Page 17 of Unmasking My Dark Knight

“You’re freaking kidding me!” Rice flew out of her mouth.

“Jealous?” I asked, giving her shit. When Gustav texted me shortly after we spoke on the phone, he invited me to stay with him and the wedding party for the remainder of his trip. Everyone had their own room, all expenses paid, and there was no way I was passing that up. No offense to Rachel, but my own room and bathroom sounded nice.

And it meant I got to see Ivy Jade more.

“Damn, I knew the Castellanos had money, but chateau money?” she said, amazed.

“Oh. They’re super loaded. To the point where it feels unethical.”

“Rich people…” she murmured, cocking her head. “Gustav always had his head on his shoulders, but I remember that snotty little sister of his. Ivy?”

“Ivy Jade,” I corrected. “She has a middle name.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “I wonder if she’s still a brat? That girl was spoiled beyond repair.”

“I wouldn’t say beyond repair.” I stared at the book. “She’s a fan of ‘Unmasking My Bright Knight,’ so she has good taste,” I offered, giving her a shrug.

Rachel looked at me like I had confessed to murder.

“How do you know that about her?” she asked.

I poked around my noodles, trying to navigate my explanation. “I may have, sorta, run her off into a ditch tonight at the Scare Park.”

“May have?” Rachel asked, suspicious.

“I, one hundred percent, ran her into a ditch. Okay? I scared her and got her knee scraped up,” I was quick to explain.

“Romeo!” she gawked.

“It’s okay! I took care of her. She was actually very sweet… after she chewed me out.”

“Ivy is not sweet…” Rachel said curtly.

“Ivy Jade,” I corrected.

“Whatever. I know where this is headed, and I can already see all the red flags waving in the air. You have that look on your face.”

“I do not have a look.”

Rachel grabbed a pillow and threw it at me. “Ro, you look more like a clown now than you do with your makeup. You’re smiling like an idiot.”

“At least I’d be a happy idiot if that were true.” I shrugged, not letting her get into my head. But I knew where Rachel was coming from. I was a man who could easily become attached, fixated even. And one small tipping point could lead to big consequences. Like losing a job, so to speak. Or ending a five-year relationship.

“Don’t go chasing another rich girl, Ro,” Rachel answered under her breath like she didn’t want the conflict. “We all know what happened the last time.”

“I’m not chasing anyone… I’m just going to a wedding for an old best friend. I can do that, you know?”

Rachel got quiet. She seemed to be deep in thought, giving me a side-eye, thinking I wouldn’t notice. “I’m just saying. You have lots of options now. Your little clown persona is, like, social-media famous. I keep seeing your picture pop up on socials all the time now. It’s really… something.”

“Those girls just like the fantasy of some menacing character. They don’t even know me.” I ignored the fact that being at the Scare Park was a little bit of a surreal reality shift. People liked High Jynx. They saw something in him that maybe I didn’t naturally have in my everyday life. What that was exactly, I wasn’t sure yet.

But Ivy Jade was different. She already knew me as Romeo, and admittedly, from how we used to interact as teenagers, she was always the snippy, little firecracker who had it out for me. I guess it was just surprising to be so close to her tonight without her biting my head off. She was forced into a situation where she was able to treat me as someone other than her brother’s best friend, and that small difference—though still feisty—was wildly intriguing.

This was crazy.

I was acting insane…

This was Gustav’s little sister. Granted, she was probably about thirty now, but she was still his sister. And all that history between us could never be erased, especially whatever shit she hated me for. I wondered what her reaction would be when I saw her the next day, when I joined the party at the chateau. Would she still shoot daggers at me? Ignore me? Pretend I didn’t exist?