Chapter 0047


    Daniel nods but I look between them again. “Wait,” I say, “catch me up. What’s so bad about that?”


    Kent says nothing, staring at me – challenging me, I think, to figure it out myself. But Daniel shakes his


    head and exins. “Fay,” he says, “when big families get together like this, sometimes other gangs see


    it as an…opportunity. Two birds with one stone, as it were.”


    “Or,” Kent says, picking up the thread. “Because Alden has greater numbers than us, he could see it as


    an…opportunity. To pressure us into deals we’re not happy making. It’s…non-preferred.”


    “Oh,” I say, raising my eyebrows. “Maybe we should…not go.”


    Kent shakes his head again. “No, he’s got us cornered there. He’s already sent out the invitations to all


    of his people, all of mine. It’s short notice, but…if I keep you from it, it will look like I’m keeping you from


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    your family.”


    Daniel and I nod, understanding.


    “Well,” I say, hesitating, “I could just go…alone…”


    Kent freezes then, looking at me with humor and disbelief in his eyes. Then, he bursts outughing.


    “Not a chance in hell, Fay,” he says, walking by me and giving me a little swat on my jodhpur-d butt.


    “Go get ready!” he calls. “We’re leaving at 4:30, sharp! I want you two looking good!”


    Both Daniel and I stare at him as he walks away.


    “Did he…” I say, shocked.


    “Just…” Daniel continues, his voice low and unbelieving.


    I turn to look him, my eyes as wide as saucers. “Did your dad just smack my ass?”


    A few hourster, Fiona is putting the finishing touches on my hair. I groan a little as she pins thest


    piece into ce, finishing it off with some hairspray. My entire scalp hurts, each strand of hair having


    beenbed and tugged and curled and pinned and sprayed.


    The hairdo is a triumph, of course. It’s so borately curled and swept up delicately off my shoulders


    that I look like I could be getting married.


    “You’re gorg,” she says, leaning down so that I can see both of our faces in the mirror. Sheughs,


    then, giving me a kiss on the cheek and then whipping her lipstick off my skin with her thumb.


    “Absolutely gorgeous!”


    I stand up and let Fiona help me into the little ck cocktail dress she’s chosen for the asion, the


    fabric shimmering subtly in the low light of my room. It skims off my shoulders and cuts high on my


    thighs – definitely racier than anything she’s put me in before.


    “Are you sure this isn’t a little…risqué?” I ask, considering myself in the mirror. “For like, a meeting the


    family sort of thing?”


    “When it was your dad, it was one thing to look like a pretty pretty princess,” Fiona says confidently,


    zipping me up. “But trust me, I know women like those you’re meeting tonight. If youe in looking


    like a little girl, they’ll eat you alive.”


    We both look at me in the mirror and I’m surprised by what I see. Ifst time I was the Mafia princess,


    tonight I am dressed as the Femme Fatale. The woman who can wreck it all if she wants, and walk


    awayughing.


    “You look as if you could breathe fire,” Fiona says approvingly, passion in her words.


    “Do you really think so?” I ask, turning to look at her.


    “Baby Fay,” she says, shaking her head at me with a little pity in her eyes. “Our innocent little baby. You


    really have no idea what you’ve got going on, do you?”


    I frown at her, not understanding.


    “You could have them all in the palm of your hand,” she whispers to me, holding out her own in front of


    my face to demonstrate. “With just one look. You could bring them all to their knees.”


    I snap my head back to the mirror, wondering if it’s true. Thinking, suddenly – perversely, I know – of


    Kent on his knees before me. And what I’d make him do if I had him there.