by Nora Flite
My mother’s hand rested on mine. “Sit,” she said. “Please.” Hesitating, I settled across from her at the table. She didn’t let go of me. “I know this isn’t what you wanted when you came to Torino.”
“It’s not what I wanted ever,” I corrected. “I’m not Kain or Costello. I don’t want a wife to stroke my ego all day—though now that I say it . . .”
“Stop playing around,” Maverick snapped. I glanced at him as he rose from the bed. “You’re always making damn jokes. There’s nothing to laugh at here.”
“Laughter is the only thing keeping me from swinging my fists.” I chuckled sourly; my mother squeezed my hand, drawing my attention again. “Ma, it’s nice that you’re trying to calm me down, but nothing you say is going to make this easier.”
“I know that.” Her eyes fell away, over to the window. “Thorne . . . you don’t have to become king.”
“What?” I asked, stunned.
“What?” my father growled.
She looked at each of us in turn. “No one will force you. Especially not us.” My father moved our way; he stopped when she glared at him and lifted her hand in the air. “Especially not us,” she repeated.
“Carmina . . . ,” Maverick said warily.
Her dark eyes flashed. She was the only person I knew who could challenge my father and win. When he remained standing, she looked back at me with a small, gentle smile. “This is your choice. I’m going to give you all the information you need so you can decide what you want to do.”
I held her eyes. “I want to know what happens if I say no.” I had a strong suspicion but needed to hear her say it.
“The Valentines will fight to keep the throne. They’ll kill everyone who dares to threaten their claim.”
“Our whole family,” I said, frowning.
“Yes. But not just us. The people of Torino will reject them, too. They believe strongly in the royal succession. It’ll be a bloodbath before they give the crown to a family that has no claim.”
A void formed in my belly. I tasted bile instead of the sweet pastry from before. “Can’t we just tell them we won’t take the throne or whatever?” I pointed at Maverick. “You ran once. Let’s tell them we’ll run again and never come back.”
He made bulging fists at his sides. “It’s not that easy.”
“Sure it is! We shake Kurtis’s hand, tell them good luck, and off we go.”
“No,” he said, looking at the floor. “I can’t.”
Confused, I judged his expression—how flustered he suddenly seemed. A cold tingle swam through the creases of my brain. “You don’t want to give the crown up, do you?”
He managed to look at me. I think, if I’d been in his shoes, I would have been too ashamed to do the same. “This country is a mess. My brother left it in shambles. I can’t turn my back on everyone a second time.”
His honesty shocked me enough that some of my anger dissipated. “What’s stopping you from becoming the king again?”
“Weren’t you listening yesterday?” he sighed. “They want to put one of their own up there next to you. That’s the agreement, and I’m not getting a divorce to make that happen.”
My mom clicked her tongue. “Of course not.”
“And me trying to take the crown by force is as good as going to war with the Valentines,” he said. “I won’t put so many people in danger.”
I wanted to ask if saving this place was worth sacrificing me. Instead I turned back to my mother. “Tell me what happens if I say yes.”
My parents shared a quick look. “I think,” she said slowly, “that depends on you. They’ve got two girls, Darla and Nova. Both have agreed to the marriage.”
“So I do get some say in this,” I said, chuckling. I didn’t tell them Nova had already explained this part to me. It felt good to have one secret when they had so many. “Is this how they did it when you were younger, Dad? Arranged marriages?”
He shook his head and folded his arms. “No. Though many families would try to get their daughters close to my brother and me, vying for attention. The things they’d do to win us over . . .” My mother tightened her lips; he cleared his throat. “Anyway, it sounds like you’re considering this offer now.”
I leaned my chair back on its rear legs, balancing. “You staked Rush at my room yesterday. Did you have him there to give you a heads-up in case I ran away after what went down at the funeral?”
Maverick considered me for a minute. “I always expect the best from my children.”
“You must be disappointed constantly, then,” I said, standing. “I want to talk this over with the Valentines more. I need to know what everyone is getting out of this, beyond us keeping our heads.”
Some tension left my father’s face. “It’s already been set.”
“What has?”
My mother rose and headed to the bathroom. “The meeting,” she said, vanishing around the corner. “They’re expecting us for lunch today.”
Of course they are. “When I become king, everyone has to start telling me the plans. I hate being out of the loop.”
“When you become king,” my dad said, clapping me on the shoulder, “you’ll have a lot more to worry about than lunch meetings.”
It was an interesting experience leaving the hotel.
I knew word had gotten out about my father returning to the country, but I wasn’t quite ready for the amount of attention that would bring us. Rush warned us before we left our rooms.
He and the other guards made sure there was a path for us so we could get from the lobby to the car that was waiting on the street. I tried to tell how my father felt about the rows of cameras waiting to take pictures of us as we hovered just inside the hotel’s front doors. His emotionless expression made it too hard.
My mother, at least, was enjoying the attention. Back home, she was very aware that the local news might snap a photo or two of her while she was out on the town or having lunch with a friend. She seemed quite comfortable with her dark glasses hiding her eyes and her lips shining deep pink as they held a perfect smile.
She’d even changed the outfit she was going to wear when Rush came to our room with the news about the paparazzi outside. Instead of the lovely but simple green sundress that she’d been wearing, she’d quickly changed into something more luxurious and expensive. It looked like a white power suit, except that the middle was a corset in glittery gold, a skirtlike flare sticking out at her hips.
“It’s a peplum,” she told me when she saw my baffled look. I had no clue what that was, but I nodded.
Following my father down the front steps, we braced for the explosive questions and flashing lights of the cameras. “Maverick!” someone shouted. “What do you think about your brother’s death?”
“Maverick, Maverick!” someone else demanded. “Is it true you’ve been running this country from the shadows all this time?”
“Are you here to take the crown?”
“Will you move into the castle?”
“Is it true you changed your last name?”
The reporters got too close, screaming questions at my parents. I was partially blinded by all the flashes, and I wished that I’d worn sunglasses like my mother. “Hey!” one of the paparazzi shouted. “Hey, Maverick, why don’t you get the fuck out of here, huh?”
I turned, squinting to see who was saying such bold things to my father. Didn’t they know who he was? Of course they do, that’s why they’re so angry.
“What did you do, run away? Abandon your country, hightail it out of here when your daddy got sick because you couldn’t handle the pressure? Hester ruined Torino, do you get that? Your brother was a piece of shit. And you’re a piece of shit, too!”
I saw the man now; he was wearing a badge like all the other paparazzi, so he wasn’t just some crazy rando in the street. People were videotaping the encounter. My father faced the car with stiff shoulders. He seemed frozen with inaction. I’d never seen him take such abuse so quietly.
<
br /> My mother put a hand out, comforting him. I couldn’t hear what she said over the murmur of the crowd. But I did hear what the reporter yelled.
“Is that who you left us for, some piece of ass?”
Anger turned my blood hot.
“Was she worth it? Was the bitch worth making the rest of us suffer thanks to you being a goddamn coward?”
“Hey!” I shouted, stomping toward the man. He’d pushed forward so much that he was leaning over the arm of one of the security guards.
“Hawthorne, no,” my mom hissed.
Ignoring her, I went nose to nose with the reporter. I saw Rush nearby, his eyebrows arched with panic. They’d been ready to stop the paparazzi, but not ready to stop me. “I don’t know who you are,” I said, looming over him, “but you need to back off. Now.”
The man gave a haphazard grin. His eyes flashed toward my mother, then back to me. “Who are you? Huh? Her personal bodyguard? Sleeping with her and Maverick in some twisted little ménage?”
A tornado of fury made my vision swim. “Stop saying sick shit about my mom, or you’re going to be finding out what your camera tastes like.”
His eyes narrowed. “Your mom? That makes you Maverick’s son?”
My mother grabbed my wrist, taking me toward the car. I couldn’t rip my eyes away from that asshole, I stared at him until I was in the vehicle and behind the tinted windows.
“Fuck, that pisses me off,” I said softly. My mother gave my wrist a pat. Turning, I looked at my dad. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He stared straight ahead. “What could I say? They’re not wrong. I did run away.”
Thrown off, I bent around my mom, yelling at him. My voice was louder than it needed to be in the car but I didn’t care. “Not about that! That guy was insulting your wife.”
Maverick blinked. He turned, looking at me, then to my mother. Firmly, he took her hands, cupping them in his. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Carmina. I was . . . distracted.” He winced, and I thought, if I wasn’t there, he would have told her more.
Instead he went quiet, aided by her head falling on his shoulder. “It’s all right. Those bastards out there are small potatoes. You ever listen to the gossip rags in Providence? They’ve said way worse things about me than these schmucks.”
She brushed it off so casually. I actually believed that the words thrown at her hadn’t hurt her at all. But they’d sliced right through me. I loved my mother with all I had, and I wasn’t sure I could control myself if the paparazzi went off on her in front of me again.
Picturing that man’s face whenever I shut my eyes, I instead stared out the window at the busy streets for the entire trip. None of us spoke, though my dad did field a few text messages. Business never stopped for him.
The Valentines were waiting for us in a beautiful garden patio that was hidden at the back of the Tin Whistle Grill. It was quiet, I was sure the servers had arranged to keep our sequestered table more private than usual. The sky could be glimpsed through the wooden beams overhead. Vines hung with trumpet-shaped flowers draped the beams from end to end. Tiny hummingbirds the color of overripe grapes darted through the air, helping themselves to the nectar.
It was a fantastical sight, but my interest lay in something even more attractive.
Nova sat at the table with her hands folded in her lap. She was wearing a layered dress the color of cream soda. It made her cinnamon eyes look extra vibrant. Her hair was braided in a design that kept her neck exposed.
Kurtis and Valencia were sitting to her left. On her right was a young woman I’d seen with them at the funeral. I assumed this was her sister, Darla. The green top she had on was clinging to her breasts like a pair of angry hands. If her long ringlets hadn’t been draped over her shoulders to hide most of her cleavage, the outfit would have been too obscene to wear in public.
I was relieved that none of Nova’s brothers were around. I’d be happy to never see them again. Approaching the table, I placed myself directly in front of Nova. “Hey there,” I said with a smile.
“Hey,” she responded. When I rested my hands on the table, she looked at them. I wondered if she was remembering how they had felt on her body. How they had felt inside her. With a slight grin, I flexed my two fingers, like I was scratching at the tabletop.
Nova swallowed, shifting from side to side. Yes, she definitely remembered how my fingers had felt inside her tight pussy last night.
“Kurtis,” my father said as he sat down beside me. My mother joined him, nodding politely at the others.
“I hope you didn’t wait long,” she said. “This is a lovely place.”
“It is,” Valencia agreed. “And I’ve heard that the crab bisque they serve is divine.”
Their empty back-and-forth instantly got under my skin. “All right,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Are we all just going to pretend that this is a normal lunch we’re having here? Because I’m not that great at playing pretend.”
The girl I didn’t know giggled. It was a sharp sound, too loud, too enthusiastic to be real. “You are funny,” she said, folding her hands under her chin and leaning my way over the table.
The way she called me funny reminded me disturbingly of Larchmont.
“I’m Darla, by the way.” She extended her arm toward me. Her hands looked smooth, with the same healthy tan that the rest of the Valentines had. While Nova kept her nails clean and bare, her sister wore glittery purple polish.
I gripped her hand. “I’m Hawthorne, but I’m guessing you knew that. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
She held my hand like she didn’t want me to pull away. When I did, her smile twitched but stayed on her face. “So you do remember me. I got to visit your lovely estate a while back.”
I’d recognized Darla easier than I had Nova, which filled me with shame. But Darla was just the type of girl who drew attention to herself. Even if it wasn’t the best kind of attention, even if it didn’t endear me to her, she knew how to draw you in. It leaked out of her every movement.
The air around her seemed to attract and confuse the hummingbirds. Her perfume made her smell sweet, but there was no nourishment here for the birds. Everything about this girl was a lie within a lie, and she definitely fit in with her family more than Nova did.
Kurtis rocked forward, his elbows on the table and his fingers woven together. “I don’t mind getting to the point. I assume your mother and father laid out our offer?”
“Is that what you’re calling it, your offer?” I snorted. “Say it for what it is: a threat so that I’ll marry Nova. This isn’t much different than the offer you made to me and my family months ago. How did you put it back then? Something about no danger coming to us as long as we didn’t try to rise above our stations?”
Every eye was on me. Kurtis’s lips were thin from being pressed together. I wondered what my father’s expression was, but I didn’t break from my stare-down. I wanted Kurtis to know he didn’t scare me. None of them did.
Valencia breathed in, gathering herself and shattering the tension with a little clap. “All I heard in that little rant of yours is that you’ve chosen Nova. Which is good, that’s a step in the right direction.”
I stiffened at her observation. I’d been angry, but I hadn’t meant to reveal something that they could use against me. I looked over at Nova. She was chewing on her bottom lip, pulling it back and forth over her bottom row of teeth. I wondered what she was thinking. She was much harder to read than her sister, who was turning pink and openly scowling at me. I guessed she’d stop wasting her time flirting with me now.
Maverick motioned for a waiter. “The vibe is a bit aggressive,” he said. “Let’s order some drinks, and then we can continue with the details.”
“Fine.” I leaned over my mother so that I could speak to the waiter first. “Do you know how to make a brown derby?” The waiter blinked stupidly. “It’s not complicated. Tell your bartender to just mix some bourbon with some honey and grapefr
uit juice.”
Everyone else ordered wine. In silence we sat, and even after the drinks came, we still tiptoed around the elephant in the room. It was driving me mad. I started to count the hummingbirds to stay sane.
Under the table, something nudged me. Lifting my eyes, I caught Nova smiling. It was a tiny twist of her lips, like she was silently apologizing for the situation her family had put us in. I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to be sorry. I knew the helplessness that came along with being the child of a power-hungry father.
Setting her goblet down, Valencia went, “Ahem.” It drew everyone’s attention. “Let me start by saying this. My sister has lived a very comfortable life here for many, many years.”
My mother hmm’d under her breath. “Amazing that she’s willing to just walk away from all that comfort. I see she didn’t deign to join us, either.”
The other woman’s smile was plastic beneath her vibrant peach-colored lipstick. “Let me finish. She lived comfortably, but the people here never embraced her. She’s quite relieved to exit and return to the States. Austere won’t interfere with you taking the crown,” she finished while turning her hooded eyes to me.
“Of course she won’t,” I said, shrugging lazily. “She’s got a sister who’ll keep feeding her money, money probably supplied by this kingdom. All the reward, none of the work.”
“Thorne . . . ,” my mother sighed. Then she pursed her lips and said flatly, “Well. He’s not wrong.” She glanced over at Kurtis and his wife. “Both of you clearly benefited from her being the queen. I expect you’ll give her anything she needs to support her lavish lifestyle elsewhere.”
Her directness had me and my father grinning into our drinks.
Kurtis pushed his shoulder blades back, cracking his joints. “There’s more than enough wealth in the royal vaults to go around. A little to my sister-in-law won’t hurt anyone.”
Nova squirmed, suddenly interested in the basket of bread on the table. She took a piece, but she didn’t eat it, just looked at it from multiple angles.
