Page 2 of Forbidden Until Midnight

In essence it was a financial cabal and he hated every single person here. Because they would do anything in order to protect their own financial security, including turning a blind eye to violence and abuse. The exclusivity of this group of people ensured the containment of inconceivable wealth. And it wasn’t lost on him that while Pietro was one of the best men he’d ever met, as the son of an ex-Mafia enforcer he would never be allowed within these hallowed halls, despite the fact that the people here were probably even bigger criminals. No, what mattered nearly as much as the zeros in your bank account to these people was genetics. And those two things made nearly every single person here almost pathologically selfish. And Santo Sabatini knew first-hand just how dangerous that could be.

He swallowed a mouthful of his whisky as the hum of whispers grew louder.

‘She’s here,’he was just able to make out from the buzz.

Refusing to turn, to succumb to the desire to see her finally, in the flesh, take her place as Edward Carson’s heir, Santo instead remembered the words his mentor had said to him.

‘It’s not easy what I’m asking you. It’s the longest game you’ll ever play,’Pietro had warned.‘It may even take years.What I’m asking you is a lifelong commitment, so think carefully before you agree.’

Santo hadn’t needed time. He didn’t doubt what the older man was saying. He understood what he was being asked. He understood that it was a secret that must be kept from everyone. Because it could dramatically change the course of a young woman’s life. But the answer was easy, all the same. After everything Pietro had done for his mother, forhim, Santo would give his all to whatever was asked. Even if that meant maintaining his connection to this hideous group of people.

So now, as Eleanor Carson finally emerged into the Hall of Antiquities of the Munich Residenz on New Year’s Eve, the day after her eighteenth birthday, Santo Sabatini prepared to make good on that promise.

‘Look after her, Santo. Protecther.’

‘I will.’

Eleanor Carson gasped the moment she entered the grand hall. She hadneverseen anything more beautiful in her entire life. Her heart beat so strongly it pressed her chest against the tight bustline of her gold dress.

She had waited years for this moment.Years.

And now she thought she might actually explode with happiness. Eleanor looked at her father, the sparkle in his eyes, the joy on his beloved features, and knew that he was as happy for her as she was. She reached for his hand and squeezed, as he nodded for her to go to join her friends. Throughout all the beautiful and gorgeous celebrations that she’d had yesterday,thishad been her real birthday present. She cast a glance back at her mother, something in her gaze catching Eleanor just a little strangely, before it was masked with a smile.

‘Go on,’ her mother said with a kind laugh, and that was all the permission Eleanor needed before she searched out Dilly from amongst the crowd of familiar faces. Friends of the family, school friends from a few years above, the circles she moved in had been tight knit but, now she was eighteen years old, finally, she got to join themhere.

Until this moment, the New Year’s Eve parties were known only to Eleanor through rumours and whispers. No one dared speak of what happened here, but the vague details and hints only increased her curiosity to fever pitch. In her mind it had become a fairy tale ball fit for a princess, and looking around the Hall of Antiquities, it was beyond her wildest imagination.

Gold, pale blue, dusky pink and alabaster filled the periphery of her vision, the gentle hum of chatter overlaying the pretty strains from a live orchestra hidden from view. Shivers of absolute joy rippled across her skin and her chest felt as full as if she’d held her breath for an eternity just to be here.

‘Lee!’ she heard Dilly cry from part way across the room and couldn’t help but laugh at the friend she hadn’t seen since she’d graduated a year earlier than Eleanor, last July.

‘Oh, I amsoglad to see you,’ Eleanor said, allowing herself to be swept up in Dilly’s warm embrace.

‘Me too! It has been positivelydullhere without you,’ Dilly confided. ‘You look absolutely delicious—all the boys are havingconniptions.’

Eleanor batted at her friend’s arm. ‘Don’t be silly.’

‘I’m not!’ Dilly cried, before tucking her hand into the curve of her arm. ‘Come, let me give you the tour,’ she said, pulling Eleanor towards the far end of the hall. ‘The Albrechts are hosting this year. Next year, it’s going to be the Pichlers in Vienna, which will be equally, if notmore,impressive than this,’ Dilly confided.

Eleanor didn’t think it could get even better than this, but kept that to herself.

‘And how are the family? Mater and Pater?’

‘They’re good,’ Eleanor said with a smile, and remembered her younger brother’s sulking frown as they’d left him in the hotel before his bedtime.

‘But I want to come with you.’

‘Not until you’re eighteen, like Ellie,’her father had said.

‘I’ll say. Your father’s just done a spectacular deal with the Müllers, he should be on cloud nine,’ exclaimed Dilly.

‘They celebrated all last night,’ Eleanor confirmed, with a secret thread of pride. She’d spent weeks listening to her father negotiate the deal, her nails almost bitten to the quick, because she had suggested the deal. Oh, she wasn’t naïve, she knew that her father would never do anything he didn’t want to do, but shehadsuggested it. And he had thought it was a good idea. And secretly she hoped that would help him begin to see that she really did want to study business at university. That she wanted to follow in his footsteps one day. Oh, the business would be passed to Freddie, she knew that. But...she might be able to be a part of that business too.

They came to the far end of the incredible hall and turned, so that the entire room was on display.

‘Okay,’ Dilly announced. ‘As you know, no one from outside the families are allowed. It’s the one night of the year where everyone can just be themselves without worrying about political enemies or financial repercussions.’

Eleanor nodded. The impossible exclusivity and secrecy surrounding the New Year’s Eve gatherings had always been what had made her want to attend so much.

---