I gave him a look. 揟rust me, Dad, she knows exactly what she抯 doing.?
Worry crowded on his face. 揧ou didn抰 take her up on those advances, right??
He still said advances as if I抎 made them up. Fuck, Anna was good. She really had everyone fooled. That girl was playing me for her own personal entertainment. Damn it.
揙f course not, Dad. You should know me better.?
He gave me an oh please look. 揧ou抳e made unfortunate decisions regarding your sexual partners in the past.?
Thanks for the vote of confidence?
揑 occasionally bang married women. But there are two big differences between them and Anna. They aren抰 my ward and they are of age. That抯 a big ass deal for me.?
揑 wasn抰 sure, to be honest. Your friendship with Arturo had me worried you might forget some of the rules I taught you.?
揂rturo likes killing and torturing. That has nothing to do with my sexual preferences.?Talking sex with my father was fucking strange, but if he didn抰 have a problem, I definitely wouldn抰 make one. Almost nothing on this planet embarrassed me.
揃e careful, okay? If you lose control, there抣l be proof.?
I almost burst out laughing. Proof? Dad really thought I was like a dog in heat. 揇on抰 worry. I can control myself. There won抰 ever be anything physical between me and her.?
I was still a little hung over from my seventeenth birthday party the day before. Leonas抯 gift had been a flask with vodka that had given me a nice buzz throughout my very adult-controlled party.
Unfortunately, today my family and I were invited over to the Clark抯 for dinner. Clifford抯 parents had finally told their son about our future marriage and now we were supposed to meet officially. He and I hadn抰 talked since Santino had embarrassed me in front of him years ago and I抎 never felt the need to get closer to him. Eventually we wouldn抰 have a choice but until then I wanted to pretend my future was still a mystery.
One thing was sure: I wasn抰 in the mood for this kind of surely frosty dinner but as usual, social obligations were more important than personal preferences. I never complained. Mom and Dad didn抰 either, and I knew they had as much interest in spending the evening with the Clarks as I did.
The Clark抯 house was a splendid mansion that they抎 recently moved into. Mr. Clark probably said it was his wife抯 family money or his senator抯 salary that allowed him to own a place like this on the Chicago Gold Coast. I had my own suspicions regarding his recent rise in liquid funds. If there was one thing the Outfit had more than enough of, it was money. I really hoped Dad didn抰 have to bribe the Clarks into marrying Clifford to me. That would have been icky.
A maid in a light gray uniform opened the door when we rang and led us into a big living room with plush carpeting and elegant white sofas. The entire Clark family was waiting for us, perfectly arranged beside the marble fireplace and all dressed up as if they were about to go to the opera.
Mrs. Clark wore a floor-length elegant dress in purple and Mr. Clark a dark-three-piece suit. Clifford stood ram-rod straight beside his father. He was a couple of inches taller than his old man but wore a suit very similar to his. Only his unruly dark-blond locks deviated from his politician looks and gave him a surfer-boy appearance. The icing on the cake were Clifford抯 twin sisters. Someone had forced them to wear matching white cocktail dresses and tied white bows into their two side pigtails as if they were five and not twelve. They both smiled like creepy murder dolls. Not that a single Clark mastered a somewhat convincing smile.
Leonas exchanged a look with me, muttering under his breath, 揥hat institution did the killer dolls escape from??
I almost snickered but managed to keep a straight face. Sometimes it was unsettling how similar our minds worked.
揋ood thing Bea stayed at home. She would have started crying the second she saw those creepy smiles,?Leonas continued, oblivious to Mom抯 warning expression.
I nudged him. 揝hhh.?
Clifford didn抰 take his eyes off me while I shook hands with his parents and exchanged dishonest pleasantries with them. He looked almost?confused, as if he simply couldn抰 believe that I was his future wife. I wondered if he抎 argued with his parents. He wasn抰 bound to the same rules like people in our world, so what was stopping him from refusing to marry me?
Mr. Clark pointed at his son with a benevolent smile. 揟his is my son Clifford.?
揥e know each other from tennis practice,?Clifford said in a voice that suggested it wasn抰 the first time he抎 told his father.
I nodded and extended my hand, even if it felt awkward to greet my future husband with a handshake.
After that, we all settled at the table. The atmosphere was tense. Especially Clifford抯 sisters were obviously wary of us as if they thought we might pull guns at the table and shoot them all.