đź’ś Nicole
"The wedding has been called off?" I whispered, the words sounding hollow and absurd in the ornate study.
Papa was standing with his back to the massive, leather-bound desk, his face set in a dangerous stoicism. He sighed, the sound heavy, then gave a curt nod.
Oh.
Mama's earlier words no longer even registered, my brain short-circuited. Devastation? Relief? I couldn't tell which emotion won the battle, only that the chaotic, thrilling, and utterly dangerous reason why me and Leonardo shouldn't have anything together had been cut off. The thought should have made me feel free, but instead, I felt like a crucial piece of internal architecture had just been removed, leaving me shaky. I felt bad that I should even feel good about it.
"But… but what happened, Papa? Why? Do the Italians not want the alliance anymore?" I stepped fully into the study, abandoning the pretense of being an uninvolved spectator.
