Page 85 of Heartless Sinner

“I am Don Giovanni Delarosa, Micah’s father. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I give him credit. He may not like me, but he knows how to keep the peace. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

He dips his head and glances at Micah, who is already staring at him.

“Let the evening begin,” Giovanni declares, and it’s like those words give everyone permission to breathe again.

The maids bring out platters filled with delicious-looking food, and I can’t help but do the comparison thing again. I’ve seen more good food in the last few days of me being in New York than I have in my life. And it’s all so exquisite.

Soon, the table is filled with a variety of food and an assortment of liqueur from wines to champagne and whiskey.

We start eating and light conversation flows down the table about travel and investments and real estate ventures in different countries.

I listen while most people contribute to the conversation, and I’m very aware of the woman across from me. Watching me.

My guess is she’s not happy with my presence, and if I were to sum her up, I’d also say she has a thing for Micah. She keeps looking at him the way a woman does when she wants a man for herself.

I find myself feeling a tinge of envy because she seems to be exactly his type, and I think she would be more suited to being his wife than me.

Rule number one of acting according to my old professor is to never compare yourself to anyone. She believed that once you reached a certain level, we were all good and had talent, but each person had something different to the other.

I used to live by those words until I was tossed out of that world and into this one, where I saw myself as nothing and had to fight to remember who I was. As those piercing eyes switch back to me, boring into me, I feel like nothing again.

An hour and a half later, when dinner is over and dessert is served, Micah’s father gathers everyone’s attention again.

“I’m sure you’re all eager to know the details of the wedding,” he says.

“We most certainly are,” the woman with short curly hair beams. Her name is Belinda. She’s one of Micah’s aunts. Her son is Lorenzo, the guy who first toasted to us.

“It will be held next Saturday at Oheka Castle. Your invitations will be sent out tomorrow by courier.”

Excited gasps ripple down the table like a Mexican wave.

“Next Saturday? That’s awfully quick.” Belinda brings her hands up to her cheeks and glances at Genevieve.

“With my imminent ascent to the leadership, I wanted to make sure we had the wedding we wanted,” Micah explains, and everyone seems to understand straightaway. “I have big shoes to fill, so I need all the time with my father once he starts handing over to me.” He keeps his gaze on his father.

“You will be just fine, mio figlio, but I look forward to spending that time with you.”

They both acknowledge each other with bowed heads.

“I want to hear about how you two met,” Belinda bubbles, and the woman next to her—Clarissa, another aunt—smiles, too.

They’re looking at me, so I assume they want to hear the story from me.

“Oh, it was here in New York.” I glance at Micah, who nods his approval for me to keep going. “I was here for work. I was staying at the Grand Vittorio.”

That’s not entirely far from the truth. The only part about that explanation which glosses over a lie is the part about work. Iwasworking. They don’t need to know I was there to steal from Micah.

“We started dating, and it was dinner and movies from there on.” I try to make that sound as real as possible. Micah and I have gone to dinner, and the other day,Die Hardwas playing in the background while I was unpacking. Micah wasn’t technically in the room with me, but he was in the house.

“We love dinner and movie dates.” Belinda and Clarissa both swoon at the same time looking like they’re watching the you-complete-me scene fromJerry Maguire.

“That’s so strange. Micah was never into dinner and movies when we were together,” says the bitchy girl across from me, and I realize with dark dread the reason why she’s been giving me such filthy looks.

She’s Micah’s ex.

My stomach plummets like I've swallowed rocks and they’re pulling me under. The room dims around the edges, sound becoming distant and hollow as her words echo in my skull.

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