AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hannah’s lips parted, her shoulders sinking.“I’m sorry. You’re right.”
The unexpected apology deflated Zara’stemper. It wasn’t nearly as much fun to snipe at a contritesibling. “I told you, I’m fine. I agreed to do this. Joe and I are… we get along. That’s as good as it needs to be. In a couple ofyears, we get an amicable divorce, and nobody has to be upset aboutanything.”
“Unless Dad needs another De Lucca favor, orthere’s another reason for an alliance, or Joseph doesn’t like theidea of a divorce by then.” Hannah glanced down the curvingstaircase toward the open, molded archways and the massive foyer.“Come on.” She tugged Zara’s sleeve to lead her up a story and intoGia’s room. The door clicked shut behind them before Hannah spokeagain, her expression all too earnest. “You need to consider whathappens if there’s always one more reason to stay. Are you preparedto end up with Joseph forever?”
Zara looked around her twin’s room insteadof answering. The crown molding and soft blue walls were the sameas hers, but while Zara’s bedding and furniture were mostly whitewith a few accents, Gia had embraced a more Arabian Nights theme,with hanging silks and colorful inlays. Even the rugs strewn acrossthe dark, wide-cut oak floors were woven in jewel tones. Zara sankonto a pile of cushions, welcoming the riot of color anddistraction for once. Anything besides the gray gloom outside andthe impending doom inside. “It doesn’t matter,” she said when sherealized Hannah wasn’t talking.
Hannah sat next to her, frowning again.“It’s your future. How could it not matter?”
“Because…”The only thing I want cannever happen.She trailed off with a shrug. “I don’t know whatI’m doing anyway. This is a plan. It’s better than not havingone.”
Hannah’s brow wrinkled even more. “Zara,what do youwishwas happening right now?”
“That Ben hadn’t screwed up, and Dad hadn’tscrewed up, and I hadn’t screwed up. And I wouldn’t be marryingJoseph. But—”
“How the hell didyouscrew up?”Hannah edged closer. “I can’t think of anything you could do thatwarrants tossing your whole life on Dad’s pyre.”
She swallowed hard and risked a directglance at Hannah. Her ever-flawless sister looked ready to walkinto a photoshoot—from her flawless hair and contoured cheeks toher tailored Chanel pants. Zara, on the other hand, wore a hoodiehaphazardly dragged on over a mini dress and leggings. Her bun hadfallen a bit lopsided at some point, with hair everywhere, slightlyfrizzed from the rain. Hannah probably hadn’t had frizzy hair sincemiddle school. “Everything I do is stupid. You know it.”
“I do not.” Hannah sighed. “Please, justtell me what’s happening? Maybe I’ll be able to help.”
Zara sniffed. “Not likely.”But why nottell her? She used to love Sawyer. Maybe she’ll know how to getover Dane.“Fine. Okay. You want to know how dumb I am? I fellin love, and it’s a level one-thousand disaster. And he never wantsto see me again. And not having to think about dating for a coupleyears sounds like a fucking blessing right now.”
Hannah fell back into the cushions, ignoringthe damage to her blowout. “So some asshole dumped you, and insteadof eating ice cream in your pajamas for five days straight, youpicked ‘marry the mafia’? And I thought Gia was the dramaqueen.”
Zara twisted a piece of fringe on thenearest pillow. “Yougot dumped and married a billionairepolitical donor. Grandma would say the pot’s calling the kettleblack.”
Hannah blinked. “Who the heck do you thinkdumped me?”
“Sawyer.”
“How the hell did you—?”
“You can’t borrow Gia’s clothes and notexpect her to snoop.”
That got a laugh from Hannah, before shewaved a hand as if dispelling the idea. “Points for trying, but Idumpedhim. We wanted very different things.”
“You wanted three houses in Europe and aprivate jet.”
Hannah’s brows arced. “Wow. Now I know whatyou really think about me.”
“Are you gonna pretend you fell for Karl’spersonality?” Zara snickered. “Cause you’ll have to prove he hasone.”
Hannah shrugged off the insult to Karl. “Ifyou must know, Miss Nosey, I broke up with Saw because I wanted afamily. He didn’t. And he works for Dad. So, there’s that littlehurdle.”
“You don’t think Dad would’ve been okayabout you seeing him?”
“I have no idea.” Hannah’s laugh was a shadetoo sharp, her smile too brittle. “Didn’t seem like any pointfinding out if we couldn’t present a united front on something asbasic as getting married or having kids.”
Zara pulled her legs up and wrapped her armsaround her knees. “I just wanted Dane. I don’t care about kids,weddings, or normal jobs. But he—”
“Oh, shit!” Hannah sat up, her eyes flaring.“Dane? Dane Freaking Ryan?”
“Why’s that so weird? You likedSawyer.”
“Yeah, but you picked a proverbial red righthand. God help you, Zara. The Butcher? That’s not—”
“That nickname’s stupid.”
