Page 30 of Stolen Vows

“I’m hating this.”

My roommate, Valerie, pins the final piece of my hair up and snorts. “You hate every work function.”

“Not true. I had a good time at theJeans for Geneswalkathon last month.” Leaning forward, I curl the mascara wand upward against my lashes, coating them in nighttime black. When I blink at myself in the vanity mirror, I hardly recognize the reflection staring back at me.

The dress I borrowed from Val for the occasion is a skintight, one-sleeved lavender mermaid gown that I can’t help feeling naked in. It’s a far cry from the usual lab coat and personal protective equipment I’m in during the week, but as I stand and do a little twirl, I have to admit I don’t look half bad.

In fact, I look every bit the socialite that my older sisters have perfected being over the years. Maybe tonight won’t be so terrible after all.

Two tendrils of hair frame my face, while the rest is twisted into a bun and pinned with matching diamond barrettes. Val spritzes me with perfume from a pink glass bottle and gives me a thorough once-over.

“Well, what do you think?” I ask, folding my fingers together in front of me. “Will I pass as the great Valerie Van der Vorm at this party tonight?”

She groans, dragging her hands through her warm-brown hair. “We may look alike, but you’re not passingasme, and it’s not a party. It’s an auction. You’re expected to spend money and network, Stelz.”

“Okay.” I shrug. “I can do that.”

“Are you sure? Because I can barely get you to buy basic groceries every week. The stuff lined up at the Black Rose Auction is gonna be expensive.”

“Then why don’tyoujust go with me?”

“Because if I miss another grand opening at one of my father’s hotels, my mother said he’s writing me out of the will.” She waves a manicured hand dismissively. “Besides, it’s one invite per attendee, andyouhave a reason to go.”

I roll my eyes and walk over to the small living room in our apartment before flopping down on the red suede love seat. The entire unit is less than twelve hundred square feet and on the ground floor of a building that we’re pretty certain doubles as a money-laundering site, but it’s cozy and close to both our offices, so we stay.

We met during the onboarding process for a molecular biology fellowship two years ago and instantly bonded over the fact that we came from wealthy families, but had set off on our own paths in life.

I don’t know if her family consists mainly of criminals like mine, but I suppose it doesn’t necessarily matter.

Not now that I’m an orphan anyway.

“Just because I don’t enjoy spending the money I work sixty hours a week, hunched over a microscope or filling out paperwork, to earn doesn’t mean I don’t know how to spend it.” Bending slightly, I tighten the straps on the Versace stilettosandals Ariana sent me for my birthday last year. “Besides, it’s Rampion Core’s escrow account I’m using, not mine. And I candefinitelyspend someone else’s money.”

Moreover, you get used to spending someone else’s money when you’re too busy with school to earn your own. My admittance to Stanford had already been manufactured, so I didn’t want my attendance to be something someone else could claim either. Which meant throwing myself into the biomedicine program and any extracurriculars to beef up my résumé, so there was no time for a paying job.

Elena and her husband have been sending weekly stipends, and I’ve always pretended it isn’t hush money meant to keep me away from the East Coast. Since the deaths of both our parents a few years back, it’s felt as if neither of my sisters wants me to return—they’d probably have a fit if they knew I’ve been in New York for so long without telling them.

But I’ve tried to keep my trail small and untraceable. Not to keep them out, but to keep them safe.

In seven years, I haven’t had any trouble from my past life or the man waiting in it. I’d like to believe that if he hasn’t come at this point, he probably isn’t going to, but there’s a smidge of doubt that sits perpetually in the back of my mind.

Leopoldo De Tore wouldn’t give up easily.

Perhaps the problem is that he’s no longer interested, so there’s nothing to chase.Even dead, my mother’s critical voice pricks at the inside of my brain, though I usually try to stuff her down where I can’t hear. Old habits die hard, I guess.

“Whatever you say.” Val shrugs, tossing me an embossed white envelope. “That’s your key in. Literally. Guard it with your life.”

“What are your rules again? Be seen and not heard?”

“No.” She gives me an exasperated look and flops down on the couch beside me, stretching her long legs up on theglass coffee table. “Be seenandheard. Network with the other attendees. It makes the evening go much faster, and by the time the actual auction rolls around tomorrow, you’ll know what kind of competition you’re up against. Plus, that way, you can tell me all about it since I have to miss out.”

“Don’t you think they’ll be expecting you? Since you got the invitation, I mean.”

“There are no names on the invite, so I doubt it’ll be a problem as long as you fit in. It’s all about how you speak and what you can offer. That’s how these people operate. If you say you come from money and show up in designer digs, they won’t question it.”

She seems confident in the plan, and I really want to go for Rampion Core, so I don’t refute her claims. Fifteen minutes later, I’m being escorted by Val’s personal driver to the massive estate where this elite auction is being held.

As the vehicle approaches the property, I try to concentrate on the why behind my attendance—a damnflower. It’s genetically engineered, and only two of its kind exist. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies across the world have been trying to get their hands on it; one group wants it for supposedly altruistic reasons, while the other wants to extort it.

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