When I saw Marissa’s ring finger, I felt the noose tightening around my own neck, and I’d killed the feeling with alcohol. “The only one in our group who has a choice is you, Sofia.”
“For what?” Sofia sat in one of the club chairs, kicked her feet onto the ottoman, then took a sip of her drink.
“Who you’ll marry.” I frowned. “Em, too, but maybe she won’t have to commit to anyone.” Emiliana had good reason for her aversion to men.
The cheerful expression on Sofia’s face fell. “I might have more of a choice than you two, but there’s only one person I would want to be with, and there’s no chance of that.” She was talking about Enzo, Emiliana’s brother.
“Elena’s gone.” I hated saying it, but it was true. When Stefano and Enzo had gone to rescue Elena and Emiliana, they’d found evidence of Elena’s death. “The arranged-marriage contract between her and Enzo was voided with her death.”
Sofia set her mug down hard on the side table, and Marissa and I winced. “Even if the contract isn’t in effect, he’s lost to me. He came back different from searching for Emiliana. He’s cold and emotionally out of reach to me.”
“So change that,” Marissa urged.
Sofia swiped a tear that had escaped. “It’s never that simple.”
“Nothing is.” I caught Marissa’s eyes, and we shared a look that spoke volumes about our messed-up fathers.
“My path was chosen for me the day my sister was used as a bargaining chip with the Russians,” Marissa said.
I swallowed a little too loudly. She wasn’t wrong, and her older sister could attest to that—if she were alive. But Sofia stood a chance to change her future, and it killed me that she wasn’t doing anything about it. “I’ll face a similar existence, but my jailer is undecided so far. Not you, Sof. Change your fate. Do what Marissa and I can’t and be happy.”
The metaphorical sound of a ticking clock echoed through my entire body. I needed to change my fate.
CHAPTER THREE
LILIANA
Ijackknifed into a sitting position from a dead sleep. The sketchbook and charcoal pencils I’d fallen asleep with fell to the floor with a heavy thunk. I blinked rapidly in the inky darkness of my room, searching for a threat. Whatever had woken me set my body into fight mode, and I eased the small bedside drawer open then removed my Glock. The cold weight of the gun in my grip helped to slow the surge of adrenaline from a flood to a trickle as I dropped my feet to the floor and slid off my bed.
By the silvery light of the crescent moon, I crept toward my closed door. With a slow turn of the handle, I opened it enough to peek down the hall. I could make out Sofia’s form as she neared the stairs and stepped into the hallway, making sure my gun wasn’t pointed at her. Sofia glanced over her shoulder and notched her head to the side. I took the opposite wall, mouthing, “What was that?”
“Pounding,” she whispered, “at the front door.”
We stopped in the loft, where Emiliana stood sentry at the top of the stairs, her gun aimed to fire on anyone who entered. I could make out a female form approaching the door from the living room before bright light blinded us.
When my vision cleared, it was apparent who was downstairs—Marissa. One of our guards was there, his gun pointed at the door. I couldn’t read his lips but knew that he communicated to our security who had eyes on the outside entrance. A slight nod from him, and Marissa boldly opened the front door, which set my teeth on edge.
When I saw who had woken us, my lip curled in annoyance. It was Eva, my cousin. Marissa let her in.I would have slammed the door on her.
Our guard melted into the background after bolting the front door. The three of us made our way downstairs to find out what had caused Eva to show up here at two in the morning. A large part of me didn’t care, and I contemplated going back to sleep. But I knew my friends didn’t feel that way about her, so I stayed.
Cold air from the open door dropped the inside temperature, and I shivered. Aside from that, the closer I came to Eva, the more her distress affected me. Maybe something was wrong, and it wasn’t her usual histrionics.
“Is it true?” Eva’s red-rimmed eyes fell to Marissa’s hand.
“What?” Marissa frowned, and her voice turned wary. She shoved her giant mess of hair back then crossed her arms over her chest. “About Tony? Yeah, we’re supposed to get married over winter break.”
“Why are you upset, Eva?” Sofia asked. “You, Tony, and Marissa party together all the time. Do you like him more than as a friend?”
I almost laughed at the face Sofia made but shifted my gaze to Emiliana, who winked, clearly having also caught Sof’s barely veiled disgust.
Eva’s hand fell to her curvy hip, accented by her skinny jeans and a formfitting winter jacket that couldn’t be warm. She had an hourglass body and flaunted it, flirting with every powerful male within her sight, which left a bad taste in my mouth every time.
“You don’t know what it’s like,” Eva said.
“What are you talking about?” Emiliana’s arm dangled at her side, but she continued to hold the gun in a firm grip.
Yeah, seriously.I could barely understand what was going on.