Page 16 of Righteous Deceit

I glance up at her. “Huh?”

“Please tell me you heard what I said about aftercare?”

I nod, ignoring the way the pink in her hair has faded to the point that the blond is more prominent, making the resemblance to Lucy too hard to ignore. “Yes. Rest up and drink tonight. Run a marathon tomorrow.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re funny. Now, tell me about that scary but super-hot stranger who carried you up to the estate tonight.”

She gossips more than Lucy ever did. But I’ve come to a hypothesis as to why. Lucy’s lifewasdrama. She put herself in situations that most would cower away from, and in the end, her desire for the forbidden placed her directly in harm’s way. It wasn’t her fault. None of it. She was a child, a teenager searching for the fantastical things the world could offer her. She didn’t see danger; she saw adventure and experience. I only wish she saw my family for what it was and not an opportunity to dabble in a world she knew little about.

Lucy Snow was my best friend. We met in kindergarten and remained attached at the hip until the day she died. We had our ups and downs, trivial arguments that lasted less than twenty-four hours before we needed one another again, and whatever had sent us down a path of disagreement was forgotten. Even when she confessed to sleeping with my father, I wanted to hate her, but my fear for her safety won out. I didn’t see betrayal. I saw a need to protect her, to rescue her.

And I tried. I did.

I begged her to listen.

I pleaded with her to see reason.

But she was blinded by the fairy tale of an older man who promised her the world. He shone so brightly for her she didn’t see the life he promised her was one he would always control how it unfolded and how it ended.

When she became pregnant at seventeen, she had this fantasy in her mind that would see us asfamily.My father didn’t love my mother, and everyone knew that. Especially Lucy. She believed she’d be the exception. The woman the man left his wife for.

My father was a predator in every sense of the word. He was evil incarnate. He was devoid of emotion and procreated only to carry on his bloodline. Chicago was his, and if he had his way, even after death, he would rule it, even if it was only by way of his last name sitting atop the hierarchy. He held no love or affection for me or Salvatore. We were our mother’s obligation. Until Salvatore was at an age he could manipulate and mold him in his honor. I was a nobody, nothing of value. My mother had hoped our presence in their marriage would make him love her, but it didn’t work. So, while our dad dismissed us like inconvenient houseguests, our mother blamed us for failing her in a way we were destined to with a man like Edoardo Bianchi.

When Lucy divulged news of her pregnancy to me, I cried. I was as truthful to my best friend as I had ever been. I told her what would happen if she shared the news with Edoardo. I vowed to keep her safe if she would let me. I would’ve made any deal with the devil to keep her away from my father. But she ignored my warnings, and I never saw her again.

Lucy irrevocably changed Chicago, but Salvatore, my mother, CJ, and I are the only ones alive today who know that truth.

“Earth to Alessia!”

I blink twice. “Sorry.”

Grace shrugs. “Don’t be. I’m a little mesmerized by him, too.”

I force a smile. Grace doesn’t know for sure that her sister is dead. She holds out hope that she’s still alive, and I’ve never been kind enough to tell her the truth. By doing so, I’d lose her, too, and I’m too selfish for that.

“I wouldn’t say I’m mesmerized,” I argue weakly.

The moment I convince you to sit on my face, and I can feel all of this all over me, I know I’ll drop to my knees to beg you for another taste when you discover I’m the man you should stay the fuck away from and you tell me no.

“Alessia,” she calls again, laughing. “You are so caught up in this guy and don’t even know what he looks like.”

“I think his eyes are black,” I say to offer something to the conversation. “Dark enough that you can’t distinguish them from his pupil anyway. It should be creepy.”

“But it turns you on?” Grace does little to hide her smirk.

“Stop it!” I scold, throwing a box of tissues at her.

She catches them. “CJ said he’s requested you solely.”

I nod. “It’s strange to be in a maze with only one other person, and CJ keeps moving us between the allotments. We’ve done East and West. If it continues, I’m guessing I have North and South to look forward to. But with the constant move, I can’t find my bearings, and he always manages to find me.”

“He’s an expert at the hunt.”

“Why me, though?” I test. “He knows he can’t touch me. I’ve only ever and will only ever wear red. What is the reward for him?”

“You also know you’ll never be captured, and you get something out of it. If it was just running, you could do that on a running track like everybody else. You want to be chased, you kinky bitch. I know you only joined The Quest because Charles pushed you into it, but you kept returning because you enjoyed it. Maybe you and your hunter are similar.”

You and your hunter.

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