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I wanted to argue with her, but she was right. If I didn’t like how it looked in the mirror, I would just tell her it didn’t fit…I used to do the same thing with my mom when she picked out things that I didn’t like. I resisted the urge to curl in on myself. “Fine,” I said with a sigh. “Could you at least turn around?”
Lili scoffed. “Have you never gone shopping with a girlfriend before?”
“Of course I have,” I snapped back, irritated, “but I never stood in a dressing room with one.”
She made a soft humming sound through her nose. “Maybe your girlfriends weren’t as good as mine,” she said simply and began sorting through the pile of clothes. I could have argued with her — she didn’t know my friends, after all —but she wasn’t wrong. Once my mom got sick, and I had to spend the majority of my time helping her, my friends dropped away one by one. They felt sympathy for me, of course, but I wasn’t available to them anymore, so there wasn’t much point in maintaining a relationship.
Lili handed me the first dress, and I bit back a frown. It’s bright pink, and I know it was going to be too short. “Can’t we start with something…longer?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Put it on.” Her tone would brook no arguments.
I sighed and complied, and just like I predicted, the dress was too short and tooloud. I stared in the mirror, dismay settling into my very bones. “I look ridiculous.”
Lili stared at me, made me turn around twice so that she could take in the whole picture, and then she reached into the pile of clothes and pulled out an equally short dress, only this one was strapless and red. “I think it’s the color,” she said, mostly to herself. “It’s not working on your skin tone.”
I looked at the red fabric in her hand. “I’m not sure red is going to work any better.”
Lili held up the dress. “Trust me, okay?”
I didn’t —she and I had vastly different styles —but I put on a smile and switched the pink dress for the red one. It was moderately better, but I still wasn’t thrilled by what I was seeing. “This just doesn’t feel like me,” I said.
I expected my sister-in-law to scoff at me, but she seemed to consider what I was saying. “While I don’t agree with needing to feel ‘like you,’” she said finally, “it won’t help if you’re not comfortable and feel good about what you’re wearing. You have to feel like a badass if you’re going tobea badass.”
There was no way anyone would look at me and think the word “badass,” no matter what I was wearing, but I wasn’t going to say that to Lili. “Let’s keep going, yeah?” I asked and unzipped myself.
She handed me the next outfit: a black jumpsuit with a plunging neckline. It wasn’t quite right —I was a little too well-endowed, and it was nearly obscene —but I didn’t exactly hate the look. Lili grinned as I twisted this way and that in the mirror. “It’s not right for the meeting,” she conceded, “but we’re going to get it. My brother will swallow his tongue when he gets a look at you.”
I don’t want him to drool over me, I nearly said, but it wasn’t the truth. Despite myself, despite all of my fears and objections and confusion, Ilovedwhen Angel gazed at me with that undeniable dark heat in his eyes. “Okay,” I agreed, and when I took it off, I hung it on the hook to be taken to the register later.
She selected a black dress next. It was buttery soft, and when I put it on, it clung to my skin in a way that was sensual but not overly so. Lili’s smile grew wide. “This is it,” she said. “You know that right?”
I stared at my image in the mirror. I looked like myself, like I wasn’t trying overly hard, but I felt amazing. “I didn’t know I could look like this,” I admitted, meeting her eyes in the mirror.
“Now that you know,” Lili said, “you have to look like this as often as possible. Angel will expect it...besides, he’s going to lose his mind when he sees you later.”
Dressing for a man had never been a consideration before; I literally never thought of it. A part of me blistered at the idea of ever dolling myself up for anyone, but there was that confusing part of me that wanted to see how Angel was going to react. For him to smile and praise me. Call memi esposain that husky tone that ended with me tucked beneath him in our bed.
After returning to my now dour-looking sweater and leggings, Lili and I went up to the register to purchase the jumpsuit and dress. Plus a few things Lili had picked up for herself that I hadn’t even noticed her grabbing. “That’ll be $1550.82,” the sales associate said, and I nearly choked on my tongue.
Lili didn’t even blink. She handed the woman a black credit card that looked like it was made of actual metal. I tried to keep my face neutral, but seriously, what thehell? I knew the Castillos were wealthy, but black, premium credit card wealthy? As the woman, who was now tripping over herself to get our purchases boxed up, my sister-in-law glanced at me. “Remind me to tell Angel that you’ll need a card of your own,” she said. “You’re going to need one.”
Why on earth would I need a card like that?“I’m not sure I’d ever use it,” I said numbly.
She scoffed. “No sean mensa.” I wasn’t entirely sure what the words meant —my Duolingo lessons hadn’t gotten quite that far —but I could tell she was calling me stupid. “When are you going to realize that you’re a Castillo now?”
I felt heat in my face. “I know that.”
The expression on her face was disbelieving. “Do you?”
I pulled my shoulders up so that I was standing to my full height. “I’ll tell Angel I need a card myself,” I said with a shrug. “That make you happy?”
Lili smiled, all dangerous with sharp teeth. “Perfectly, sister-mine.”
We left the shop, and I swallowed a laugh when Lili handed our bags to David — our escort for the day. Lili had complained about a bodyguard interrupting our “sister bonding time,” but Angel had been adamant. With the Rojas family attacking him at Eliseo, he wasn’t taking any chances. So far, David had stayed as far away from us as he possibly could while still doing his job.
“Let’s go get our hair and nails done,” Lili said and slipped her arm around mine. “Angel will appreciate you going the extra mile.”
I snorted at the slight coaxing tone in her voice. “You don’t have to try that hard,” I said. “I wouldn’t turn down a manicure.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten one…or a haircut for that matter.
