I try not to smirk at her quick change of subject, clearly growing nervous with my proximity.
“This?” I show the cover of it to her. “Because it’s fun to read.”
“You like history?”
“You don’t?”
“I prefer fiction.” Interesting. Didn’t peg her as the type.
“I thought you were smart?” That was stupid of me to say.
Her eyes go wide. “Excuse me?”
“Well, shouldn’t smart people like scholastic shit?” I try to correct myself, but at this point it’s too late, and she’s clearly not having any of my banter.
“There’s so much wrong with that question.”
“What?”
“Scholastic.” She exaggerates. “Do you even know what that means?”
“Do you?” I quip back with a grin, but she turns around all huffy and puffy. I catch her wrist in time and pull her back to me, laughing it off because she’s too fun to mess with, and I’m still too buzzed to filter my thoughts.
“Lighten up, I’m just teasing you.” I insist with a chuckle.
“Oh, insulting people is your way of teasing?”
I look to her pink lips and back to her eyes, leaning in ever so slightly. “No. It’s my way of flirting.”
Her whole body goes rigid, and she looks as if she might pass out. She must really hate me. She’s fucking frustrating, don’t get me wrong, but I’m having fun messing with her at least.
“This’ll be fun.” I grin, thinking about all the ways I can mess with her royal prissiness.
“You and I have extremely diverse ideas of what’s fun.” She snaps back, and I breathe a laugh because she really is supremely entertaining to fuck with.
Clearly we are not friends, and I don’t really want to be. Sure, she’s hot, but every word we exchange is like we’re aiming guns at each other and open-firing. I don’t want to marry someone like that— don’t want to marry at all. It may have been a dream long ago, but that version of me is dead, along with my old life goals.
I have to accept what is because there is nothing left for me except this life of serving and leading the Bratva. Espie and I are no exception to the rule. We’re both stuck on this train with only our disdain for one another in common.
“Espie, Vince is ready to leave.” One of her security guards pokes his head around the corner and whispers to her after our many moments of silence reading books, five feet apart. I close my book and stick it under my arm because I've decided it’s mine now.
She glances over at me, eyes look a little bleary, but I ignore it because I won’t be the reason for someone crying. She doesn’t get to be sad about this. I’m not the fucking villain here. We’re both trapped and fucked, and you don’t see me crying about it. It’s a waste of time, and it doesn’t change what is and will be.
We follow the security to the front of the bookstore, where my father seems far too pleased, and Vincenzo less so as he glances between us both. My father nudges me when I reach his side, and I know why.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Esperanza.” I grin sarcastically, and she doesn’t even try to smile back. She just looks up at me with a fire that almost burns me before Vince clears his throat implicitly.
She plasters on the fakest smile I’ve ever seen in response before rasping, “Wish I could say the same,” and brushes past us out the door.
Well, fuck you too, Esperanza San Giovanni.
3
ESPIE
Tears are shed on the way home from the worst date I’ve ever been on. Clearly, my husband-to-be and I are absolutely incompatible. I think he hates me just as much as I hate him, and that somehow makes him even less tolerable. A part of me hopes Vince will look over and see the steady stream down my cheeks, but another part of me knows he’s too invested in his phone, dealing with business as usual.
We’re at the house before the sun has risen, so I know Olive won’t be here yet. As much as I love Olive, I’m relieved that I can cry alone for a while before she arrives. At least that way, our time won’t be tainted by my drama. She’ll have countless stories from taking a trip to Italy with my brother Tito, my sister-in-law Scout, and their adopted daughter Sailor. Antoni, Stella, Romeo and Kira went along too, just after she graduated. It was a gift to her, to celebrate her accomplishments.