Page 150 of Their Princess

Looping my arm around my younger sister’s shoulders, I turned her around towed her in the direction of the changing room. Her feet dragged over the carpet, but I pulled her along, even as she glanced back. Thankfully, Graff had turned his back and was speaking to one of the capos lingering nearby, another—Alessio—remained outside the store.

“Come along,” I said. “There are some dresses already in the dressing room.”

“Lina,” she whined.

I pushed her into the changing room. “Go already.”

Papà’s limodriver took the bags and returned to the limo to wait for our call. We meandered through the mall, windowshopping. When we came to a fine jeweler, I pulled away from the others and strolled through the door at Iceberg Jewelers.

Wandering between glass cases of rings and other jewelry, I assessed their quality. I had seen better cuts. Bigger rocks. More variety. Granted, those stores were in Paris and Milan. But this was Las Vegas, and while we had nice things, most people getting married in Vegas were tourists who would regret their choices later.

So, we also had lots of cheap things—knockoffs, cut glass, cubic zirconia, and the like—alongside the real deal.

I pressed my fingers against the glass, leaving my fingerprints everything. I smudged the glass purposefully, marking this territory as my own until Mamà called me back to her side. The jeweler had pulled out gold rings for us to admire. It was better than silver, and I knew Sas would’ve preferred stainless steel or something more modern grunge.

What I grew up with, though, was anything but modern or industrial.

Perhaps he would like titanium or white gold. At least it had the more rustic look of silver.

I brushed over the different options, each different widths and designs, some plain and other intricate. Each of them had been polished, and I kept catching my own face in the reflective surface. Like in the mirror, I looked different from before I’d left, but I was different.

That’s what being sold did to a person. Aged them. Made them tougher than nails and harder, perhaps colder, than the gold bands I examined. And then... losing my virginity made me a woman who could decide what exactly to do with her life. It was simple to say and think.

“Which one do you like?” asked Mamà.

I pinched my lips, torn in different directions. Then I pointed at one with an intricate gold vine inlaid in the white-gold band.The design had detail that an artist would appreciate, and it reminded me of the vine work on Graff’s left arm. But it definitely wouldn’t suit Sas.

The jeweler reached for it and placed it on a black velvet–covered display board. “Excellent choice, miss.”

I pointed at a second one. “Is that black?”

The jeweler said, “Yes. It’s one of our newer titanium looks.”

“I’ll take that one too,” I said with conviction. The darkness of it, the lack of shine or reflection screamed Sas.

“Do you want help choosing?” asked Mamà.

“No, I want both of those, and.. . that one.” I pointed at one with braided gold—strands intertwined like my life had always been with Rafe.

“All three?” asked Mamà, confusion ripe on her high cheekbones.

“We can afford it,” I said as though it were nothing.

“We can, but why three?”

“In case Sas doesn’t like one,” I lied, knowing he wouldn’t like any of them.

Sas would fucking hate the small symbol that meant he was mine. He would view it as a leash, but that was just fine from my point of view. At least the black one suited him. As for the others, they were special gifts.

The set of three rings stared at me from the black velvet, and I could envision them on the hands of each of the three men who meant something to me. Perhaps this was premature, but I could see it. Taste it. If not now, one day.

While maybe legally, I could only marry one of them, and God—if he was out there—probably wouldn’t approve, I was staking my claim. All three were mine.

The rings and the men. They just didn’t know it yet.

“Yep. Those three,” I said to the jeweler, giving a final nod.

When the rings were boxed up, the lady dropped them into a pink bag with silver accents and handed it to me while one of the capos paid. We walked out to meet Graff, Alessio, and the other capo waiting in the wide mall corridor.

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