Page 48 of Twisted Fate

There’s another woman in the room, standing a few feet away. Her head is cocked as she studies me, her arms crossed over her chest.

I already know who she is. I’ve seen her in the news. Sabina Russo. She’s twenty-three, same age as me. But there’s an air of sophistication about her that I definitely don’t possess. The news talked about her donating to worthy causes and hosting charity events—as if that somehow might absolve her of her family’s business activities.

“This is my sister,” Damian says, gesturing toward her. “Sabina.”

Sabina is drop dead gorgeous. A cool kind of perfection. Her dark brown hair falls in a sleek curtain to her shoulders. Her chin is delicate and a little pointed. She has full lips, glossy red, and, unlike her brothers’ dark irises, hers are a pale blue. A cool blue, like chips of ice. She’s wearing an emerald green dress that I would bet all the pennies in my meager bank account costs more than I make in two months at the club. Her wedge heels are precariously high, but even with that help, her height only matches mine. I’m five-six, so that would make her....petite. Five feet one at the absolute most. Clearly, her brothers got the height in the family when it was being doled out.

Despite her slight stature, Sabina strikes me as every bit as intimidating as her older siblings.

“Alina,” she says in a cool tone as she holds out her hand to me.

I hesitate only slightly before taking it. Her skin is smooth but as cool as her voice. She has long nails, painted gold. The length and perfect manicure could only be maintained by someone who doesn’t do a lot of manual labor.

“Sabina,” I say as calmly as I can. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yes,” she agrees, her icy eyes narrowing. “So you’re Damian’s latest, are you?”

“Latest?”

“Girlfriend.”

I laugh at this out loud before I can stop myself. “I’m not sure I’d use that word.”

“Oh? What word would you use?”

I feel Damian’s gaze on me, searing. I ignore it.

“I’m his prisoner,” I say easily. “For the next few weeks, anyway.”

Damian grunts, but I don’t look his way. Nicole makes a choked sound.

“His prisoner,” Sabina repeats coolly, “that he’s brought on a family weekend.”

“I can leave,” I offer. “I don’t want to get in the way.”

“Alina has a way with words,” Damian says stonily.

“I see that.” Sabina’s gaze grows even narrower, and she gives me a sweep from head to toe. “You’re a bit of a smart-ass.”

“I…can be,” I admit uneasily.

She stares at me for what feels like a full minute, with absolute, deadly silence in the room. Even the bartender had stopped clinking glasses and bottles.

Finally, a smile spreads slowly across her face, transforming it from gorgeous to transcendently beautiful.

“I like you,” she says. Then flicks a look at Damian. “I like her.”

“Great,” he replies. “Then all is well with the world.”

She hooks her arm through mine. “We’re going to be good friends.”

“Are we?”

“We are. And you know how I know this?”

“How?”

She shrugs a shoulder. “Because I always get what I want.”

---