Page 43 of Wicked Prince

"I suppose that's understandable," he says.

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Miceli," Luca says in a thoughtful tone. "I prefer things to be done the traditional way, but at the same time, I can understand my son's hesitation. I just hope we can put our differences aside in the interest of our children's happiness."

"Of course," Dad says with a conciliatory smile. He really is on good behavior tonight. Guess the thought of consolidating the two empires is worth swallowing his pride for the time being. "Who are a couple of old men to stand in the way of young love?"

It's all I can do not to gag. I calm myself with counting the grains of wood on the table in front of me, at least until the thought of jabbing my steak knife into my eardrums becomes too tempting.

"I'll toast to that," Luca says, raising his glass. He looks over at his son, then at Kayleigh, and gives a smile that seems genuine, as reserved as it is. "Here's to young love, and to our families working together in the future."

"Cheers," Natalie says, raising her glass eagerly. Not that she needs an excuse to drink.

I can't take another minute of this. At the risk of causing a scene, I mumble an excuse about going to the restroom and make a beeline for the back. If Dad wants to scold me, he's going to have to be willing to barge into the women's room to do it.

Thankfully, I make it there without being followed and shut myself in the closest stall not a moment too soon. The tears break loose and as I collapse against the stall, a strangled sob wells up in my throat. I clamp a hand over my mouth because I want to scream.

This is why you don't get involved with the enemy,I berate myself as my sobs turn into hitching breaths. And whether our families have actually managed to put their ages-old feud to rest or not, it's never been more clear to me that's exactly what Lorenzo is.

An enemy.

I hate him. I hate him so much, but not nearly as much as I hate myself for letting him turn me into that girl. The girl who's holed herself up in the bathroom sobbing because the viper turned out to be venomous, after all. Who ever would have thought?

The more time that passes, the greater the odds of even me being missed become, and as much as I don't want to, I know I have to make myself go back out there. I go to the sink and splash cold water on my face, because Anthony's makeup job is already ruined.

I brought some concealer and lip gloss in my clutch, so all I can do is apply it to the best of my ability and hope no one notices I came back sporting puffy eyes rather than smoky ones.

I've barely turned off the faucet when the door opens, and while I already braced myself for it to be Natalie or Kayleigh coming to scold me for disappearing, I'm sorely unprepared to find myself face-to-face with Lorenzo.

Instead of saying anything, he steps toward me quickly and cups my face with his hands. I expect him to kiss me, but he just takes a long moment looking at me.

"I'm sorry," he finally says. "This is… it's not what you think."

In my shock, I remain frozen, but it doesn't last long. I bring my hand up to push his away from my face, but before I can even register what I've done, I end up smacking him across his.

There it is. The perfect end to a night that was bound to be a disaster from the beginning.

ChapterSeventeen

AMELIA

The sharp sound of the slap leads to dead silence, but Lorenzo doesn't even look phased. And why would he be? He's twice my size, and I highly doubt it's the first time this has happened.

I can't help but wonder what the number on my ticket should read. How many dozens of other women he's done this to.

"Okay," he mutters. "I deserved that."

I shake my head in disbelief. How is he so calm when it feels like my whole world is falling apart?

Oh, right.

Because it meant nothing to him.

I'm nothing.

Nothing except an inconvenience, since his meaningless fling has turned out to have some very meaningful connections.

"You deserve more than that," I spit. "And so do I for having anything to do with you."

He frowns, and it figures that would be what gets to him. "If you'd just listen for one—"

---