Page 129 of Where Dark Hearts Devour
“If you pick a gallery in a part of the city I own, you’ll be fine.”
Her eyelids pop open. “And which parts do youown?”
I cock my head to one side and narrow my gaze as I recall. “Pretty much all of them.”
“And the Marchesis?”
“We’ve squeezed them out of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island. Newark aside, they’ve moved north. Otherwise, they won’t be a problem for us.”
She stares after me as I walk to the door.
“By the way,” I say over my shoulder, “I’ve invited your aunt and sisters over for lunch.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want you to feel lonely on your first day in your new home.”
She looks panicked. “Do you, um, have food in?”
I rest my hand on the door handle and turn to face her. “I have more than food. I have staff. Not many, but the important ones. Lunch will be served on the terrace whenever you request it.”
“Right. Okay.” She nods. “Thanks. Um, Cristiano ...”
“Yeah?”
“Are you sure you want to marry me?”
I almost laugh at her question, but she’s deadly serious.
“Queen, I killed my flesh and blood for you. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
Trilby
I’m still walking through the rooms filled with all my stuff when I hear giddy voices making their way to the front doors. I lean out the window and see a few male members of Cristiano’s staff offering their assistance, their bulging eyes set on Tess.
“Why is Trilby still here anyway?” Bambi whines.
Sera shrugs and hides a smile. “I’ve no idea.”
She’s such a bad liar.
“Lunch had better be decent.” Tess. “I’m starving.”
Our third sister is always starving. Eighteen years in, and I’m still at a loss as to where she puts it.
“Don’t be vulgar,” Allegra chastises. “We’ve been invited here by the don. We must always behave respectfully.”
Tess goes to protest, but Allegra halts her withthatglare. “And that means not eating him out of house and home.”
Tess frowns.
“And one of these days, your metabolism is not going to burn through the amount you put away, dear,” Allegra warns. She runs a finger up and down her own form in a rare show of self-effacement. “Case in point.”
It shuts Tess up at least.
“Up here!” I call out, and four heads swivel toward me.
They forget their petty quarrels and hurry into the house.
