Chapter 102 – Family Party

• The next afternoon, Daniel gets ready for the party with me in my room, and we’re alone for the first time since Alessi and Natalia arrived. He stayed up late with Alessi, drinking and laughing, while I begged off to bed by myself to be alone for a minute.
• Today, Daniel and I had taken our guests out to see the sights, as Daniel promised. Natalia was, predictably, unimpressed and kept calling our beautiful city a “horrible cage of rats.” I’m finally relaxing from the experience now as I do my hair, curling it gently in the way that Fiona showed me so that I can let it sweep down over my shoulders like a femme fatale. My makeup is already done to match, and I’m starting to feel powerful – exactly how I’m going to need to feel if I’m going to stand next to Natalia all night.
• “So, what’s this all about, Daniel,” I ask him, looking at his reflection in the mirror so I don’t have to turn around. “Why are they here, really?”