“Calm down…” Tobias was by my side for the rest of the evening. He was mad at Papa, but just like me, he was helpless. He insisted on joining us for dinner at The Orchard Hotels—one of the buildings that belong to Romanos. I was nervous, fidgeting with the hem of my short light-pink dress reaching barely above my knees. The full sleeves gave me an illusion of security, the bandages wrapped around my arm still scraping yet I kept my expressions unwavering.

This wedding was going to happen, one way or another—Papa would make sure of that. I still hadn’t any idea why he wanted an alliance between Romano...