ella

xpensive Persian rugs, the velvet sofas, and the stern oil paintings of Moretti ancestors all radiated a cold, suffocating authority. The

ull ache, hidden beneath the folds of a borrowed, modest black dress. I watched Caterina Moretti play the gracious hostess, her smile t

from down the hall-a heavy thud, f

nore" (Excuse me, ladies), she announced, her voice carrying over the clinking of porcelain teacups

rival among the women, let out a sharp, venomous laugh. "Oh, Caterina, your discipline here is

aterina's face, and the entire room fell into a dead, heav

struck the floor once with her silver wolf-heade

obedience. "If there is idle gossip threatening the honor of this house, it must be i

shing weight of a Matriarch's gaze, she had

oldiers stood at the end of the corridor, looking deeply uncomforta

ey, sweat, and sex rolled out into the pristine hallway. On the bed, two figures were ta

dn't even look at the bed. Instead, she spun around to face my grandmother, he

ice trembling with fake sorrow. "I cannot believe it..

gasped, their eyes wide with scandalized delight. Francesca Gallo opened her mouth to mock Cate

eryone to hear. "I suppose it is the wild Irish blood in her veins. They do not understand honor like we S

turned translucent as she gripped her cane, ready to st

as t

of my black dress was the only sound as I moved into the light of the doorway. I kept

s calm and freezing as the Chicago

. The silence that followed

tears drying instantly on her cheeks as all the blood rushed from her face, leaving her looking like

ght here... who was