Page 84 of Unmasking My Dark Knight

“No, never. I hoped for it, though. He was always so cute. Oh, and the way that man can make me laugh, I'll never get over it,” Tallulah said with the biggest smile ever.

“Gross,” I teased.

“You don’t count, Ivy Jade,” Jasmine had to say. She loved putting me down whenever she could; it was a good thing I didn’t give two shits about her opinion—let alone one.

“I, for one, am very happy you two found each other. He’s one of the goofiest guys I have ever met. You two somehow fit perfectly,” Hollie said, sipping on a mimosa. We were all on our third at this point.

As much as I wanted to be in this conversation and be happy for Tallulah, I struggled mentally. Not that I showed it, nope. I was all laughs along with them. But the only thing on my mind had been High Jynx—those damn words of his and how he held a mirror to my soul. I stayed up all night thinking about him and Romeo, how each of them pulled me towards the center of their world. What would forever look like without them? Would it eventually look like Tallulah now, smiling in a bridal chair, living her dream come true? Or would it be the opposite?

My happily ever after lost for good?

“Has anyone seen Ro?” I asked.

“Ummm, I saw him in the kitchen earlier,” Hollie offered.

“Thanks!” I said, setting out to talk to him. “I’ll be right back,” I told Tallulah.

“Not so fast this time, Ivy Jade.” Tallulah stopped me. “Since you’re headed that way, maybe I can trust you to give this to your brother in the groom’s suite?”

Damn it, I wasn’t expecting to do something right now. Don’t sigh out loud. Don’t sigh out loud.

She flashed a black envelope with a blackish-red wax seal. It was really pretty, in a Gothic way, and it matched her dress.

“What is it?” I asked. Hollie and Jasmine popped their heads over my shoulder.

“Wouldn’t you three nosy little bitches like to know?” Tallulah said, admiring the envelope, kissing the front of it before handing it back to me. Her red lips were permanently stamped onto it. “Don’t lose this one, Ivy Jade.”

I nodded and made my way over to the kitchen. I practically jogged and ended up running into Antonio instead of Ro.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he said, kissing both my cheeks in greeting.

“Have you seen Ro?” I asked without hesitation. There was no time to lose.

He shook his head. “I don’t know who that is, but I did run into your mother… again. How you put up with that woman, I don’t know. She seems to be under the impression we’re going to be engaged by the end of tonight. Do you know anything about that?”

Although I heard Antonio’s stern words, I looked everywhere but at him. I just wanted to talk to Ro.

“Do you?” he asked once more.

“Do I what?” My attention was on him now.

“Never mind. Look, Ivy Jade, we should really talk about this arrangement… Like, how is this going to work?”

“Totally,” I said, securing the envelope in my hand, desperate to find Romeo. I didn’t catch him walking down the hall last night, and I didn’t even see him leave his room this morning.

At this point, Antonio had been talking for a while, and his mouth just kept moving and moving. It looked dry, like the conversation had sucked up all his spit.

“Do you know what I mean?” he finished, asking a question I wasn’t listening to. “I just think there's some logistics we need to sort out.”

"Yes. Logistics!" I nodded. “Got it!” I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "We’ll get it figured out! Now, go talk to Mami,” I said, distracted, running away.

“Oh, god... I can’t do that again!” he hollered, snapping his fingers to pull me back into this conversation. “Where are you going? I think we should talk now, Ivy Jade!"

“Later! I swear!” I said from across the room. I wished him well and sprinted to the other side of the chateau to give this envelope to my brother.

When I made it to the groom’s suite, I pushed through the large twenty-foot doors. All the groomsmen seemed to be there, but I still didn’t see Ro anywhere.

A few of the men whistled when I came in, including Vann. “Get a grip!” I scolded them.