Page 4 of Entangled Mafia Princess

“You and Mr. Brady get along well. What else do you need?”

“If you and Kenton were to get married, it would solidify our collective interests.”

“Seriously? Are we living in feudal times all of a sudden?”

“My line of business—our society—is a little different.”

My chest tightens. “First of all, I never said I was interested in marrying. I’m only turning twenty-one for chrissake. And if I ever did want to get married, which I doubt, it wouldn’t be to Kenton Brady.”

A cloud passes over my father’s face but he tries to remain calm. “You haven’t even given the boy a chance. You overlapped at Notre Dame for only a year.”

“I doubt he’s changed since graduating.”

“He’ll settle down once he’s married and has kids.”

“Like you did?” I ask pointedly.

He purses his lips in displeasure. “Casey, you aren’t going to find anyone better than Kenton Brady. He’ll take over his father’s operations one day, just like your brother will be taking over mine.”

“Then you should have Connor marry Kenton. Gay marriage is legal here in California.”

Pulling away, I go over to where Hannah stands admiring the three-layered cake decorated in dog roses. I can’t believe my father. What he’s talking about is an arranged marriage. Did he forget we’re living in the 21st century? Who does that?

Well, he can’t make me marry Kenton. And I doubt Kenton would really want to marry me either.

“This cake looks so good,” Hannah says, “but I’d probably have to go to the gym twice to work off the calories from it.”

“Come with me to Tahoe and you can work the cake off on the slopes,” I implore. Not only do I want to snowboard, I want to get away.

“You know I don’t ski.”

“I told you I’d teach you to snowboard. Anytime.”

“Thanks, but winter sports aren’t really my thing.”

“Fine. You don’t have to hit the slopes. You can come up for the hot tub or the casinos in Nevada.”

“But you’re going to be on the slopes. What am I going to do in the meantime?”

I sigh. My dream birthday would be a trip to Mammoth Mountain, but no one in my family is into activities involving snow. I have friends at Notre Dame who ski, and one of them lives in Colorado, so maybe I’ll fly out there instead of going to Tahoe.

“I’ll be right back,” Hannah tells me. “I think one of my lashes is coming unglued.”

While Hannah heads to the bathroom, I stare at the cake. My birthday party hasn’t even started and already I want to leave. Feeling antisocial, I look around for a place I can have some alone time.

I see a little girl about ten years old sitting by herself on a chair beneath a heat lamp. Not recognizing her, I go over. She has a handheld video game device.

“That almost looks like the snowboarder Chloe Kim,” I remark of the animated character gliding through the air.

“It is,” says the girl.

“No way! Chloe’s in a video game?”

I watch as the character lands on the ground, runs up to a chest and opens it to reveal munitions and a medical kit.

“There are a lot of skins to choose from in Fortnite,” the girl explains.

“Mind if I watch?”

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