Page 73 of Unmasking My Dark Knight

“I love my life. So much! It’s incredible. Obviously, look at where we are! The mountains are our backdrop while we live in a gorgeous chateau for the week? It's all an incredible privilege. But it’s never felt like my own. My parents never wanted me to pursue any kind of career, let alone have my own identity that could clash with their own. Looks and reputation are a big deal to them.”

"Mine too. Our name is literally all over a bunch of hospitals. But is that all we are? A reputation?"

"Exactly. Like, what about our happiness? What about pursuing our own interests?" I said, warming up to Antonio.

He looked over at me, curious. "If you have any interest, I'm sure I know about them. But oddly enough, my parents never told me what you do for a living."

"Nothing," I blew my hair out of my face, my wrists deep in the pumpkin. "My Mami thought I’d be much more efficient as a wife in training for the right wealthy man.” I cracked up at that. “It sounds pretty gross saying it out loud, but it’s the truth.”

He laughed. “I get it. I never wanted to be a doctor.”

“No!” I smacked his arm playfully, and some guts may have touched his suit. Shit. Oops. “Sorry!”

He looked at it, picked up a cloth napkin, and cleaned it off easily without complaining. “There, it’s all clean now. My parents immigrated to the States and made a name for themselves. They always told me they were setting me up to have the best life they could provide. I’ll never want for anything, or my siblings and their families. We’re set for life, but I’ve always felt indebted to them. They wanted me to be a doctor. So I did it. Hmmm. If anything, I’d want to marry someone who understands this, which it seems like you do.”

“Oh, I do understand that, more than you know. Our parents share similar backgrounds. Maybe that’s why they thought we’d be good together.”

“You mean it has nothing to do with the obvious business agreement our parents are working out?” He cracked a handsome smile.

He knew the game.

I laughed at that. “I mean, if we get married now, I wonder if they'll offer us stock options on their joint venture."

Antonio really smiled at that. I made a joke, but it was the kind of thing Romeo would've said to ease the tension. Sarcastic and dry. It reminded me of him. I liked that it slipped out of me—a piece of him that I treasured.

“I like you, Ivy Jade,” he said sweetly, discreetly, “which is why I have to tell you… Don’t fall into the same trap I did. You should go after what your heart wants. Don’t get married if it’s for your parents. You only get one life. Do what I couldn't, and make it worthwhile.”

His advice settled over me, and it was ironic—my own potential husband telling me to follow my heart, when really, my heart was supposed to be his to have.

But Antonio was different.

He wasn't just a list of facts and preferences like Mami made him out to be. He was just a guy in a suit, carving pumpkins by my side because his parents told him to.

This wasn't what a relationship was supposed to look like.

Let alone a marriage.

I looked over at Ro. This time, he wasn’t looking at me because he wasn’t sitting down anymore. Did he leave?

Antonio and I continued to converse about life as we carved our pumpkin together and put lots of candles in it. The coordinator said these would be part of Tallulah’s wedding tomorrow. Then my stomach sank—two more days. I had to find her rings. I needed to stop messing around.

“If you see my mami later, can you tell her that we’re going to go to the rehearsal dinner together?” I asked somewhat desperately. I needed her off my case.

“Okay. Just don’t forget what I told you,” Antonio reiterated, letting me sneak away.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew for once in my life that I had to decide for myself. Whether that involved Antonio was left to be seen. But I couldn’t just give up on the alternative, not when it involved two different men: the one in the mask and the one I crushed on since I was just a girl.

CHAPTER 29

Romeo

The fucking audacity of Ivy Jade’s mother.

I would never be disrespectful to someone like Mrs. Castellanos, but I wanted to grab Ivy Jade’s other arm and pull her away from her. She clearly didn’t want to leave my side. And then to sit next to some hot, wealthy dude named Antonio. This was the truth I was fighting to ignore—the other man surrounding this trip that the entire bridal party whispered about.

“They’re going to get married,” Tallulah said, carving her pumpkin next to Gustav. She sounded so empathetic, as if she were watching a car crash unfold in real time. “Ivy Jade’s mother helped set the whole thing up. It’s been years in the making…”

Married? Seriously? Just like that?