Chapter One
Daphne
My bare feet slap against the marble floors as I run through the massive halls of my parents’ home. My hair is still wet from my shower, and I clutch my robe tightly around myself. When I reach my father’s office, I burst inside and stand panting in the doorway.
“What happened?” I ask. I got a notification on my phone for an urgent family meeting. My stomach clenches, suspecting the worst.
My parents are there—my father, in his usual suit and tie, and my mother already in her costume for tonight—or at least, I can’t think of any other reason for the skin-tight, black dress and black wig she’s wearing. But my eyes skip over them and land on my cousin Ty, who’s sitting on the couch beside my father’s liquor cabinet. My best and only friend stateside, Valentina, who I think has always had a secret crush on Ty, hovers over him, dabbing a handkerchief against his face.
“The Latsis thugs happened,” my father growls.
I cross the room and take Ty’s jaw in my hand, turning his face up to mine. His eye and cheek are red and swollen, and his lip is bleeding from a deep cut. Valentina dips the handkerchief in a bowl of water that’s quickly turning pink.
“They think we’re to blame for the fire,” Ty grits out.
Last night, one of the Latsis container ships caught fire out at sea. The news reports say the Coast Guard is blaming undeclared chemical materials that were improperly stored. At last count, two crewmembers had died.
I turn my eyes on my father. “Are we?”
My father jerks his head back like I’ve hit him. “Of course not.”
The thought had crossed my mind before. Maybe we are smaller fish, but my father still has connections. He could have bribed the dockmaster, gotten a crane operator on board, slipped the undeclared container onto the Latsis ship while they were loading.
But I decide to believe my dad. He’s been sick, dealing with doctor’s appointments and daily dialysis thanks to end-stage renal failure. The feud with the Latsis family is—hopefully—the last thing on his mind. It’s an ancient grudge that no one really understands anymore. A hundred years ago, our ancestors founded the Latsis-Jordan Line. The families’ patriarchs were best friends, but when a woman allegedly came between them, it created a rift between the families. They divided the company and never spoke again unless it was to slander the other, but these days, it seems like the rivalry has reached a new and dangerous level.
As the new CEO of Jordan Marine, it’s my worst nightmare. Some days, my life feels so constricted by work and the pointless fighting that I want to just run away to an Italian villa, drink wine, and find my very own Romeo.
“Who was involved?” my father asks Ty.
Ty hisses in pain and grabs Valentina’s wrist, stilling her hand as she applies some salve to the cut on his lip. He turns away from her. “The usual suspects. Theo. Mac. Some of the other cousins. Damien West.”
My father scoffs. “Damien isn’t even a Latsis. The poor boy is brainwashed.”
Valentina looks sideways at me. Her situation isn’t that different. She isn’t a Jordan but might as well be. Even though she’s younger than me, she and I became quick friends a couple years ago when she was touring Europe on her brother-in-law’s dime. She was supposed to be in Germany with his family but ended up staying with me in Italy for over a month. I showed her the sights and she showed me how to let loose and have fun. I’d had a very strict upbringing, growing up overseas in boarding schools across Europe, and went straight to work after graduating from Bologna Business School, running the European office of Jordan Marine for the last five years. Even at almost thirty years old, fun hadn’t been in my vocabulary before Valentina showed up.
Now that my dad is sick, I’m back in the States to take over the company. The circumstances are terrible, and the feud with the Latsis family is worse than I ever knew, but being back with my friend is the silver lining.
Ty is still fuming. “If I’d had my gun, things would have turned out differently.”
“I have no doubt. Your blood runs true,” my father says. It still surprises me that he’s encouraging it to this extreme. “You will avenge the family.”
“I can do it tonight,” Ty declares, ready to prove himself with violence and even more blood.
My mother’s hands flutter in front of her face. “But the masquerade.”
I remember the masquerade ball my parents hosted from when I lived here as a young child. It was smaller then, held at the house with the guests mingling between the dining room and the backyard. I would spy on the partygoers from the landing on the stairs, admiring all the handsome men and women in their beautiful costumes. In the last couple of years, it’s grown, and they now host it at the Oakwood Club downtown, a place where the wealthiest business moguls of Oakwood City go to let loose. I can’t even imagine how much money my parents spend to hold it there, but my mother is right—it’s just one night. She looks forward to it all year.
I put a hand on Ty’s shoulder, and he flinches. His injuries must be worse than he lets on. “Not tonight, cugino.”
He looks up at me, his eyes blazing. “We cannot—”
But I squeeze his shoulder, interrupting his words as he hisses in pain. “We can, and we will.” It’s not surprising that Ty would challenge me. He’s been my father’s right-hand man while I’ve been overseas. I turn to my mother. “Tonight, there will be peace.”
“And dancing,” Valentina chimes in, her dark eyes bright.
“Fine, fine. And drinks,” my father adds, relaxing back into his chair, steepling his hands.
I narrow my eyes on him. “Water for you.”
Ty can tell the conversation is turning against him so he stands and stalks out of the room while my father debates with my mother over how much wine he can have. Valentina and I also leave but turn left, following the winding halls to my bedroom. The room is pink and frilly, much more suited to my pre-teen self, but it’s only a temporary arrangement. Once things settle down, I’ll find my own place, maybe something on the water. I do miss the views from my hilltop villa in Italy of the sparkling blue ocean below. My room here at least has a balcony overlooking the pool and the garden. On warm days, the sweet, bold smell of the gardenias drifts through the open doors.
Valentina drops the large bag she’s carrying and collapses back on the bed. “What a nightmare,” she moans.
I sit at my vanity and begin to brush out my hair. “Is it always like this?”
“It’s definitely gotten worse lately.” She pushes up onto her elbows. “But never mind that. Guess who’s coming tonight.”
I cut my eyes at her. “I don’t hardly know anyone. It would be pointless for me to guess.”
“Fine.” She stands and starts digging through the bag she brought. “Philip Pemberton.”
“Pemberton?” The name rings a bell. “The governor?”
“His son.” She sits again, clutching a pair of wings that must be for her costume. “He’s so dreamy.”
“I thought you were into Ty,” I remind her.
She rolls onto her stomach and grins at me. “Not for me, for you! It was your mother’s idea.”