The limo pulled up to her apartment and she jumped out before anyone opened her door. All she could think about was a good night kiss. Lucio rolled down his window and winked at her. "Good night."

"Night." He’d charmed her in the restaurant and her lips tingled as if he’d actually kissed her. She unlocked the door on the street and raced up the steps to her flat. Once inside, she locked her apartment door and leaned against it while she took a deep breath.

Of course, Lucio hadn't followed her. The idea of a medieval wedding where she was the prized maiden was ridiculous. She imagined her parents signing contracts with her as the main offering. This wasn't the 14th century anymore. If they tried to force her, then she'd hop on a plane and take off to some remote corner of the planet.

How far had her parents gone in their quest to secure her marriage to Lucio? Her sister remained the apple of their eyes. She picked up the phone, dialed, and listened to the ring until she reached voice mail. Great. She sighed, listened to her mother's instructions and heard the beep. "Mom. Dad. Are you up? I don't know where you two are, but I'm looking for you. I met with Lucio Aussa and he wants to marry me and said it was your idea. Call me back."

She clicked off her phone. So much for immediate answers. She sank down on her couch. Her parents probably didn’t view what they’d done as medieval. They were always about business. If they played hardball with her, everything she thought she’d achieved on her own might disappear in a blink of an eye. Her career as political analyst was rewarding but there were a lot of qualified people with her degree to take her job at Whitehall and Fisk.

With her knees to her stomach, she curled tight and wished none of this had happened. Then she let her legs go, stood and took a deep breath. She would be strong and make her opinion completely clear—no feeling sorry for herself.

The ring of her phone broke the silence. Hoping it was her parents, she reached for it and answered without checking the screen. "Hello?"

"So, have you seen Lucio yet, sis?"

Amy jerked the phone away from her ear, like that might help her escape her sister's wrath.

"Yes, we had dinner tonight."

"He's as good looking as ever," Evie said. "He came to see me yesterday and if I wasn't already engaged, I'd have been all over him. Where did you go?"

Amy's insides quivered but she brought the phone back to her ear. "Alain Ducasse."

Evie's voice grew hard. "Sure beats the school cafeteria. His family wants him to marry you, and our parents agree. I guess my years of working on them paid off for you."

Their parents hadn’t been the reason Evie lost Lucio. Since the incident, Evie spent her life working to ensure no one disagreed with her ever, which didn’t make for a pleasant family dynamic. Amy refused to acknowledge the butterflies in her stomach. "So he told you his plan?" Before even asking me!

Evie's voice had more of an edge when she said, "Lucio looked me right in the eyes, said that I was nothing more than a memory to him, and that he intended to meet you today."

"Evie, I didn't know he was coming, going to see you or anything else." Amy prayed her sister didn't go on a warpath. The last thing she needed was her sister's decision to throw away everything she had with the duke for another shot with Lucio. "Michael loves you. That has to count for something."

Evie huffed and let out a long sigh. "I thought Lucio used to love me, but he was so... cold."

The man Amy had sat across from at dinner tonight hadn’t been cold, but he hadn’t exactly been warm either. They’d talked about political leanings of Italy and England's removal from the European Union, though neither of them expressed much of an opinion other than sharing knowledge.

The conversation could have been with any of her clients—polite and neutral—though Lucio's sexy full lips and dark eyes made her think of things besides politics. She hugged her sofa pillow to her stomach. "Evie..."

"My wedding to Michael will be the wedding of the century," Evie declared. "I called to let you know that it is okay with me if you marry Lucio. I felt nothing for him when he took my hand."

Amy bowed her head. "I haven’t decided."

"You will marry him, sis, and I'm going to give the best maid-of-honor speech." Her declarative tone deepened. "He shouldn't get to treat people like us..."

"Calm down." If her sister intended to use her own wedding as a vindictive strike, then there was no way Amy would go through with it. And why was a part of her considering the idea? Because she’d never gotten over her crush? Amy sighed. "Look, you and he were high school, but he was yours."

"Now he's your fiancé." Evie spoke with an undercurrent of resentment, like all those times her mother had said "good job" to Amy's grades, and made Evie say the same.

The harrumph sound her sister made brought her back to the conversation. She punched the pillow into shape. "I haven't said yes."

"We both know you will." Her sister's voice cracked with emotion. "Go for it. My wedding to Michael will be full of people who love me. Yours will be full of strangers."

Without another word, she hung up the phone. Amy heard the click but said, "Wait, Evie!"

The silence in return was enough. Amy hung her head and disconnected. Why did her sister have to make her feel as if she would always be second to perfect Evie?

Lucio was handsome but Amy had always figured it would be better to marry a nerdy, average-looking man than someone out-of-this-world gorgeous. The word physics rang in her ear but she shook it out—Lucio was smart, too, and could carry on an interesting conversation. Her skin still burned from Evie's judgment.

As her parents didn't call, she asked for advice from her American neighbor, Suzie. She texted, 'My parents set me up.'

'With a guy or a job?'

'A man they want me to marry.'

'How awful was their choice? Ugly? Fat? Missing teeth?'

'None. He's gorgeous and I had a huge crush on him in high school, but he never noticed me. Now he thinks we're getting married.'

'Married? So he assumes too much too fast.'

'My parents told him to marry me. It's for a contract.'

'So he marries you and gets a contract with your parents?'

'No my parents get a contract to build in his land.'

'Land. So he's rich and handsome?'

'Yeah.'

'I expect an invite to the wedding.'

'But my sister is in love with him.'

'All the more reason to marry this rich and handsome man. Your sister doesn't have to get everything.'

Amy scrolled up the screen and realized she hadn't said no, that she implied that she’d marry this man.

Why couldn't she even be firm with her friends?

Her spine stiffened as she imagined Evie pea green with envy at Amy and Lucio’s wedding—then she shook the image off. She wouldn’t get married to spite her sister.

Back in high school, she told her mom that Evie interfered with her crush, but their mother insisted Evie was just being smart and marrying a prince was a good thing. No one had cared if Amy was miserable when Evie made her take all those romantic pictures of her and Lucio.

Her parents knew she went to her room and cried for hours, but no one said a word to Evie, ever. And who was it that sat at their mom’s bedside in the hospital? Amy. Her mother only perked up when Evie came over.

If she married Lucio, she’d have everything except love that probably didn’t exist for her. The plus was a chance to be next to a man she’d always wanted that her sister once stole.

She drank a glass of wine and sat on her couch. If she married Lucio, her sister would be a duchess but she’d be a princess.

It wasn’t a bad trade off and for once in her life, her rank might be higher than perfect Evie’s.

She shouldn’t make a decision thinking like this. She wasn’t this petty, but she picked up her phone, dialed Lucio and waited. The second the phone clicked and he answered, she said, "Pick me up in the morning. I'll marry you."

"If we leave tonight, we can be home faster."

His deep voice sent awareness through her even over the phone. Tonight would be too soon. She shook her head. "I need to pack and go through a few things. Tomorrow at 8 in the morning, I'll be ready to be your princess."

"I'll be at your door." He answered. "And Amy..."

She held her breath. Starting tomorrow, she'd have to learn to live with Lucio and to be his wife. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad. Until I met you in person, I was holding back committing myself."

So something about her made an impression. Her heart began to race and she rested her hand on her chest. "What made you change your mind?"

"Your inner beauty, your grace. You'll make an excellent princess who can help the people of Avce."

Grace wasn't something anyone had ever used to describe her before and the word felt strange against her skin. She agreed to this marriage because her sister hated the idea and her parents would never leave her alone if she didn’t.

Goodness, she’d have to find something kind to do to make up for this decision.

He spoke to someone in his language that was similar to Italian, and then said to her, "I will see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye." She sat on her couch and sucked in her lips the second she hung up the phone. What had she done? Tomorrow she'd let her parents and the world know that she’d be transformed into a princess. Tonight, she'd run around her flat in her underwear and pack the small trinkets that mattered to her.

Her recent assignment gave her insight into the weakness in Avce's political structure so she could set out to make first-hand changes.

Determined, she rose from the couch and went to her bedroom to find her suitcase. Starting with her jewelry box, she went through what was important. The gold was coming, but she stopped at a pendant. Her sister had the other half of the locket that read, "BE SIS" combined, they read "BEST SISTER." Amy sank to the bed and hugged the pendant to her chest. This hadn't been true in years and wasn't now.

Evie was vindictive. Amy knew better than anyone that her sister was going to find a way to prove that marrying Lucio was a mistake. Perhaps it was, but as Amy held onto the pendant, she also flashed to a memory where Evie told her "Lucio is like all guys. No one is interested in your skinny butt. Go, read, because no one will love you, ever." Amy let the pendant go. She'd not take it with her.

Hopefully her parents would make sure that Evie stayed far away from Amy and her new life. She picked up her phone, took a second to be calm and collected for when she told her parents, and finally, sent the text, 'Packing to marry Lucio. It's your job to ensure Evie stays in Scotland with Michael. I won't go through with this if she shows up to ruin everything.'

Her mother texted back immediately. "Your father and I will handle your sister. You're going to be a beautiful bride. Don't be jealous of her because we found you the perfect prince who needs your expertise."

If only that was true. She finished with her jewelry and moved to her photo cabinet. Most people kept their photos digitally, but Amy loved making a quarterly report on her life in photos that she could hold. She picked up the last book and saw a photo of her and Suzie drinking at the local bar. Their genuine smiles as they held up their beers in the small local tavern had been a great night where they’d laughed for hours. The picture was a keeper and she slipped a few of the albums in the bag.

Her sister Evie hadn't been in a picture in years, and it needed to stay that way for all their sakes.

The night sky outside her window was dark and foggy. She slipped into her bed, knowing this was now the end and a new beginning.