“Sounds great, Ri,” I concede.
“Yeah, that’s fine. But there needs to be some food involved between all this activity. I’d hate to ruin the fun with my hangry ways,” Evie teases.
Ri rears back as if she’s been slapped.
“Didn’t you eat at the hotel earlier?”
The hotel offers an American breakfast or a la carte options. I missed breakfast because I spent my entire morning under Rome and my stomach is trying to make me regret that now. Thank God the spa left us a fruit platter and champagne to gorge on while we wait or else my stomach would’ve already embarrassed me.
Evie scoffs. “I didn’t realize we were only allowed one meal a day, massa. My bad.”
Ri waves off her comment with a laugh. “Sorry. That was a little OD.” Evie nods. “I’m just stressed about fitting into my dress.”
Her statement confuses me because Ri is a fashion designer. She literally designed and sewed her own dress, measured perfectly to her body, so how she thought she wouldn’t fit into it was beyond me.
“Girl, you made that dress to fit you, not the other way around. Don’t let me catch you doing something stupid like skipping meals on this trip.” Dani points her finger in Ri’s face while she admonishes her.
Ri grabs her finger and kisses it. “Yes, Mom.” Dani wrinkles her nose at her but smiles brightly.
Turning her attention to me, I can tell Dani is in fix-it mode. “Oh, I talked to Javier, by the way. He told me there’s a boutique in town that’ll have the pink ribbon. I guess since the warden has us on errand duty today,” she juts her thumb behind her in Ri’s direction before continuing, “we can make our way there.”
I forgot all about that fucking ribbon. “That’s great, D. Thank you.”
“Yeah, thanks, D. Maybe I should’ve made you my maid of honor.”
You could hear a pin drop after she let those disrespectful words fall from her lips.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Evie pulling her micro twists up into a bun and planting her hands on her hips.
Dani keeps her eyes on me trying to anticipate my next move and if she needs to step between us. As if I would ever put my hands on my sister.
I may have wanted to knock her on her ass plenty of times throughout our lives, but I’ve never once acted on it. That’s not our relationship. Our relationship has always been one where I protect her, even though she’s older, and I always bite my tongue even when I disagree with her.
When Charity Watson wanted to fight her in eleventh grade for talking to her boyfriend, I was the ninth grader who stepped in and beat her ass.
The rage I feel with her now simmers just beneath my skin. It lingers just beneath the surface, slowly scorching me from the inside out. But the feeling that closes in around me, wrapping its claws around my neck and squeezing all the air from my lungs…is hurt.
Brutal, gut-wrenching hurt.
The silence stretches between us, every second incinerating yet another thread of Ri’s and my delicate relationship. Looking at the indignant glint in her eye, I fear we may be coming close to running out of threads to fray.
“Hi, ladies, sorry to keep you waiting.” A woman with light brown skin and dark hair pulled back into a long French braid stands in the doorway. Her eyes have tiny lines around the edges indicating a lifetime of laughter and happiness. She’s very small overall, standing only at about five-foot-four and very petite, but upon closer inspection her arms are extremely toned.
She looks between all of us with a nervous smile, no doubt picking up on the energy in the room.
“Hi there, it’s no problem,” Dani offers, effectively breaking the tension.
The woman smiles brightly, the lines around her eyes curve even more. “I’m Sofia. I’ll be one of your masseuses today. We’ll get you set up in pairs in each room if you want to follow me.”
Dani chimes in immediately. “I’ll pair with Nelle.”
Okayyyy. Wasn’t expecting that.
Dani locks arms with me. Evie wraps her arm around Ri’s shoulder and leads them in front of us. She looks back at me with wide eyes before disappearing around the corner.
Sofia drops Ri and Evie off in a dimly lit room before walking Dani and I farther down the hallway to a bright white room filled with pink and purple flowers.
“Okay, ladies. You can disrobe and climb under the sheets here. My partner and I will be back momentarily.”
