The Harbor That Wrecked Me
The night before our engagement party, at Khalid's private club, the game of Truth or Dare took a ruinous turn. Khalid's "blood sister," Carmela, lost. Her penalty was to show off her newest tattoo.
Smiling, she undid the cuff of her shirt and slid her arm into the lamplight on the table. There it was: a ferocious lion—the emblem of the De Luca family. Its gaping, bloody maw perfectly covered the same constellation pattern Khalid had once tattooed on me with his own hands.
The room went dead silent.
I stared at Khalid's face, now drained of all color. Carmela, however, was unfazed. She just clapped him on the shoulder.
"Well, well. Looks like the cat's out of the bag. Don't get your panties in a twist, Sera. It's just a joke. I was curious what the De Luca family lion looked like, so I dared Khalid to get the family tattoo with me."
She leaned in, her eyes fixed on me, as if I were the punchline. "You'll still have your engagement party tomorrow. Your necklace, your ceremony. I just borrowed your fiancé's skin for a little show of loyalty. You aren't going to get jealous over his so-called brother, are you?"
Khalid shot to his feet, trying to pull me into his arms. "Sera, baby, listen to me. You're the only one for me, I swear. This is… this is just business."
He fumbled for a velvet box and dropped to one knee. Inside sat his mother's heirloom necklace. "I'll get it removed first thing in the morning, I swear. It won't affect our engagement. The invitations have been sent. Don't cause a scene in front of my men. Please. Once we're engaged, everything I have will be yours. Just... say yes."
I laughed. A hollow, bitter sound.
He had no idea. No fucking clue what a family tattoo meant in our world.
I ignored the necklace. Instead, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Don Travati's consigliere, requesting the engagement be canceled.