Page 79 of Summoned
I double back, slipping into the kitchen to check if no one’s around. The cake mesmerizes me—every ribbon, every delicate flourish, handcrafted by some top pastry chef. The two crowns are perfect. Flawless.
I’ve lost control to Gaetano, but I’ll be damned if I lose control of my social circle.
I reach out and nudge one of the crowns with my fingertip. It wobbles… then collapses, crushing the sugar flowers beneath it and landing on the cake’s base. The second crown falls just as gracefully as the first.
Then I grab the bowl of red sauce sitting to the side and pour it right over the center. The thick, blood-red syrup drips down the white frosting, over the gold shimmer, and over the plastic figures.
Once again, perfect. I never imagined “sweet revenge” could be so literal.
They might think the Little Baroness is done for, but tonight, they won’t receive crowns either.
Every rebellion has to be crushed at its root.
I step back, careful not to let my heels click. At the door, I pivot on my toes, ready to make a clean exit—
And almost crash straight into Gaetano, who’s blocking the doorway.
He glances at the cake behind me, arching an eyebrow. “What has my little vandal created this time?”
My heart sinks to my feet. With all that frosting around and my own distraction, I didn’t notice the shift in the air. “Jesus, Gaetano! You scared the hell out of me.”
He steps forward, but not enough to let me pass. “That’s usually what I do.”
“See…” I run a hand across my forehead.. “I need to get out of here. Right now.”
His lips curve upward. “Because you damaged the birthday girls’ cake?”
I grit my teeth. Of course, he’s going to roast me, slow and steady. I take a breath and try diplomacy. “Gaetano, this isn’t what it—”
The sentence lodges in my throat as familiar voices echo from the hallway, loud enough to compete with the music coming from the garden.
They’re getting closer.
Shit. That’s all I need. As if the twins weren’t already itching for a reason to drag my name through the mud…
I scan the counter, desperate for something—anything—to fix the mess. There’s nothing.Absolutely nothing!
My heart pounds against my ribs. I whirl around, checking the rest of the kitchen. A hiding spot. A quick excuse. Maybe I could say the cake was already ruined when I walked in? Even use Gaetano’s face as inspiration to describe the perpetrator?
Gaetano watches me, head tilted, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
Heat rises to my cheeks. “Is this funny to you?” I hiss.
“Hilarious,” he says a split second before his body dissolves into shadows.
I curl my fingers into fists, digging in my nails. Now, I’m alone. Completely alone—
Two arms grab me from behind. Panic floods my chest. I open my mouth to scream, but a hand smothers the sound. My back slams into a solid chest. Fear prickles across my skin. But then I catch the scent…
“Quiet,” Gaetano whispers in my ear, guiding me into the shadows and tightening his hold until my back is pressed to his chest. A shiver runs through me.
The click of heels on the tile, combined with familiar voices, echoes into the kitchen.
“…because I don’t want anything ruining the night. I have no intention of dealing with drunk idiots.”Misha.
“I told you we shouldn’t have invited them,” Mari? replies, her voice thick with annoyance.
“Ugh… if I didn’t invite all the people Ididn’twant to invite, it’d just be us two.”
