A few minutes before midnight, Demetri and the rest of the staff made sure a plastic or glass flute filled with the appropriate beverage was in everybody’s hands.

At midnight, Demetri pulled the cords and the balloons and confetti came down. Leo and a few others were smart enough to raise their glass to their lips at exactly midnight to take a sip before pieces of foil drifted into their champagne flutes. Faith had to drink around a shiny bit of red.

Leo took her drink after she’d had a sip and put it on the table along with his, then he pulled her into a kiss she believed with every ounce of her being. It was filled with passion and longing and tenderness. It was the promise of new beginnings. It was penance. It was everything a kiss could ever convey wrapped into one brief moment of mouths pressed together. She wondered if Leo’s kiss spoke any truth, or if he was that accomplished of an actor. Was he thinking of Caprice as he pulled Faith closer? Was that the reason for his intensity?

She wondered if her own desperation and fear were being broadcast. Did he read as many words and meanings into her kiss as she had his? He pulled away and stared at her until she couldn’t take the intensity of his gaze any longer.

“Well, that’s it for this old woman. I am going to bed, and I am sleeping in. Leo, don’t you rush me out the door tomorrow. I’ll leave after I’ve had some good sleep and some good food. And maybe some hair of the dog.” Alba winked and wobbled on her feet.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Grammie,” Leo said, enlisting Demetri to help her to her room. Papi was still up and ready to play a game of cards with some of the men.

When Leo and Faith reached their own room, Faith went to the bathroom to change, still not able to disrobe in front of him, not when he represented so much of a threat. As attracted as she was, even with him leaving to see Caprice most nights, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything that might look like an invitation.

What she’d offered on Christmas night still hung over her. The choice Leo would ask about once the family was gone the next day. And she still didn’t know her answer. Some fucked-up part of her brain wished Caprice could settle for mistress. He could do his scary kinky stuff with her, and he could be sweet and safe with Faith. But whether Leo would go for such an unconventional option, she knew Caprice could never be trusted. She wouldn’t stop until she had everything, even if the price was Faith’s life.

Faith came out of the bathroom in her pajamas and hung the black dress in the closet, wondering if she’d be here to wear it next year.

She glanced down at the cardboard box beside the bed. Squish may have bullied Max, but she loved the new kitten, insisting after the first night on sleeping inside the box snuggled with Snowball. The two were already settled in for the night, contentedly purring.