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will be many consequences for any of you who break these rules tonight,” she warned before leaving the room behind the other grandmothers.
    When she left, I put my dress on, an idea formulating in my mind. No way in hell was I going to let this go on for any longer than it had to. I would bargain with Kerstan; let me take Minikin away from this place and his little, shitty secret would be safe with me. If he didn’t I would expose him to his wife and watch the fire burn.
    Dusk fell quickly and the girls and I were led to the dining room again. We were all seated like proper little things when Kerstan entered to room with an extremely elegant woman on his arm. To say she was beautiful would be an understatement; to say she was a goddess would be almost perfect.
    “Dames, this is my Xandra Janssen, my wife,” Kerstan said to us.
    I was too busy staring at her to care what her name was. She was almost as tall as Margit was and had dark red curls that fell to her back. Her lips were painted dark red to match her hair and her big brown eyes were kind and unassuming. I would compare her skin to ivory; smooth, flawless, and impossibly pale. She was dressed as extraordinarily as Kerstan was and they looked more like they were going to a ball than to have dinner with us.
    All of the other girls brightly greeted her, but I sat back in my chair and folded my arms over my chest. Xandra didn’t notice my lack of manners, but Kerstan did and his gaze turned to stone when it settled on me.
    “I’m Lieve,” I said getting to my feet and extending a hand.
    “Hello Lieve!” she replied in a bright voice, shaking my hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you!”
    “Same,” I grinned. “Please, have a seat. I would love to get to know you.”
    She smiled widely at Kerstan as she took the seat beside him, which just so happened to be the one that was almost directly across from me. I had planned it perfectly because I wanted him to hear my words. Much like what Minikin believed, I wanted Xandra to believe that I had a hand in this because then it would make sense as to why I had slept with her husband the night before.
    The grandmothers entered the room and poured glasses of wine for everyone. Xandra held Kerstan’s left hand and chatted animatedly in Dutch. Since she gestured around the table a few times, I assumed she was impressed with everything he had done.
    “You know, I’ve never seen you here before,” I said interrupting their conversation.
    “Oh! I visit the school once a year but stay in Utrecht while Kerstan travels between both places,” she said pleasantly.
    I nodded and raised the glass of wine to my lips to hide my smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the sweat starting to appear on Kerstan’s brow. It was obvious to him what I was going to do and I knew that if I didn’t do this right, I’d probably wind up dead.
    “Do you like this school?” she asked, leaning back in her chair and sipping her wine.
    “This is definitely not like any other ‘school’ I’ve attended. Doesn’t take much to get on the Dean’s List, does it Kerstan?” I asked, glancing at him.
    “Lieve, may I have private words with you?” he asked suddenly.
    I nodded and pushed my chair back, while he kissed his wife’s hand before getting to his feet and leading me out of the dining room.
    “Banished to the hallway again?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips after he closed the door behind us.
    In the blink of an eye, a vicious slap turned my face. Instinct told me to slap him back, which I did.
    “You little bitch,” he growled, grabbing me by the hair and slamming me against the wall. The smack of the back of my head against the hard wooden wall blinded me momentarily. But the sudden engulfment of his lips smashing against mine excited me.
    I don’t know why. I’ll never know why, but Kerstan’s touch did something to me that I couldn’t find a way to control. I gripped his sides and pulled him harder against me,