Mad Love (Slateview High 3)

“I could deal with this right now, in the manner most befitting an attempt on their lives,” Nathaniel went on, his finger tightening almost imperceptibly on the trigger. “An eye for an eye.”

My breath caught in my throat, and my heart felt like it was pumping so hard it might explode. A small trickle of sweat worked its way down Dad’s face, glinting in the lamp light.

“But…” The crime lord uncurled his finger, cocking his head to the side slightly. “…perhaps there are better solutions to be found. You did all this because you want your daughter to be married so badly?”

It seemed to take Dad a moment to find his voice, and when he did, it was rough and scratchy. “Yes. The marriage will ensure security for both her and her family.”

Nathaniel considered that for a moment, his head swiveling left and right as he took in all of us lined up alongside him. Then he turned back to my father and nodded.

“Alright. She’ll get married.”

Twenty-Two

It felt like the floor had dropped out from under me.

Like I was free falling through space.

Like I would fall and fall forever.

The world tilted in my periphery as I fought to keep my legs under me, turning to stare at Nathaniel with wide eyes and my mouth hanging half open.

What?

What the actual fuck?

On the drive over here, my overactive brain had gone through dozens of worst-case scenarios, up to and including the one where gunfire erupted and we all died.

But I had never imagined this.

After everything, after all that had happened, Nathaniel was going to let my dad go through with his plan? What, would he agree to let Dad marry me off to Barrett in exchange for a promise to never attack the Lost Boys again?

Before I could react or say anything, Nathaniel turned to Claudio. “A marriage connection to the Van Rensselaer family could be very beneficial. You asked what our partnership would be worth. I can offer you this.”

Claudio blinked, looking startled. “Marriage? I have no interest in marrying—”

“Not you.” Nathaniel shook his head, then shifted his gaze to Misael before looking back at Claudio. “Your son.”

My father made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a squawk. “What? I just told you I have no interest in letting her associate with trash like him! I will not—”

He didn’t get the finish his tirade. Claudio was across the room in three long strides, grabbing Dad by the thick, shiny hair he was so proud of and jamming the barrel of the gun under his chin.

“Call my son trash one more time.”

Claudio’s voice vibrated with fury, and a spark of something warm flashed in my chest. His response to defend his son had been instantaneous, and unlike Nathaniel, he wasn’t playing it cool and collected. It occurred to me that I should be more terrified that this man would shoot my father, and I searched inside my heart for the feelings I knew I should have, but I couldn’t find them.

Maybe the accumulated weight of everything I’d been through tonight was muffling my emotions, making it hard to process them. Too much had happened too fast for my brain to keep up with it all.

I had killed a man tonight.

I had let a group of dangerous criminals into my house to threaten my father.

I had been offered up in marriage to one of them.

That last thought stuck in the front of my mind, and even as I watched my father’s eyes go wide with fear, I repeated it over and over in my head.

Married.

Married.