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Part One

Chapter One

Rhiannon

I don’t belong here The thought rolled around in h the crowded ballroom People stared at me onder and a hint of irritation because people likethe elite

Our invitation to the old box Ornate and decorated with olive branches, I wondered if the box was a joke An olive branch, of all things? Was Arlo Salvatore ain? It would not have been the first tireed to let us into his carefully curated world, only to make us look like fools in the end

I was sh to know the Salvatores would never consider ster, a criminal He was the leader of the Irish Mob, feared by anyone with the sense to knoas dangerous But Arlo and his sons feared no one

Woht’s Drealitter or hidden by a mask They looked ethereal, as if they were the Shakespeare characters brought to life Thetheir faces I didn’t need to see their faces to knohich monsters lurked in the shadows

Fro at me He wore a red and black carnival mask His black hair wasonto his forehead

He stood beside his older brother, Luca They were both gorgeous beyond words, with chiseled jaws, Ro blue eyes I’d ever seen Marcello’s eyes looked sad, while Luca looked like the Devil possessed hiood looks, both tall and h Marcello was broader in the shoulders and chest

My cousin, Shane “Sonny” Corlass of scotch in hand He flashed his usual golden boy s beside Marcello after he worked the room The pair had been best friends since they were kids

From the moment I met Marcello, he became my obsession I was fourteen years old, aard, and still wearing braces Marcello was three years older than me, and back then, the quarterback of the Astor Prep football teaames That was the first time I met Marcello

After that day, I tagged along with my cousin and his best friend I went to all of their football games and followed them to the after-parties And by the end of Marcello’s senior year, I ditched the braces, fixed inity If Sonny ever found out, he would have killed Marcello He watched over me like an overprotective brother Since I was an only child and always on my own, Sonny was there whenever I needed hi, so was Marcello

I tookthe Devil’s Creek WASPs in their natural habitat Alexandrea Wellington stood beside Luca Salvatore, dressed in a pale pink fairy dress that barely covered her thighs She wore a silverher heart-shaped face Like most of the people in Devil’s Creek, Alexandrea and Luca’s fae

Luca looked slightly annoyed His top lip curled up in anger as his eyes flicked to Alexandrea She shot an equally pissed-off expression at hih about my future toI had going for myself

Aiden Wellington floated through the roolasses of whiskey He looked even more irritated than his twin sister, like he would rather eat glass than le with the people at this party I et We could bond over our mutual disdain for the Salvatores

I leaned against the bar beside Aiden, and he looked down at me with one eyebrow lifted He had the prettiest blue eyes I’d ever seen up close His hair was blond and curly, like his sister’s, except his hair was short on the top He reminded me of Ryan Phillippe in the movie Cruel Intentions, the bad boy attitude and all

A diht cheek when he sars Bay”

I tippedabout my hometown Everyone froars Bay because of the increase in crime and decrease in wealth Still, our toere only tenit, either But compared to billionaires like the Salvatores, Corht My father’s uest quarters at the Salvatore Estate