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I stare at the phone screen, waiting for him to respond. I try again.
Me: Z
Nothing.
When I close my eyes, nothing sweet greets me, just the darkness of my dreams. My reality and my dreams are blurring together. It doesn't matter if I'm asleep or awake. It is all the same. It's not ghosts I'm scared of; it's people.
CHAPTER21
Jess
"Are you ready?" Gia asks with a hopeful smile.
I check my new phone, my fingers flying over the keyboard, sending a text to my mother with my new number and that I have been invited to a ball. Gia fears I'll change my mind because of Reid and Valen, but I won’t. It was Friday, and she showed up so we could shop for the ball.
"Yeah."
She opens the door, and I follow her out, as my phone vibrates with a text from my mother.
Mom: Oh my God. I'm so happy you have a new phone. Please send me pictures, Jesse. Who is the lucky young man that is going with my Jesse?
Me:Just a friend. I'm shopping for a dress. I promise to send pictures. Gotta go. Talk to you soon.
"Nice phone. A secret admirer?”
Gia slides inside the black SUV, and I contemplate how to answer when I follow her inside. I slide the phone away into my pocket and look up. I don't want to lie, but I don't know who the man in the plague mask is. So, I do just that.
"I saved up and got one. I make payments, but at least it is in my name. Almost four years of saving on meals." I smile.
Not a total lie. The account is in my name, and I have saved money that way. The only problem is that I didn't make the payment and didn't actually go to the store to purchase it.
She smiles and holds out her hand. A big rock glitters on her ring finger, and I gasp, taking her hand and admiring the beautiful engagement ring. An emerald-cut diamond with red stones on each side. "Gia, it's beautiful." Her eyes get glassy, and I know it's from happiness.
She deserves happiness and, in the best way, with her boys. She lost a child and almost died because of that monster or monsters.
"I still can't believe it, Jess. Sometimes I want to pinch myself to see if I'm dreaming."
"You're not dreaming, Gia. You're happy because they make you happy. So which one gets the ceremony?"
I always wondered how that worked. How do you marry twins? The three of them.
She clears her throat. "Dravin had an idea that Reid mentioned."
I arch a brow. "Reid?"
She lets out a small laugh. "Yeah, who would have thought he was a genius when giving a romantic solution we could all agree with." She licks her lips and continues, "I'll marry Dravin in church and Draven legally. I'll give them children as required, but Draven wants me to have Dravin's child first. He wants to give him or her the entitlement of firstborn," she says, emphasizing the i and the e in their names to tell them apart.
I smile. It is a clever solution. The three of them get what they want, but she would be legally married to the hidden twin.
"Oh."
"It is unorthodox, but the Order, in general, is unorthodox, and let's not get started on the Consortium."
My head snaps up, and I let go of her hand and wonder if she knows more about the Consortium. She said they wore plague masks in the church when they killed the asshole from the coffee shop. Z wears a plague mask, and I know he is part of the Consortium, but maybe I can narrow it down to find out who he is.
"Do you know how many are in the Consortium? They have more power than the Order, I'm assuming."
Gia looks nervously at the driver through the open partition. He is looking straight ahead, but you never know if he is listening, and I bet my ass he is. She reaches over, presses the button, and the soundproof divider slides up.
