The Art of Hating You

The Marchettis and the Notts have known each other for generations.

Their names belong to the same circles, their families share the same old traditions, and their fortunes have been passed down through bloodlines that have long since stopped remembering where one ends and the other begins. They were raised in a world where family comes first, loyalty is expected, and certain things are simply understood without ever being spoken aloud.

Alessandra Marchetti has never had much trouble understanding the rules.

She knows what her family expects of her. She knows what their name demands, and she knows there are things she could never forgive herself for doing.

Theodore Nott has grown up with the same understanding.

Unfortunately, he has also spent most of his life being the one person Alessandra cannot stand.

Their families have always been close. Alessandra and Theodore have never been. Years of shared dinners, childhood encounters, and carefully concealed insults have given them more than enough reasons to dislike each other. He knows how to provoke her. She knows exactly how to get a reaction from him. Neither has ever been particularly interested in making peace.

Until something begins to shift between them.

Quietly, almost imperceptibly, the hatred becomes harder to separate from something else. Something neither of them is willing to name, let alone admit.

Because wanting Theodore Nott is one thing.

Wanting him when you know exactly who his family is, exactly who yours is, and exactly what it could cost them both is something else entirely.

Some things are better left untouched.

They were never very good at leaving each other alone.