TIED TO AN OUTLAW

enius, and it's better to be absolute

-Ma

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of stuff that can be used as a weapon. But I wasn't admiring the decor - I was too busy having a heart attack, co

g cutlery were just background nois

wn so sparkly, I'm pretty sure I blinded everyone within a 5

honest with you? My mom and her sister, Aunt Rosa, were a dynamic duo of toxic encouragement. Their push for me to

reduced to a flaking layer of my makeup and a whole lot of desperation. Desper

f honor

e, he probably thought he was the sun itself. His mini-me, his first son-my portentous brother-in-law-to-be, sat across from me, a carbon copy of his fat

; I was in for a never-ending cycle of narcissistic

her perfume-a mix of rosewater and authority-wrapping around me like

scle as I stared ahead to the men in black. I was far from being a star. "I'm m

ill of another opportunity to drill our family motto into my skull. "Enough. Now chin up,

ue parody of one, like a skull grinning

oud; my life didn't have to be fill

glittering on my finger-a symbol of everything I was being forced into. She adjusted a loose

ways,

a marionette whose strings were pulled by the whims of etiquette and politeness. But like all dolls, there was a

my life. But I couldn't stop the knot tightening in my stomach. This circus, though it was in my name, was not for me, it was not for my happiness; it was for their own entertainment-witnessing the un

nce, and hope for a recipe of stability – or at least a decent PR spin. Because what every unhinged

shed with excitement, her eyes sparkling in a way mine hadn't in years. At least one of us had a shot at happiness – Vi's contagious laugh to

hrough what I could only assume were urgent business matters. As usual. The only time I

s for him; it was a necessary inconvenience to

there wa

the room with a hunger that made my skin crawl. Oh great, they finally landed on me, and I got to enjoy a lovely frisson of discomfort because, you know

was branding me with an unspoken ownership. I was

forget that." Tiziano's voice took on a predatory e

me to dispense the usual saccharine smile and gentle words that Ses

and only Vi saw the steel beneath. The

bitterness of it all. I managed a nod, barely, the edges

d a mix of victory and something that made my instincts scream for me to run. And the other famili

lass, "Cheers to many more years." It was partly to drown out my doubtful

allow me whole, my immediate older brother, Cosimo, leaned back in his

ou do make the best lasagna." A mischievous grin spread across his face. His voice was lo

don't tempt fate," she said with the playful affection she reserved for him. "But if I'm being honest,

nd of disdain that only a disappointed mother could muster. "Cosimo, enough with your

n his face didn't falter. "Just trying to lighten the mood,

ed at." Her gaze shifted pointedly tow

g down on me again: This is your duty.

doing, I still bore the brunt

, the sharp ring of my father's phone cut through the air. He glanced at the screen, his expre

in dinner. The energy in the room shifted immediately, as if a spell had been broken. Chairs were pushed back,

those at the table before following my father out. It was the unspoken rule in the F

ie a

phone trembled in my hand, the screen illumina

ke

re engrossed in their own conversations: Tiziano charming my mother and Aunt Rosa, Vi besotted with Ariele, Cosi

y with their farewel

from them, away from the dinning hall, to the gall

ust as Jake's boyish voice crackled through again asking if I'd finally surrender to his plea for a kiss tomorrow, icy

icate curves in Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus'. The beaut

ark omen. My body froze, not just because his fingers were tracing paths I hated, but because his voice, soaked with ve