The roar of two helicopters landing woke me up that morning. I later found out they were Annia Vandereck's security detail—Killian's fiancée. They had all shown up early to lock down the protocols.
Ursula explained it without much enthusiasm.
"The bosses' deals are just as important as they are dangerous. That's why the security around their kids is insane."
And then, to my surprise, almost like a motherly warning, she added:
"Carmilla, one more thing—burn this into your skull. Mr. Longfield liking you only means you're useful to him right now. The second you're not, you'll be sent back home with a restraining order banning you from ever contacting anyone in the family again. I know everything that happens in this mansion, and trust me, you still haven't figured out the truth: no Longfield is ever going to marry you. This world works one way—the rich stay with the rich. The rest of us are just tools to them… things. Plain objects."
Her words hit me hard, but I thanked her anyway. There's a different tone in her voice whenever she talks about Mr. Longfield; she even blinks a little more. I think she was in love with him at some point. I need to look into that.
Killian's text: "We're seeing each other at Annia's dinner tonight. Let's try to keep this from getting weird. Who knows, we might even have a good time."
I replied: "Sure! The guy I like is about to meet his future wife right in front of me. What could possibly go wrong?"
Lucius also texted me: "Emilia Touré has a new dress for you. Wear it tonight. Dinner's at eight in the south dining room."
The dress Emilia designed for me was even better than the last one—deep chocolate and copper with a subtle shimmer, short and flared, held up by two paper-thin straps that looked like they could snap at any second. She told me that was the whole secret of the dress: no one would be able to stop staring, secretly hoping those straps would break and leave me completely naked. She gave me new shoes in the exact same shade too.
Unfortunately, the second I stepped outside, I spotted the helicopter Annia Vandereck had arrived in and wanted to die on the spot. A whole entourage of men and women poured out. She was tall, slim, long-legged, and a striking redhead. She wore a white designer suit and moved like the runway belonged to her. I thought, Damn… I'm screwed. That woman is gorgeous. Couldn't I catch one break?
At eight, I reached the dining room. Lucius was waiting by the door, checking his watch with a serious expression, but he still couldn't help himself.
"Emilia did a killer job. That dress isn't gonna last long on you, though."
"The straps are super thin, I know," I answered.
"What straps?" he said, confused. "I meant I'm ripping it off the second you step into my room when this is all over…"
I just looked at him and smiled. He was wearing a jet-black suit with a matching tie. God, he was beautiful. I told him:
"We'll see how our date goes… we'll see. By the way, what do you know about Annia?"
"That she's a Vandereck, so we can't trust her. I know she's twenty-four, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's gorgeous. Her dad's just a regular guy—actually closer to ugly, you know, bald and pudgy—but her mom was Miss Universe and won a bunch of other pageants. The wonders of money!"
Killian showed up wearing a blue shirt and light-wash jeans. He looked amazing, but Lucius asked through gritted teeth:
"You couldn't dress for an occasion this important?"
Killian didn't answer him. Instead, he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek that lingered just long enough to make me feel uncomfortably wanted. Lucius shot him a death glare. I only said:
"You look really handsome to me. Besides, if she's going to meet you, she might as well know everything—including how you dress."
Killian thanked me and told Lucius:
"See? That's why she's amazing and you're just a bitter asshole."
We waited five minutes before Ursula showed up looking worried, holding a note that read:
"I'm not feeling well tonight. I don't think I can make it to dinner. Signed, Annia Vandereck."
That was the first time I saw the real power Mr. Longfield had over his sons. Both of them grabbed their heads and started texting. I swear they weren't even talking to each other—just firing off messages to their father and muttering:
"This is bad… this is really bad…"
Like an idiot, I tried to joke:
"Come on! The girl just had an arranged marriage dropped on her like we're still living in the fifth century. Nobody expected her to show up smiling, right?"
Lucius snapped, "Shut up, kid. You have no idea what this means. It could be her father threatening to renegotiate the merger between our companies, or worse—she might have already teamed up with our competitors and now doesn't want to marry either of us…"
Instead of shutting up, I shot back:
"Or maybe she's just a scared girl…"
And looking at both of them, I added:
"Maybe she's in love with someone else and she's crying in her room right now because she wants to run off with him. She doesn't want her heart broken. She just wants to get the hell out of here and straight into his arms."
They both stared at me like I was an alien who couldn't possibly understand the stakes riding on that dinner. And honestly, they were right. I couldn't understand it, because I'm from Venus and the Longfields are from Mars. We live in completely different worlds.
Mr. Longfield called Lucius, asked if I was next to him, and told him to put it on speaker. We all heard his order:
"Let's not panic yet… we've got Carmilla. She seems to charm everyone. It worked with Sarah—she adored her in just a couple of hours… and I really need this first dinner to go well. So… Carmilla, you're listening, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Longfield. I'm listening," I answered.
In that polite but firm voice of his, he said:
"I need you to go up to her room, introduce yourself, and use that magic of yours to make Annia feel comfortable enough to come down and have dinner with Killian. You're good at this… just go in there and be yourself. Bring her to the table."
I froze. I wanted to tell him I didn't agree with any of this, or scream, I won't do it! Never in my life am I walking in there, because I'm falling for Killian and I don't want that perfect supermodel laying a hand on him… But of course I didn't.
I only answered:
"I'll go right now, Mr. Longfield, and I'll do my best."
He said:
"No, don't do your best. Just be yourself."
And there I was, my dear friend, walking down those luxurious hallways like a woman on death row, trying to save the dinner that would kick off the marriage between the guy I liked and someone else. Could anyone be more pathetic?
Ursula spoke with Annia's head of security, and the man opened the door and let me in.
The room was insane. At least six or seven people were rushing around with dresses and makeup like they were prepping a movie star. But she was completely calm, just looking at me without saying a word—perfect skin, a full chest, two miles of golden legs, and that bright red hair that made her pale blue eyes look almost transparent. Are you kidding me? I thought. Out of everyone in the world, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen had to be my rival in love… that's just not fair.
I took a deep breath and said:
"Annia, I'm Carmilla, and you don't have to tell me this is hard. I think it's actually awful. But Killian and his brother Lucius will make you feel welcome. They can be a pain sometimes, but they're both your kind of people… perfect. Come on, I'll be at dinner too, just to remind the universe it won't be an exclusive gathering of Olympus gods."
She smiled elegantly, stood up, and said:
"I'm not Annia. I'm her… friend? Evangelina. But come here, sweetheart. I think talking to you will do her good…"
She took my hand and led me to the far side of the room. There, sitting in an armchair with her face in her hands, was the real Annia Vandereck. She stood up when she saw me and said:
"Go away. Coming here was a mistake. I can't do this."
While she spoke, I couldn't stop staring. She was only a little taller than me, blonde, with one side of her hair shaved close and the other falling to her chin. She had freckles all over her face and full cheeks that gave her a slightly masculine but sweet look. She wore dark designer pants that looked more suited for a basketball player than a lady, and gold rings on her fingers.
I introduced myself:
"I'm Carmilla, and I have no idea why everyone's making such a big deal out of this dinner… but I swear, when you sent that note, the Longfields freaked out because they don't know if it's some plan from your dad or if you just don't want to come."
Annia said:
"No, my dad's going to kill me when he finds out I refused to meet that Killian guy. He really is going to kill me. But I can't."
I smiled and told her:
"Okay, we just solved ninety percent of the problem. If you're saying your dad doesn't know anything, that means the deal—or whatever it is—between the Longfields and the Vanderecks is still on. Now think about it: since we're already here, we should just go to dinner. Killian's going to grow on you, I promise. You're going to like him because he's really, really good-looking."
She dropped back into the armchair and answered:
"No, I'm not going to like Killian because there's one problem I can't overlook… Killian is… a man. And I like Evangelinas. Tall, redheaded, sexy women. You get it now? This isn't going to work."
While I was still trying to convince her, a text from Ursula popped up:
"Hurry up! Do whatever you have to and come stop this disaster. Killian and Lucius are fighting hard—they're yelling over you and threatening to throw punches. What the hell have you done to the Longfields?"