Page 40 of Celestial Combat

Maria’s jaw dropped.

“Shut up,” Francesca laughed.

Natalia came from the kitchen, carrying a tray of seriously unhealthy snacks. It was her turn to host girls’ night, so we were all gossiping in her penthouse living room. She set the tray on the glass coffee table before readjusting her pink mini skirt and joining us on the fluffy couch.

“Mhm,” I sipped from my glass. “But I think he fucked up–”

“Obviously,” Maria sighed, her hands playing with her broken bracelet.

Trevor didn’t have the best track record when it came to relationships. Correction – he hadnorecord.

But again, who in our world did? All of us were single, including the girls’ brothers.

“Yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “He keeps asking me what girls like to get as apology presents. Or what flowers best sayI’m sorry. Or what type of jewelry is not too much it scares her off. He thinks he’s being sooooo slick. But I know!”

Like my brother promised, we hadn’t been done talking at Python. But we’d up since then and fallen back into our sibling dynamic. Hence, the gossip.

Natalia opened her mouth, yet no words came out except for, “Wow.”

“Yes, wow,” I leaned closer to the girls. “He’s actually serious about her too. But won’t even tell me her name.”

“Damn…” Maria poured more wine into Francesca’s glass while she put her platinum hair in a claw clip. “So he actually cares? That’s… Kind of amazing. Maybe he found his person.”

“I know!” I rested my chin on my hand. “I never thought I’d see the day my brother was in a committed relationship.”

“Now I’m dying to meet this girl. New addition to the friend group.” Maria turned to Natalia, who smiled in return.

“I’ll ask my brothers,” Francesca piped up. “They must know something.”

I shrugged. “Of course, there is also the more plausible possibility that he’s went coo-coo and is imagining everything. I pray for whatever poor girl ends up in my brother’s robotic, cold arms.”

Maria’s head fell back with laughter.

“The serial-killer iciness must be a man thing. All of us, women, are just bundles of joy,” Francesca argued although all of us had blood on our manicured hands. “But the men?Sheesh. Trevor, Gìo, Tony, Zach… They all–”

“Zachary?” Maria chirped up, trying to sound nonchalant.

Francesca, Natalia and I exchanged looks, trying not to smirk.

Maria asking about a guy? Hell must’ve frozen over.

“What?” She asked when we stayed silent.

We exchanged another round of looks over the rims of our wine glasses.

“Zach?” I repeated slowly, savoring the way Maria’s eyes widened with interest. “Nowwhywould you ask abouthim?”

Maria blinked. “No reason.”

Natalia straightened up, her glossy lips parting in a grin. “Oh no, you don’t get to play unbothered now. Not afterthattone.”

Francesca pointed at her dramatically. “Right? You’ve been fantasizing about him, admit it!”

Maria scoffed, but the pink on her cheeks was unmistakable. “I hate men. You guys know that.”

“Mhm,” I hummed, sipping my wine. “Men. Notman. And the way you said his name…”

“She so did,” Francesca gasped.

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