Page 22 of Princely Agreement
Zelly’s in a flowy purple dress, and her long golden hair is braided to the side. It doesn’t matter what she wears; Zelly always reminds me of a princess. She could be in jean shorts with a shirt covered in dirt from her garden or a sundress with heels that would kill my ankles. Either way she’s always glowing.
Every now and then, I notice a touch of shyness, but she has a backbone. Zelly seems so effortless, but I know this world, and appearances can be deceiving.
“It’s your birthday. Why are you frowning?” Zelly asks as she steps further into the closet. She’s holding a present wrapped in yellow paper with a blue ribbon.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out because I can’t help myself.
I want to laugh because it’s nice to finally be able to tell someone. I made Leo promise me he wouldn’t tell anyone after I confessed everything. Then I said we’d wait until my birthday before making the announcement. I guess today’s the day!
“Now you’re smiling.” She smiles and hands me my gift. "It certainly explains the glow you always have.” Zelly doesn’t appear surprised, but then again, it was only a matter of time. Leo doesn’t hide his affection, and PDA doesn’t bother him in the least.
“Glow?” I laugh. I don’t think I’m glowing. Thankfully, I haven’t thrown up in the last week because that was terrible. It also helps that I wake up to Leo stroking my face sweetly.
“Yeah, glow.” She grabs a dress. “You should wear this one. Blue suits you.”
“Perfect.” I take the dress and lay it across the giant island in the center of the closet.
Jaq jumps up on it to inspect what I’m doing, then Gus tries, but he can’t jump that high. Zelly laughs, picking him up and placing him on the island with his brother. They both smell the present she brought.
“Open it,” she orders while finding shoes to go with my dress.
I pull at the paper, ripping it away and then look at the box. “A phone?” I’ve had tablets but oddly not a phone. There wasn’t much of a reason for one when I was confined to the Cinder Estate.
“How else are we going to plot our evil plans?” Zelly teases me. “I programmed the family on it already.”
“The family?” I mutter more to myself.
“Well, yeah.” She places a pair of flats next to the dress. “We’re family.”
“We are,” I agree as a lump lodges in my throat.
I want that more than anything, but Oliver and Fiona are my family too. I wonder if she remembers today is my birthday or if she's having a bad day. Has she noticed I’m gone? I know Oliver will take care of her, but I can’t help but worry.
“I don’t want to be a total bitch, but those stepbrothers or whatever you want to call them don’t count.” Zelly scrunches her nose. “Can we kick them to the curb?” Zelly is never one to hold back how she feels. It’s refreshing.
“You know them?”
“Sadly, I met them a few minutes ago when they arrived.”
“What?” My stomach drops, but of course they’re here. Today is the day, and they want what they think is theirs.
“Leo is hanging with them downstairs.”
“Hanging with them?”
“I think they’re having a meeting or something. I should smack my brother. It’s your birthday, and he’s having a meeting. It’s rude as hell!” Zelly starts braiding my hair.
Trust him, I tell myself, but I can’t help but think the other shoe is about to drop.
Chapter Sixteen
LEO
“Thank you both so much for meeting me here today. It's been a lot easier for me to work from home the last few weeks than it is to go into the city.”
“We understand,” Matthew says smoothly as he steeples his hands in front of him.
Jace nods along with his brother, but I see him looking around the room, assessing my office. “We were told she was visiting here for some fresh air.”