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“Hmm, Riley Lily James? In honor of Rhia.” Lily is her middle name…flowery just like mine.
“It would be best to stick to the gender-neutral names. Lily would definitely make you a girl.”
“Oh, umm…” I puff air into my cheeks as I go through the list again. “Right, then let me be Riley Emerson James.”
“Okay… and what’s the meaning?”
“Brave, courageousandpowerful, andmay God protect.”
Both men nod solemnly. “Perfect.”
“Just out of curiosity. Why can’t I pick a name that’s closer to Ella? Isn’t it wise to stick as much as possible to the truth?” I ask, also remembering Sofia’s words to hide in plain sight.
“Why not something like Elisa… that way I can still be called El. If someone called outAsh, I might not react. Plus, they’re expecting me to change my name. Maybe I shouldn’t for that reason.”
“His hackers will run searches for your real name, make no doubt about it. And let’s imagine you changed your name to Elisa and someone calls outEl… if De Marco was in the vicinity, don’t you think he’d look up immediately to see who it was?”
“If Tiero was near, it wouldn’t matter,” I reply. “He’d know I was there.”
“What do you mean?” Garrett asks, frowning.
“We have this eerie thing… we sense when the other is close. For me, a heat wave hits me, and my whole body tingles. It happens every single time, and I know it’s similar for him. So, you see, it doesn’t really matter what I call myself.”
“It might not matter with De Marco, but others, who will look for you don’t have that advantage.”
“True,” I concede.
“So Ash Rene Morgan it is?” Garrett confirms.
I nod.
Now I just have to program myself to respond when someone addresses me as Ash.
Easy, right?
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ella
Commotionoutsidetheroomhas all of us look toward the door. There’s giggling and rustling, and Garrett gets up from where he’s sitting to go open the door.
“This will be the girls. Took them long enough.”
They give the coded knock, and when the door swings open, a whirlwind of a woman enters, drops the shopping bags, and throws her arms around Garrett.
This must be Miranda. I can see why Rhia would like her straight away. She’s full of life and has the fun vibe buzzing around her. She’s petite with long blonde hair, pulled up into a ponytail, and Garrett almost swallows her up with the size of his body when his arms wrap around her.
I watch on as she unashamedly kisses her husband, who’s only too happy to receive her attention.
Jeez, I wonder how long those two have been married. Can’t have been long and if they have, that’s marriage goals right there.
Ethan clears his throat as he too stands to greet his girl. Trina walks around the kissing pair, shaking her head. “You’d think they haven’t seen each other for weeks,” she mutters. She’s about my height with black, shoulder-length, straight hair and a kind face. I can tell already she’s a lot more reserved than her future sister-in-law, more the thinking, analytical type.
Miranda breaks away from her husband, touching her forehead to his. “Well, the last half hour sure seemed like it,” she drawls in a southern accent.
“How long have the two of you been married?” I ask, curiosity taking the better of me.
“Two years, five months and eleven days,” she replies, batting her eyelashes at him.
