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Elena stares atme apart But why?

“No, eren’t very good friends,” she tells uess I’m not always a nice person And you never tolerated any crap That intimidated me”

I’ bad ass?

I’m not sure that I like me very much

“So you were the uess She smiles slowly

“I suppose so”

“My mother thinks that I should try to be friends with you,” I tell her bluntly “Because you understand what it’s like to be me—a child of a political family Do you want to be friends?”

Elena stares at me in surprise I can tell that she doesn’t knohat to say She wasn’t expecting this fro any of this frouess we’re even

“Well, you’re certainly not any less blunt,” she observes “You’ve always said exactly as on your mind Okay, Mia We can try to be friends It should be interesting”

“Yes,” I answer quietly “It should be interesting”

We chat for a little while longer and it seeets easier toward the end I finally makebreath and lean against it

Why do I feel like I just made a deal with the devil?

That’s ridiculous Right?

Elena ht have red hair, but she’s not the devil

I spend the rest of the walk toto convince myself of that

Chapter Nine

I press lass of my mother’s car I leave a nose print, but I don’t care The hills of Caberra speed past us as h the curvy roads toward Giliberti House

Apparently, our house is uninhabitable and will have to be re-built in order for us to return ho at Dimitri Giliberti’s fae estate surrounded by olive groves outside of Valese

Also apparently, I’ve been there a ift shop I sell gourmet olive oils and whatnot And I say ‘whatnot’ because I have no idea what else I sell there Sigh

“We’re alh was a result of being in the car “You’ll see the olive groves soon”

And I do We round one reen tops touching the sky The olives look like pebbles on the branches

“Your father will co to stay in the city during the week for work reasons He’s worried about you, though He’s hoping that the peace and quiet out here will help you relax and recover more quickly”

Him and me both

I’

I nod wordlessly, taking in the scenery astrees line each side and white blosso the stone lane beneath us with a thick blanket of petals It looks like a painting I take a whiff of the sweet-s air

“It’s gorgeous here, right?”an eyebrow

“Yes,” I agree “It is”

She pulls into a circular drive and we get out of the car The house is a out of a fancy fairytale Warht floods from the s onto the manicured lawn around it It draws me to it and makes me want to run into the house

A tiny little woman comes out, stooped and elderly But she moves quickly She is down the stairs before I can even speak Her hair is pulled into a neat chignon at the nape of her neck

“Mia!” she cries out and barrels intoShe smells like cookies And maybe sunshine

I look at her blankly, ishing that I could place her Because she clearly knows me She looks at me sympathetically

“I’ a step backward “I forgot that you don’t remember me My name is Marionette Papou I run this household for the Gilibertis You know tails But you will remember I have faith in that”

She is confident I like that

She turns and greets my mother and then her husband, Darius, introduces hily quickly for being older And I aain when Marionette tells roves They have both worked here for decades, apparently, and they have no intentions of slowing down anytime soon

They lead us into the massive house and I immediately feel welcomed, like I am home The house is inificent and enormous It is the kind of place where families live and thrive I feel instantly at ease

Marionette smiles

“I have a treat for you,” she tells rin “Your favorite”

I have no idea what my favorite is, but I follow her anyway

I’uess

As Darius takes our bags upstairs to our rooms, Marionette leads us to the kitchen Wonderful smells surround us and I inhale deeply

She hands me a saucer and shoves me into a chair

“Your favorite,” she tells ain as I look at the little fancy plate There is a forest green G inscribed on the china rim A flaky croissant drizzled in butter instantly makes my mouth water “I make them from scratch,” she adds proudly

I take a bite and instantly ahs

“Oh, you fell in love with rins, before she pats lides away to wipe off a cabinet “I’m French Everyone loves me”

I don’t knohat that has to do with anything, but it makes me smile anyway I consider that as I look around This kitchen reiant farm kitchen, but is filled with every modern convenience It’s comfortable in here I could stay in here forever

My mother, however, must feel differently

“Mia, I’o unpack,” she tells me “If you need me, Marionette will show you to my room”