~ Niamh ~
The day I had been dreading was finally here, and no matter how much I wanted to claw back the hours, the sun had set anyway.
Tonight was the gala. The night I'd be officially presented to the underworld as Massimo's wife.
My worst nightmare was coming to pass, a heavy, suffocating reality that felt like a trap snapping shut around my ankles.
There was no turning back now. There was no changing the fate that had been decided for me. It was too late.
And if I had a chance to stop this, even a second ago, would I have taken it? I told myself of course I would. I wouldn't even think twice.
But as I sat in front of the vanity, staring at my reflection, my inner voice wasn't as loud or as convincing as it used to be.
The truth was, since that meeting in El Paso, I'd been struggling to keep my hatred for Massimo alive. I was trying to fan the flames of my anger, but the past forty-eight hours had been a blur of confusion.
