Page 77 of Unmasking My Dark Knight

“You’re joking,” I said, not mean, but suspicious. “You always do this. You say something serious, but it’s just some sarcastic prank.”

“I’m not joking.” He furrowed his brow. “I didn't want to admit it… I know how important things like this are to you.”

My chest tightened. “They are important, but I don’t understand⁠—”

“You have to accept that this,” he gestured between us, “is just a fantasy,” Ro said sternly, like his own heart was being crushed. “Here at the chateau, with the butlers and gardens… that’s your world. It’s not mine. I’m only a guest in it.”

“You're not a guest! You’re part of our family!” I scolded him, frustrated by the tidal wave of information he had just dumped on me. Why did he hide this? Why did it take him so long to tell me? And what did it mean for our future now that he did? Ro slowly pulled his hand away, but I stole it back. “No. This can’t be it. We can figure this out…” I searched for the right answer in his cold eyes.

“If you leave with me, all that’s waiting for you is a one-bedroom apartment with little to no privacy… and I know my situation isn’t forever, but I also know it will never be this!” He looked around, waving at the gold-tasseled curtains and chandeliers, the textured wallpaper, and the grand canopy bed. “I can’t give you all of this, Ivy Jade. All I have is me…”

But you’re enough—I wanted to say.

Romeo was enough.

High Jynx was enough.

All these men were enough in their own way, and the only person who wasn't enough… was me.

I wasn’t enough.

My indecisiveness. My fears. They were all curses that chipped away at my ability to tell Romeo that all I needed was him.

I was frozen. I couldn’t do it.

“I don’t understand…” I mumbled. “If you don’t have your old job, then what do you do?”

“That’s what I need to tell you⁠—”

“Ivy Jade! Dónde estás?” Mami shouted from down the hall; her voice carried through the door.

Ro looked down at his watch, his knee bobbing up and down.

“I have to go…” he said sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”

“We’re not done yet,” I said, shaking my head. Outside his window, the sun was setting. I had to leave for the Scare Park. I needed to find the rings and talk to High Jynx.

“Goodbye, Ivy Jade…” Ro said as I stood up. He gave me one last look, that smirk I loved, but without the light in his eyes.

Damn it.

“Ivy Jade!” Mami yelled, just a bit closer.

I cursed as I left Ro alone in his room, closing his door. I hurried down the hall, groaning as Mami waited for me by the staircase. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips like some authoritarian statue. “There you are! Where did you go?”

“I was talking to Ro,” I said quickly, passing her to go the other direction.

She gawked. “Where are you going? The rehearsal dinner is starting soon,” Mami called out, following me on a mission. Not this again.

“I have to just run a quick errand; I’ll be right back,” I tried to reassure her, but her face wasn’t buying it.

“Where have you been going every night this week? You’ve been missing all the activities, mija. And now, you are skipping your date with Antonio?” Mami scolded.

I sighed. “This has nothing to do with Antonio. I’ll be back in like an hour. I’ll see him then.”

“What about Tallulah? Do she and your brother know you’re leaving again?” she pressed on.

Had she been watching me? How else would she know I’d been leaving? God, this woman was driving me nuts, monitoring everything I did under a microscope! “If she asks, just tell her I’ll be right back! It’s no big deal. I swear to you.”