Cara's pov
I couldn't be in the Salvatore mansion without snapshots of the time I let Luca fuck me with his fingers swiping through my head like a slideshow. Even now as I helped Gina touch up her hair in her princess bedroom, I was fighting a blush as Gina rambled about a heroic story of her fiance, featuring Luca. She wasn't helping at all.
I finished up with the swirly updo, the style completely upgraded from the one Gina's stylist had done before. It wasn't that the professional's work was bad, it was just what it was; professional.
It lacked the spice and fierceness that would aid in my stepsister's plan to seduce her fiance.
I stepped back to inspect my work. A satisfied smirk curved up my lips. Dante Fierro didn't know what was about to hit him.
"You aren't even going to break a sweat," I said. "He's going to be drooling all over you before the night is over."
Gina put her hands to her face to hide the reddened cheeks I knew she had. "Stop." She purred.
"Ready?" I asked and she got up from her vanity chair, looking stunning in the copper dress I had helped her pick on our shopping date.
She scooted in her heels to stand beside me and we both did the mandatory last minute inspection in the mirror. We were perfect.
"We look like queens," Gina squealed.
I agreed with her. The turquoise dress she bought me, hugged my frame elegantly and it seemed to look even prettier than the first time I tried it on.
"We are queens." I declared, sharing an excited smile with her before I took her hand and led us out of the room, the two of us strutting to the hall where Gina's engagement party was held.
We would arrive like the queens we were.
***
My heart pounded in my chest and I and Gina walked into the hall. Everyone was staring at us, some of them gawking even. I wasn't the overly nervous type but this was the first time people were looking at me with a tint of respect, their gaze almost reverent. They usually stared in shock, horror or befuddlement, so this was a first.
My mama sauntered us, grabbing Gina by both shoulders. Gina stiffened, obviously uncomfortable with her unnecessary closeness but that didn't sway my mama.
"Oh Gina, what are you wearing?" She cried, not in any way acknowledging my presence. "Dio! What is this makeup? Why is your hair different?"
Gina balked out of her embrace, a tight smile on her face. And it occurred to me that my mother properly harassed her daily with her unwanted exaggerated affection. Amusement danced in my eyes.
My mother flashed me a glare, suddenly realizing my presence. "Did you do this to her?" Her nose flared, throwing the question like I had smeared ash over Gina instead. Or ripped her dress on purpose, or burned her with hot coal.
"Just thought she needed a little spice up," I shrugged, deftly masking the sting of the harsh treatment she only reserved for me.
Gina groaned under her breath. "Amanda please, Cara only tried to help me look my best."
The hostility in my mother's expression was gone. "But what about the dress I chose for you?"
"I didn't like it." My stepsister deadpanned.
Hurt flashed across my mother's face and it had me feeling sorry for her a minute until she faced me again, ready to take out her annoyance at Gina's attitude on me. It was something she always did, sucking up to people then taking out her frustration on me. She never had the courage to speak up to them. I was the outlet.
"You stay consistent with your bold choice of clothing." Her voice dripped sarcasm, a sardonic smile on her lips.
My bright mood was doused in black, anger heating up beneath my skin. I was saved from whatever scathing line she was going to say next when Gina's friends scurried over and began gushing over her. Staring at her in a new light.
The sight made me feel like a proud mother hen.
My mother returned back to the party she was with, not liking how the young girls had pushed through her, their sole attention on Gina.
I exhaled a shaky breath and glanced around the room. Whew, that ended well.
Dante Fierro was perched on a pillar a few feets ahead, his gaze locked on Gina. Normally, my eyes would have found hers, with a victory smirk but they were completely focused on my stepbrother who was standing next to him, watching me.
My body thrummed alive with awareness, my heart galloped in my chest. Every bit of my skin singed with heat.
The spacious hall suddenly felt claustrophobic, the walls were closing in on me and I could barely breathe because Luca held my lungs with that piercing gaze of his. I cussed under my breath. I had been certain that the sight of him wouldn't affect me as much since I took control from him the last time we met. I had been convinced my reaction to him was only because l let him conquer my body twice, a psychological response from the physical act but I was dead wrong.
The man was halfway across the room, doing nothing but staring at me and it was making me ache with a tightness. I jerked my gaze away from him and headed to the bar.
I needed a strong drink.
Will I ever learn?
A sardonic smile curled up my lips, it was déjà vu all over again.
***
The night was painfully long, I was torturing myself by counting the minutes to the hour somebody was going to grab a fucking glass, clink it and announce why all of us were gathered in this fucking hall.
Make the engagement party official and let us all go home and away from men who had us feeling like we were stepping on a frozen river with one foot and into a puddle of hot lava with the other.
I glanced at the centre of the hall, Gina was dancing with Dante, smiling and laughing shyly at something he was saying. I forgot my black mood and let genuine happiness fill me. She had been so scared only a few weeks ago, it was glad she was able to sort it out. I hoped Dante feels just as much as she does for him.
My said black mood returned with a vengeance when my mother appeared at my side, a disapproving look on her face. I sipped my whiskey, trying my best to appear unconcerned.
"You've been doing nothing but drinking." She said that gritted teeth. "You're fast giving people the impression that you're an alcoholic."
"I really hope it's working." I murmured sardonically, just because I knew it would piss her off.
Her eyes widened and she fought to appear calm. I drew satisfaction from it.
"The family of the Irish mafia boss is here. Put that drink down and go convince the former boss' wife that the wrong choice wasn't made for her son."
My entire body went still. I whipped my neck to my mother, my eyes widening in alarm. "Why would I do that?"
My mother gave me a puzzled look then a slow smile spread on her face. "I see Luca hasn't told you yet."
She reached out and tugged a lock of my hair behind my back. "Oh Cara, it makes me emotional to see you in a wedding dress. I pity the poor man burdened with the responsibility of clipping those filthy wings of yours."
I backed away from her, my lungs tightening. "w- what are you talking about?" My voice was growing louder now and a few people turned to us.
My mother smiled at them, her teeth clamped together in an unnatural way. "Quiet," she bit out.
I wanted to scream and was considering doing it but my mother read the look on my face and quickly provided. "They've arranged for you to marry the younger brother of the Irish boss. Cadain is his name I think." She said, so calmly, so apathetically when my world threatened to tilt on its axis.
Cadain. The name sounded familiar but I couldn't care to remember where I had heard it from. My neck snapped to where Luca was, talking to his father and the Irish boss, a grim look on his face.
It was my future. They were discussing all businesslike and detached. So coldly.
They were going to force me into marriage, had chosen the groom and all without my notice, my consent.
My consent. My consent. My consent.
All my life, I fought to have control. Over my life. Over my body. Over my future… I broke out! I made it. As soon as I turned eighteen, I moved on to become my own woman and I proved it every day of my life working my ass off and figuring it out on my own because I knew nobody was coming to save me.
My mama's marriage into this cursed family has destroyed all that. The control I've fought to h- to have-
Cold sweat broke out my neck as filthy fingers stroked my skin and vomit climbed up my throat. I gripped my neck. I felt so sick and I couldn't bear to be in the room any longer.
"Cara where are you-" I didn't stop to listen to her, I dashed out of the room and down the bend. Looking anywhere and everywhere not knowing where I was going. I stopped and yanked off my shoes, I needed to find the bathroom now.
I pushed into the first room on the hallway I found myself in and luckily it was a bathroom. I barely made it to the sink before I gorged out the contents of my stomach. I turned on the tap and let the water wash down the mess, my hands gripping the sink as I glared into the mirror.
Tears streamed down my face, an angry fire roared in my chest. Despair pulled me down into its endless depths.
I glared at my panda-eyed face, a strong feeling of resentment building within me. I loathed my stepbrother and his father with an intensity.
The bastard had touched me in the most unplatonic way, only to set me up for marriage with a man I didn't know.
I rinsed my mascara smudges with the water and staggered out the room. I didn't want to return the party. I was too furious at the moment, I couldn't ruin Gina's special day by driving a glass shard into her brother's heart.
"Hi, are you okay?" A masculine voice called out in a strong Irish accent.
I whirled my head to the owner, blinking as a blonde man came into view. A ghost of a smile appeared on my face, "no I'm not."
He shuffled, unsure of what to do. "How can I help?"
How can he help? The question swam aimlessly in my whiskey induced head.
"Cara," a familiar voice called out to me. "Cara I know you can hear me goddammit." Luca cursed, his voice impatient and irritated.
"I saw her running off in this direction." Another male voice said. A voice I was half sure was Cadain's.
What can he do? I stared at blondie as a devious grin crawled into my lips.
He gasped in shock as I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him around the corner and into a tiny storage room.
"What are you-" he started to say but trailed off when I pulled him in for a kiss, probing into sensitive areas of his mouth. He remained stiff for a moment then groaned into the kiss.
It was going to be easy. I kissed him with a ferocity, my mouth ravaging his as my body sang with determination.
I was going to save my future. I was going to ruin my stepbrother's stupid plans and I needed blondie for it.