"I was wondering what kind of girl could have botched up a rescue attempt so badly. Now that I know it was you all along, everything makes sense."
"Go away."
Rome runs his nose down the side of my face, smiling at the way I shiver. "After all thes...
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PEOPLE KEEP WATCHING US.
Flashes of light and fake camera shutters sound from outside. Through the glass walls, people shout out names that I can't make out. Madame Abernathy shouts for a couple servants to confiscate all smartphones from the partygoers.
A servant with big blue eyes and an ever bigger nose offers me coat. I take it, opening my mouth to say thanks, but he's scuttles away before my words can even ring out. I pull the mauve-colored coat over me. It's surprisingly light.
We cross the lobby and step out through the front steps, marble and white. Even from over here, I can hear the crowd in the backyard. Some of them press against the fence in order to get a better look at us.
All this just because I mated with Rome.
"Honestly," Madame Abernathy frowns at the crowd. "Our security is disappointing all around, it seems. Jill, go out in the backyard and try to get the situation under control."
"Yes, ma'am."
Madame Abernathy shakes her head at me. "I have no clue where Rome ran off to, Winifred. But wait here, I'm sure the car will roll up any minute now."
"Thank you, ma'am."
The last word slips out of my mouth before I notice. Madame Abernathy frowns, but doesn't comment on it. Instead, she nods to her servants and they go inside. I watch them go.
I sit down on one of the steps to wait for the car.
At this rate, I'm definitely not going to reach my apartment in time. Let's just hope my landlord hasn't evicted me yet. Just the thought of having to deal with him threatens to give me a head. I rest my chin on my knees.
I'm still so tired.
A clear voice, tinted with the classic Abernathy accent, comes from above me. "They act as if they have never seen a mated couple before in their lives."
"Come now, sister. This isn't just a simple mated couple. It's the mated couple," The second speaker's words are laced in sarcasm. "What did they call Rome's mate on the media? Oh yes, this is the lost Abernathy princess."
"She made quite an entrance, I hear."
"It was. If only all our mates were that entertaining."
I crane my neck to look at the speakers. At one of the balconies, all of the Abernathy siblings (sans Elliot, of course) have gathered to watch the party. Even now, they look like a painting with their jewel-colored outfits, silver-gold hair and matching smirks.
"What did you say her name was, Ava?" Says the woman who originally spoke.
"Winifred Hart," Ava says, her tone distant and cool. "She went to high school with us."
