting her happily ever after,” she explains.

Her compliment is one I’ll never forget, which is why I have to choose this dress. Honestly, I don’t really care if Andre likes it or not. I’m sure he’ll be happier once I’m out of it on our wedding night, since he’s been so successful in convincing my mom we’re in love.

If anything, I’m the one who needs to work on faking it.

“I bet Andre will love it.” I smooth my palms down the tulle and lace skirt as I take another look in the full-length mirror. The dress really is my favorite if for no other reason than emphasizing my curves in the best way possible. “Yep, this is the one,” I say, causing my mom and sister to cheer, along with the boutique manager who stands off to the side. I bet she’s happy it’s one of the more expensive gowns.

I know money is tight, but with all that I’m giving up for this family, for my sacrifice of marrying my enemy, my brother can kiss my ass.

Speaking of the devil…

“Wow,” Saint says from the open doorway. “That’s a great dress.”

“Thanks. Just don’t look at the price tag.”

“It’s fine,” he replies, which is surprising. “How are you feeling, Mom?”

“Better than I’ve felt in days, especially now that you’re here!” I hear her say before I slip back into the bathroom to take off the dress.

I think she may even be telling the truth.

Her color has been better today. She had a little broth and juice at lunch and didn’t nap once during the hour of boring dress changes she had to sit through.

When I return to the bedroom, I hand the gown to the boutique manager.

“If you’d like to come in tomorrow, our seamstress will get you fitted,” she says cheerfully.

“Tomorrow is fine,” I agree. “The sooner the better.”

“I better get back to work,” Saint says as he starts to make his escape as well.

“I’m starving after all the changing, so I’ll go down with you,” I tell him. “Mom, do you need anything?”

“No, I’m fine,” she says. I give Cami a look that promises I’ll be back soon.

On the stairs, I catch up to Saint. “Are you really okay with the price of the gown?”

He heads straight for dad’s office without slowing down. “Of course it’s fine. Despite the circumstances, it’s your wedding day. It should be perfect or whatever.”

“I thought money was tight,” I say as he takes a seat behind the desk and picks up his cell phone.

“Not anymore, thanks to you.”

“You’re that certain Ferraro will come through with the two hundred million you need?” I ask in surprise.

“He already has.”

“What?”

“Creed’s already paid the money,” Saint says casually before looking up at me. “Don’t think that means you can call off the wedding. You read and signed the agreement. If you bail, I have to pay it back.”

“I know. I’m just…surprised they didn’t make you wait and hold it over your head until the marriage had been consummated.”

My twin brother cringes while staring down at his phone screen and mutters, “Please don’t ever talk about consummating anything in front of me ever again.”

“You know what I meant,” I huff. “You don’t think it’s weird Ferraro is so…trusting?”

He looks up at me and shakes his head. “No. I think it means they honor their word.”

Or he’s feeling really fucking guilty about killing our brother and father.

“And before we close this fucking topic forever, you know you’re not obligated to fuck him, right? Now that we’ve got the money, you could stay celibate for another dozen years for all I care.”

“H-how do you know I’m celibate?” My voice is barely a whisper.

“Because you’re my sister, Stella.” He gives me a sad smile. “I don’t know why you’ve been celibate, and you probably won’t tell me. But I put dad off on the marriage talk for years to try to give you time to deal. I thought you abstained so he wouldn’t have any reason to make you marry someone of his choosing if you weren’t sleeping around anymore.”

“You did?” I say in surprise. “You convinced our stubborn father not to make me marry one of the Ferraros for years?”

“Yes. Dad has been on about a union with their family since we were barely old enough to drink. Mom was actually the one who convinced him not to make you marry Creed’s old man.”

“What?!”

“Dad and Cecilio Ferraro both thought you were ready to get hitched, even though we were so young. I swear Mom must have threatened to leave Dad if he forced you to marry that old fucker. Whatever she did, he eventually backed off and dropped it until about five years ago when mom first got sick. Creed refused, and Dad wasn’t ready to settle for one of his cousins back then. Guess he changed his mind before he died.”

Wow. I can’t believe I hadn’t known how close I had come to being sold off to one of the Ferraros.

What the fuck was my father thinking? No doubt, he only cared about the money or whatever else Ferraro offered for me.

I knew our dad was ruthless, I just didn’t know how fucking savage he could be.

And suddenly I don’t miss the man nearly as much…