Twin Sacrifice

engines purred low and powerful, the kind of sound that promised money and menace in equal measure. My heart

He wore a black suit that fit him like armor. This was Cassius Valtorre. I knew it before anyone said a word. He moved like a man who had never been challenged, never been refused, never been f

ole he enjoyed. Dante Valtorre. The charmer. The one Vivienne's journal had warned me about. I watched him laugh at something the driver said, watched him clap the man on the shoulder like they were old friends. But his eyes never stopped mo

ize too big, like he was a child playing dress-up in his father's clothes. His hair was longer than his brothers', dark and disheveled. His face was pale, haunted, like he had not slept in years. He did not look at the house. He did not look at his b

em, in the way that predators are beautiful. Sleek and dangerous and utterly deadly.I stepped away from the window and smoothed my dr

ticed this. I knew how to move. How to breathe. How to look at people like they were beneath me.Cassius saw me first. His eyes locked onto mine, and I felt the force of his atte

ard with a smile that did not reach her

d taught me. A lady does not offer her hand first. She waits. So I waited.Cassius did not take my hand. Instead, he looked at m

ce was low and rough, like gravel

steady. I did not know how. "I tr

ed his head slightly. "You lo

erent

m the photogra

orced myself to smile. "Phot

else, but his eyes staye

retch too long. He took my hand and pressed it to hi

ther forgot his manners. I,

ou," I said, pulling my ha

and deliberate, then back up to my face. "I must say, you're even m

aware I

r. "I can see it. Right here." He touched a finger to my templ

burning where he had tou

. There's a

te to escape Dante's probing eyes. "A

e. He just looked at me, and in that look I felt something I had not expected. I felt recognition. Like he saw me, the real me, the o

nte said with a dismissive wa

did. I took everything per

a month. I was seated across from Cassius, between Dante and Eleanor. The meal was exquisite, but I tasted none of it. I was too aware of the

ork and looked at me across the tabl

d you like

ducation. Your interests. I like to

ction," I said, my tone sh

able. "Because you don't seem like a woman who wants to be he

Vivienne has always been shy

assius's eyes narrowed. I had said too much. I had broken character. I waited for him to call me out, to expose me

id. "You have fire.

at the right moments, played the part I had been assigned. But I could not shake the feeling that I was being te

by a few scattered lanterns and the moon. I needed air. I needed space. I needed to b

Cassius said quietly, c

to keep my voice steady. "I don'

s burning into mine. "I don't know who you a

ook a step closer. He was so close now that I could smell him

ting my face up to his. His touch was c

e repeated, so

ght, I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. I could not stop thinking about Cassius. The way he looked at me. The way he touch

p. Unknown number.I opened the message."I know w

rying to make sense of them. But they made no sense. I

t