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“It’s going to be okay, cara mia,” she whispers into my ear before pulling away.

“Don’t worry about me.” I touch her cheek, and she offers a weak smile before pushing to her feet.

Papa is staring at me like he wants to say something but doesn’t. Instead, he dips his head and hardens his gaze, a silent reminder of all the warnings we spoke about before the wedding.

You are Gabrielle D’Auria. Don’t you forget that, his deep voice rumbles in my head.

He turns his wheelchair and pushes forward down the paved path, leaving. Mama tosses me one more look of distress before joining him.

Konstantin falls in step with them, and I stand so I can watch my parents go.

They weave through the crowds, still looking like the odd ones out. People watch them and whisper. God knows what they must be saying.

Everyone will remember that today was the day when the great Corrado D’Auria lost his crown. Even if he regains some power, the underworld won’t let him forget it.

When my parents turn the corner by the water fountain, I can’t see them anymore.

It hits me then that I’m truly alone now. Everything that happens from here onwards is left to me. And other than the obvious warning to comply, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to survive this marriage.

My heart clenches, tightening with every dark thought.

This can’t be my endgame. It just can’t. I suspect it’s not Lev’s, either.

Why would he want to stay married to me for the rest of his life? Even if he takes mistresses, which is as common as breathing air in our world, there’s going to come a time when my use will expire.

He can’t punish my father forever.

I’d like to make an exit before I outstay my use and the novelty of taking Corrado D’Auria’s princess wears off.

I don’t want him to kill me.

I don’t want him to take me out to pasture and shoot me. Shoot me the way Gabrielle was killed. Execution style.

It must be one of the most painful and terrifying ways to go. It was certainly terrifying to watch, and that wasn’t all those evil bastards did to my sister.

For a few agonizing heartbeats, I focus on the groups of people I don’t know, willing my parents to come back. Soon, everyone and everything blurs into a massive black hole. Until Lev walks into my line of sight.

Judging from the amused look on his face, he’d been watching me for a while.

I groan and prepare myself for him, but my other worries about him resurface the closer he gets.

I was groomed for a business marriage from an early age, and I’ve had years to make peace with the fact that I’ll never lose my virginity to someone I love. I’ll never make love, or know what it’s like to be loved. But for all of Danillo’s faults and cruelty, there was some degree of familiarity, and even an unnatural comfort in being with the devil I knew.

Being with someone like Lev feels like the universe’s way of punishing me, too. And maybe it is. For Gabrielle. Not a day goes by that I don’t blame myself for her death.

The awful twist about that is what’s happening to me now would have been her fate. She wouldn’t have deserved it. But perhaps I do.

Lev reaches the table, and an unnerving twinkle appears in his eyes along with that mirthless grin I hate. “Time to go… Mrs. Karsavin.”

Mrs. Karsavin.

The name rattles through me, piercing every ounce of my body like shards of glass.

Talking to him is like being in a fighting ring. You have to stay focused at all times and try to protect yourself. The problem is I’m so emotionally drained I don’t even know if I can find the strength to pretend to be strong. So, I keep quiet and try to stop my inner self from screaming.

Lev’s grin widens on seeing my reaction. “Anything you need before we head out, Mrs. Karsavin?”

I maintain my silence and gather my shawl, slipping it around my shoulders.