Strangers in the End

The instant the words left my mouth, the noisy chatter across the hall died into dead silence.

Dozens of stares fixed on me at once, contempt and mockery and idle curiosity tangled together, heavy enough to smother.

"Layla, if you're going to lose your mind, at least look around first. This auction is run by the Thorne family."

Karina covered her mouth and giggled. "Your territory? Big words. Careful, or you'll come to a very ugly end before the night's out."

Leon Thorne. There wasn't a soul in that hall who didn't know the name.

Every power in the south answered to him, and he was known to be brutal and paranoid.

The Thorne family he ruled was, by extension, something no one dared to cross.

"Shameless, truly. A banished bitch, and it still dares to bark in here." Someone in the crowd chimed in with her.

Jeering laughter rose from every side, sharp enough to make my eardrums ache.

I turned my eyes slightly, and my gaze settled on the man off to the rear.

The current Don of the Perrone family. Eli Perrone.

A matte-black bespoke suit set off his cold, upright frame, strands of silver-gray hair falling over his brow, his features aloof and severe, the whole of him wrapped in the distance and indifference of a man at the very top.

His deep-set eyes settled heavily on me, filled with impatience, something tangled I couldn't name, and a flicker of hesitation that was gone in an instant. "Layla." His voice was low and cold, weighted with the pressure of a man looking down from above. "Where have you been these three years?"

I froze for a beat, then couldn't help the sneer. "What's this? Is Don Perrone hoping to catch up on old times?"

Eli drew a deep breath, looking utterly helpless.

"Layla, whatever it is you're planning, this is no place for you. I'll have you shown out, and once the auction's over I'll spare time on you."

I was so angry I actually laughed. "Don't tell me you think I came all this way just for you?"

"What else?" His face was all cool entitlement, his tone thick with impatience. "Enough. Leave, now. Don't make me say it twice."

He was as full of himself as ever.

I couldn't be bothered to spar with him. "And if I say no?"

A trace of irritation crossed his face, and just as he opened his mouth to say more, Karina's voice had already climbed higher.

"Layla, you think dressing up like a decent person makes you fit to stand with us? Don't forget the filthy things you've done! You deserve to be thrown out like a stray."

"Steward, a stray's wandered into the hall. Deal with her, quickly, before she soils the Thorne family's dignity."

She shouted it with her chin in the air, as though showing off a trophy.

The hall's steward came over and asked deferentially, "Excuse me, miss. Might I see your invitation?"

Karina watched me, gloating, apparently certain I couldn't produce the pass that marked one's right to enter.

Eli's brow knit tight, and just as he made to speak again, I'd already drawn out the invitation stamped with the thorned-rose crest.