“You lost the right to give me orders,” I said, “when you put your hands on me tonight.”

The ballroom went silent.

Chapter 9 — Nineteen Invoices

Lavinia took a step away from him, into the space the silence made.

“I had nothing to do with that,” she said, meaning the shove, meaning the marriage, meaning all of it.

It was interesting to watch how fast she moved to separate herself from him the instant the ground shifted.