the flute I’d abdicated and raised it in the air and then took a sip.
“Crisp. Light. Expensive. Perfect for a fall wedding.”
My eyes continued to drink him in, finally noticing that he was thinner than he had been eight days ago. I wanted to ask how he’d gotten through security and into the wedding. I wanted to reach out and touch him, to assure myself that he wasn’t a dream.
But I recognized the cold mask of indifference he wore on his face.
He was livid.
Raphael took my hand in an unconcealed show of dominance.
I struggled to breathe, trying to force air into my lungs to keep myself from fainting.
Hadrian set the empty flute down onto the table and studied me. “Are you all right, yarta?”
My heart warmed from Hadrian’s Shetlandic endearment of sweetheart, and I nodded. He’d said it to me once in the throes of passion and explained later as we were falling asleep what it had meant.
Hadrian surveyed the wedding guests, turning his back on Raphael. I wanted to warn him that Raphael was the kind of man who wouldn’t hesitate to stab someone in the back, but Raphael made no move.
Hadrian and Angelo stared at one another coldly. They were calculating, weighing their options and studying each other’s facial expressions, trying to discern if one had an emotional advantage over the other, wondering who would act first.
“She’s right, you know. You’re too late,” Raphael voiced. “Our marriage vows have been spoken. The ceremony is over.”
“Has your marriage been consummated?” Hadrian demanded. “If not, it can be annulled. Or I can just kill you right now and make it easy.”
“But Hadrian, I haven’t yet had the opportunity to sample her charms.” Raphael reached out and dragged a finger down the column of my neck to rest on my collarbone. “Based on her reaction to my kisses, I know I’ll have her begging for my cock.”
Hadrian’s eyes never left Raphael’s face. “You’ll regret your words, Raphael, I promise you that. Sterling, you’re coming home. Come with—”
“She’s my wife now. She doesn’t belong to you any longer,” Raphael stated.
Hadrian dismissed Raphael and faced Angelo to address him again, but this time his tone was sinister. “You came to my home as an honored guest, as a friend. You didn’t even know of Sterling’s existence. She is Moretti born, but she didn’t grow up in your world. You came to my island and stole what doesn’t belong to you. You have insulted me, and I question your honor as a Moretti, as the head of the Compagnia Bianca del Falco.”
Wedding guests stage-whispered to one another, their excitement palpable, but Angelo’s gaze was inscrutable. He remained frozen, like a statue in a museum.
Hadrian continued, his voice thunderous without needing to shout. He stared straight at Angelo and said, “I challenge you for the right to claim what’s mine: Sterling Moretti. I make that challenge by demanding a fight to the death.”
After a few moments of silence from Angelo, he finally spoke. “Twenty-five years ago, my sister, Violetta, dishonored my family when she broke her betrothal to Raphael Foscari. She married a man beneath her station and fled the country. Today, her daughter has become a Foscari. The woman you claim is no longer a Moretti. Our debts have been paid, and the union of families is now complete. It is up to her husband to decide if he wants to fight for her.”
Hadrian rotated once again, this time to address Raphael. “Then I challenge you to a fight to the death for Sterling.”
“A fight to the death?” Raphael spat. “I could kill you from here.” His hand gripped the steak knife that rested next to his plate, a tacit threat.
“You could try,” Hadrian agreed easily. “But you won’t. And even if you were successful, it would be your own undoing considering what I know about your family.”
“You’re not even a worthy opponent.” Raphael laughed but it wasn’t in humor and it grated my ears. “My family have been assassins for generations. You’re no match for me. You’re a peasant who thinks he’s a king.”
Hadrian’s smile was slow and vicious. “The world is made up of peasants and kings. But I am no king. I’m an emperor. A conqueror. And I’m not asking you to fight to the death, I’m commanding it. And you’ll accept, because if you don’t, I won’t just destroy the Foscari, but every single one of the five families. Her life is worth more than even that to me, so