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“Edwin.”
My insides lock up.
“You know I’d never say anything about it unless you wanted me to.”
Besides my children, Sol is the only one who knows Nate is back in New York.
I hesitated to tell anyone about it to begin with, but even a man as hardened as me needs to have someone he can talk to. Someone to have his back no matter what.
Despite the serious way his mouth is curled, he’s still wearing that awful mask, and it suddenly dawns on me we’ve been having this conversation as a goblin and a phoenix.
Laughter bursts out of me. “This is ridiculous.”
“What?”
“Your face!”
Solomon touches his droopy wooden brows. “Oh! That. Ha! Well, let these serve as a good reminder to you. Tonight isn’t real life. It’s a fantasy. That’s what the masquerade is all about, isn’t it?”
He’s right. The masquerade has been a tradition in the Lyons Club from the beginning. Has become the most sought-after event. Because it allows all of these powerfulpeople to be pretty much anyone, an anonymous face in the crowd for one night a year.
“You’re right.” I sigh and pull on the lapels of my jacket.
“So, you’re going to go out there, forget about all the stuff with Nate, and you’re going to live a little, goddammit.”
Fuck it. Tonight, I’m not Edwin. I’m a phoenix, rising from the ashes.
And if tomorrow everything catches fire again, so be it. Because I’m going to make this a night to remember.
2
SONIA
“What do you mean,you’re in New York?!” I yell into the phone, causing a group of guys idling outside the bodega I’m passing to look at me with far more intrigue than I’d like.
Nate sighs. “What else would ‘I’m in New York’ mean, Sonia?”
I don’t have time for this shit.
“Well, I don’t see what that has to do with me,” I grumble, looking down the alley I’m passing as a chill runs up my spine.
This is New York. So much darker than sunny California.
And sure, there are millions of people in this city, but I just got here, and I’m still learning my way around.
Besides, you know what they say, it’s a small world. And the last thing I’d want is to run into my ex-boyfriend when all I want is the chance to start my life over.
“You know why I’m here.”
I take a turn. I should be almost there. “I told you already?—”
“I know! But I’m trying to be?—”
“What?! Romantic? I swear to god, Nathan Lyons, you’ve got another thing coming if you think following a woman who wants nothing to do with you to another state is romantic.”
Nate is quiet for a moment.
“You want nothing to do with me?”
