Queen of the Moretti Empire

Elisa

“If Amy pokes me with that mascara wand one more time, I’m filing assault charges.”

“Oh, shut up,” Amy laughed, grabbing my chin before I could move. “I’m trying to make you look presentable.”

“I always look presentable.”

Nicol snorted so loudly she almost spilled her mimosa.

“You literally came in here wearing fuzzy pink slippers.”

“They’re comfortable.”

“They’re ugly.”

“They’re iconic.”

“They’re going in the trash,” Amy muttered.

I gasped dramatically, placing a hand over my heart.

“I thought we were friends.”

“We are,” Nicol answered. “Friends tell each other when they’re about to commit a fashion crime.”

I rolled my eyes, making Amy sigh in frustration.

“Can you stop moving for five seconds?”

“No.”

“Elisa.”

“No.”

She pinched my arm.

“Ow!”

“See? Now you’re staying still.”

I glared at her through the mirror while she continued curling my lashes.

The bridal suite buzzed with voices, laughter, makeup artists, photographers, and enough hairspray to choke a horse. Somewhere outside, music drifted through the open balcony doors. The wedding guests had already begun arriving.

My brother, Andy, was finally getting married.

I wished I could say I was thrilled.

Instead…

I was trying very hard not to remember who he was marrying.

Vanessa.

Just thinking her name made me sigh.

She wasn’t horrible.

Well…

Maybe she was.

She wasn’t cruel or manipulative. She was just… fake.

Everything about her felt rehearsed.

Perfect smile.

Perfect manners.

Perfect family.

Perfect social media pictures.

Nothing about her ever felt real.

Andy looked at her like she hung the moon, though, and I loved my brother too much to ruin today by telling him exactly what I thought.

Again.

“You’ve got that face,” Nicol said.

“What face?”

“The one that says you’re mentally planning a murder.”

“I don’t murder people.”

“You’ve definitely imagined pushing Vanessa into the wedding cake.”

“…Maybe once.”

Amy burst out laughing.

“Once?”

“Fine.”

I crossed my arms.

“Twice.”

Nicol nearly fell off her chair laughing.

“I knew it!”

“I never said I’d actually do it.”

“But you thought about it.”

“I also think about winning the lottery.”

Amy shook her head.

“You are impossible.”

“So I’ve been told.”

The door opened without warning.

Andy stepped inside wearing his tuxedo.

For a second, I forgot about Vanessa.

Forgot about today.

Forgot about everything.

My annoying big brother suddenly looked…

Older.

Not old.

Just… like a man starting a new chapter.

His eyes softened when he saw me.

“There she is.”

I smiled.

“There you are.”

He walked over, wrapping me in a careful hug so neither of us destroyed my hair or his jacket.

“You look beautiful, Ellie.”

“You have to say that. You’re my brother.”

“No.”

He smiled.

“I don’t.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder for a second.

“I still think you’re making a mistake.”

He laughed quietly.

“I know.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

“I don’t trust her.”

He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes.

“I love her.”

There it was.

The answer he’d given me every single time we’d had this conversation.

Love.

Such a simple word.

Powerful enough to make intelligent people ignore every warning sign.

I sighed.

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am.”

“You’d better be.”

He kissed my forehead.

“I’ll always have you.”

“You better.”

“Even when you’re eighty and yelling at neighborhood kids?”

“I’ll yell at everyone equally.”

He laughed.

“I believe that.”

A knock interrupted us.

“Five minutes!” someone called from outside.

Andy squeezed my shoulder.

“I have to go.”

I nodded.

“I’ll see you out there.”

He smiled one last time before disappearing down the hallway.

The room felt strangely quiet after he left.

Amy looked at me through the mirror.

“You okay?”

“No.”

“You still think she’s wrong for him?”

“I think she loves the life he can give her.”

Neither of them answered.

That silence told me enough.

They’d wondered the same thing.

I stood from the chair, smoothing my emerald-green satin dress over my hips.

It hugged every curve before flowing to the floor, leaving one leg exposed through a high slit. Nicol had insisted on the color because it made my eyes look brighter.

She wasn’t wrong.

My red curls fell in soft waves over my shoulders, and for once, Amy had managed to tame them without threatening to shave my head.

“I clean up nicely,” I admitted.

Nicol looked me up and down dramatically.

“You’re offensive.”

“What?”

“No one should legally be allowed to look that good.”

I grinned.

“Jealous?”

“A little.”

Amy grabbed her purse.

“Come on before the bride starts screaming.”

We walked out together, laughing our way down the hallway.

The closer we got to the ceremony, the louder the voices became.

Businessmen.

Politicians.

Wealthy families.

People with expensive smiles and even more expensive secrets.

Growing up around this world had taught me one thing.

Money wasn’t power.

Fear was.

Some of the men attending today smiled while ordering murders before breakfast.

Others donated millions to charity every year.

Sometimes…

They were the same people.

I hated that I’d learned to tell the difference.

As we reached the entrance to the grand ballroom, Nicol nudged me.

“I heard some important guests are coming.”

“When are they not?”

“No.”

She lowered her voice.

“I mean really important.”

I frowned.

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

Amy shrugged.

“Probably another politician.”

“Or some billionaire.”

I rolled my eyes.

“As long as nobody expects me to flirt with anyone.”

Nicol smirked.

“Oh?”

“I’m serious.”

“You’ve been single for almost two years.”

“And?”

“And maybe today’s the day your future husband walks through those doors.”

I laughed so hard I almost tripped over my heels.

“If my future husband is here today, I feel sorry for him.”

Neither of us knew…

That somewhere outside, a convoy of black SUVs had just rolled through the gates.

And inside the first vehicle sat a man whose arrival would change my life forever.