Page 148 of Dangerous King
"Oh, now you want to talk?" Her voice drips acid. "Now you give a shit?"
Her face is twisted, with raw, undiluted fury. Unfiltered resentment burns in her eyes, and it stuns me. I've never seen her like this. Not even close.
"God, you're sospoiled," she seethes. "My entire life, it was Catalina this and Catalina that.No,we can't go to your ballet rehearsal, Sabine—there's a call scheduled with Catalina.No, we can't get you those shoes, Catalina needsbookmoney."
I stumble a step back, blinking like she slapped me. "Sabine… I never knew you felt like?—"
"You neverknewanything!" she spits. "Because everything was always handed to you. Even when you werelockedup in that gilded cage, the legend of you was bigger than the truth of me.Catalina would have never done—said—acted like this."
Her voice cracks, and she looks at me like I'm the villain in her story. The spotlight thief. The one who stole air, space, and light.
"Sabine," I breathe, trying to piece it together, trying to reach her. "You don't know what my life was?—"
"Oh, please. Stop the torturedCinderellaact. You want sympathy because you were kept in a mansion while I wasforgotten? You were the one everyone worried about, the one everyoneloved, while I learned how to take care of myself."
"Iloveyou," I whisper, throat raw. "You're my sister."
Her laugh is cold and ugly. "You love me from your ivory tower. Now you've got the prince, the crown, the dress, the whole goddamn fairytale. And I'm still the girl in the shadows."
She turns again, marching into the dining room. I'm about to follow her when I see her grabbing the knife. Not in a million years would I have ever thought my sister would hurt me, butright now… I'm not so sure. The knife is long and sharp, meant for the bride and groom to cut the cake. Her hand wraps around it with too much familiarity. Too much purpose. I stop cold, every cell in my body screams. For a split second, my heart jumps into my throat. Is she going to stab me?
I take a step back, all of my instincts flaring, but she turns toward the cake with a maniacal laugh, eyes wild and shining with some cruel, unhinged satisfaction. "And you don't get your fucking cake either!" she shouts.
And plunges the knife into the cake.
A boom splits the air.
A concussive blast ripples outward, ripping the world apart in an instant. The cake explodes—literallyexplodes—in a flash of white and fire. Glass shatters, tables overturn, people scream. The sound is deafening. The shockwave sends me flying backward, slamming my body full force against the wall behind me. The wind is knocked out of me, and a sharp pain in my torso robs me of what little breath I have. My ears ring, smoke fills the air, smoke and… blood. There is so much blood.
My head swims, I think I hit that too. My vision goes blurry, but not before I see some yellow piece of cloth, the same yellow Sabine was wearing, red with blood, floating down on the ground. That's when everything goes mercifully black around me.
Cat's kiss still lingers on my lips, sweet and soft, before she slips away with that mischievous smile I'd walk through fire for. I watch her go, the train of her gown whispering across the grass as she disappears toward the house.
Mywife.
The word fills my chest like a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. I don't care that she joked about the bathroom. I don't care that I'll miss her for the next five minutes. I'd wait a lifetime for her and still think I got the better end of the deal.
"Enrico." Toni's voice pulls me back to earth. I'm glad he came, even though the moved-up ceremony meant he had to leave Scarlet behind. Marcello is still in the hospital, still in a coma.Just this morning, there was another assassination attempt on him. I heard the little nurse saved his life.
Stephano didn't come either, no big surprise. It's not a personal slight. He'd just rather stay behind his computer and search for his missing brother. Or right now, traces of Ledyanoy Prizrak.
Neither Roberto nor Edoardo showed up, either, which is just fine with me. If it had been up to me, they wouldn't have even been invited.
I turn toward my best man. There's a flicker in his eyes I don't like. "What is it?"
He lowers his voice, speaking just loud enough for me to hear over the clink of glasses and the rising swell of music. "Stephano flagged something on one of the surveillance tapes."
Instant tension knots my spine. "What kind of something?"
"He wouldn't say. He wants to wait until we're all together and let us see for ourselves. He left it up to you whether we meet today…" Toni shrugs, "…or wait till tomorrow."
Today. Or tomorrow.
My wedding. My celebration. My wife.
I glance toward the house, and there she is. Just stepping through the French doors, her head turned slightly as if she were searching for someone.
She's radiant.My wife. God, I could drown in the sight of her. I feel the smile creep across my face before I can stop it.
