Chapter 13 Gia
THIRTEEN
GIA
Gia left an invisible Aurora watching Trey out the living room window and went to have a shower.
Would Aurora float there all night if Trey didn’t leave? Gia hoped he’d go away, but then what would the two of them do if Aurora didn’t have an excuse to stay by the window? Gia had a feeling the ghost wouldn’t need sleep.
She stepped under the hot water, careful to keep her hair dry. What if Aurora had gotten bored looking out the window and followed her in here, invisible?
A thrill shot through Gia.
Clamping her eyes shut, she plunged her face into the shower spray and shook off the idea. Why had her mind gone there? Aurora wouldn’t do something so invasive. But imagining Aurora watching as she stood here naked, her core tightened.
She bit her lip. Fucking hell, she was a creep. Of all damn things, why was she thinking about Aurora peeping on her? Magic was real—she possessed it—and here she was, spinning an inappropriate fantasy.
She didn’t even know if Aurora was into women. With her luck, Aurora wouldn’t be. And if she was, there were better things to do than watch each other bathe.
Was it possible Aurora liked women? To find out for sure, Gia needed to ask. Which she would not be doing.
She’d posed that fateful question to Tessa the summer after high school. Years of crushing had Gia convinced that Tessa liked her as more than a friend—it wasn’t just her, definitely not one-sided—and so she’d asked Tessa outright if she liked girls.
Gia’s cheeks flamed, and it had nothing to do with the warm water. The shock on Tessa’s face had been answer enough. It had given way to friendly confusion, as if Tessa thought Gia was messing around, and yet the most humiliating part had been how kind Tessa had been when she’d finally said no.
There was no one to blame for the discomfort but herself. Gia had gotten carried away, and while she was an adult now, prepared to actually talk to a woman about her feelings if she ever wanted to date one, the reality was just as terrifying.
It wasn’t like Gia had gained more experience in college. She’d been confident in her identity as a lesbian, leaving any conflicted feelings firmly behind with her adolescence, but between her migraines and Salvator lurking around, her romantic life had been about as active as a graveyard.
Not that any of it mattered. She and Aurora were literally tied together, unable to separate.
Bringing up feelings and attraction was the dumbest idea.
Nothing would summon awkwardness faster than Aurora saying she wasn’t interested in women, or worse, saying she wasn’t interested in Gia specifically.
No, thank you.
Inappropriate thoughts successfully squashed, Gia washed quickly and stepped out of the shower to dry off. The bathroom was attached to the bedroom, so she didn’t have to traverse the living room in her towel. Thank god.
Gia pulled on a pair of pajama shorts and a T-shirt she’d been gifted with the rest of the clothes. Once dressed, she hovered, uncertain, in the empty bedroom. Now what? Leaving Aurora all alone, looking out the window all night, felt wrong.
Ugh, whatever. Gia was making this weirder than it needed to be.
She marched over to the door and yanked it open, calling out, “I’m going to sleep.”
Aurora floated in the kitchen, not near the window at all. She gave a little start at Gia’s words, disappearing, then reappearing a split second later. “Sounds good. Trey’s gone, by the way.”
“He is?”
“Yeah. He walked away not long after you went into the shower.”
Because she was the most hopeless person on Earth, Gia’s face heated. She rubbed the back of her neck, hoping Aurora didn’t notice her flush at the mention of showering. “That’s good, right?”
Aurora shrugged. “No one came to take over his post.”
“Do you want to go out and…” Gia had no idea what they’d do. They’d established that going for Aurora’s body could be dangerous if her coven were expecting them.
“Not unless you want to stock your fridge.” Aurora’s gaze swept over Gia, perhaps noting her sleeping attire.
She had to resist crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going anywhere tonight unless it’s to help you.”
Aurora smiled like Gia had said something really sweet, rather than betray how much of a homebody she was, not even wanting to go shopping after eight p.m. “I don’t think there’s much we can do tonight. Could you text Lilly with an update?”
“Sure.” Gia ducked into the bedroom and grabbed her phone, glad to escape Aurora’s gaze, even for a moment. She brought the phone to the doorway, not looking up as she typed. “I’m like a ghost secretary. Doing your bidding.”
Jesus, why had she said that? There was nothing she wanted more than to do Aurora’s bidding. She’d love for Aurora to tell her what to do…tell her what she needed.
Aurora huffed like she found Gia amusing. “Never thought I’d be important enough to have staff.”
Gia’s stomach dropped, and she forced a laugh, the sound strained. She’d had plenty of staff in Ashton Lakes, and it had nothing to do with being important, just being the daughter of a mob boss.
She cleared the lump forming in her throat. “Want me to tell Lilly anything else?”
Thankfully, Aurora seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil. “No, but make sure your phone stays charged so Lilly can get in touch. We’ll need to know right away if anyone tampers with her ward.”
“Yeah, I figured.” Gia plugged the phone in, aware of Aurora drifting into the bedroom doorway behind her. “Do you sleep?”
Oh fuck, why had she asked? That sounded rude, didn’t it? Or like she was about to invite Aurora in to sleep with her. She should be banned from talking.
“I can’t,” Aurora said smoothly, like she wasn’t bothered. “Zoning out and losing track of time is as close as I get. I’ll leave you in peace.” She drifted into the living room.
Gia switched off the light and got into bed, pulling the covers over her. She immediately overheated and threw them off, rolling to her side.
Was Aurora going to zone out all night? It sounded dull as hell and far from restful.
She rolled over again. Dammit, she wasn’t even tired. If anything, her brain was kicking into gear now that everything had stopped.
She was a witch.
There was a ghost in her living room.
She had magic powers.
A random evil witch had followed her to the deli.
A gorgeous ghost was literally tied to her side.
Who knew how much time she had until Franco figured out she’d discovered her true parentage.
She had a crush on a ghost. After knowing her for one day, and believing she was a hallucination when they first met. What the fuck? Something was wrong with Gia, and it wasn’t her migraines.
“Can’t sleep?”
Gia yelped, sitting bolt upright.
Aurora floated in the doorway, glowing faintly, a hand on her hip. “I heard you tossing around.”
Gia’s cheeks flamed for no reason. “There’s too much on my mind.”
“Of course there is. You had a life-changing day.”
Life-changing. Gia supposed that was true. For some reason, she’d expected Aurora to tell her to deal with it, like she would with anything else, or look at her like she was defective for not being able to suck it up.
Why had she expected Aurora to dismiss her like her father or brother would? She didn’t seem like that kind of person.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Aurora asked.
Talk? God, no. Gia couldn’t form words.
Aurora didn’t let her hang for long, saying, “We could talk about something else.”
Gia’s stiff posture relaxed. “That might help.”
Aurora floated closer, her ghostly form positively sparkling in the dark. “Is it okay if I sit? Hovering over you feels kind of creepy.”
Gia’s heart hammered as she straightened the tangled blankets. “Sure.” She scooted over, even though there was already plenty of room.
Be cool.
Her heart did not calm down in the slightest as she lay back, eyes on the ceiling.
Light from the street filtered through a gap in the curtains, casting a low glow across the white plaster, its luminescence flat compared to Aurora’s dynamic glow.
How odd for a person to cast light instead of shadow.
Not being alone or in her Ashton Lakes room was odd in itself.
Gia was used to the trees surrounding the Balzano estate, their shadows dancing on the walls.
Used to the silence of feeling cut off from the world by the sprawling grounds.
Used to the loneliness of having no one to talk to, even in a house full of people.
Here, everything was different.
Aurora settled on the opposite side of the bed, brightening as she neared.
Gia held her breath, afraid to give away her nerves.
The mattress didn’t dip under Aurora. There was no sound of rustling sheets, but Gia was more aware of her than she’d been of anyone in her entire life.
This felt monumental, and Gia didn’t know why.
For a moment, they both lay still as the dead, yet Gia felt more alive, more invigorated than she ever had.
“Is this what having a sleepover is like?” Aurora asked.
Gia cleared her throat. “Probably.” Other than the whole ghostly aspect, and the fact that this is somehow as life-changing as the rest of today.
“Probably?” Aurora sounded surprised. “You didn’t get to do sleepovers either?”
Gia caught herself just in time, almost admitting that daughters of big crime bosses weren’t allowed to spend the night anywhere except in a fortified house. Gia cursed herself for nearly letting her guard down.
“I didn’t really get invited to sleepovers when I was young.
” Which was mostly true. Kids whose families knew the Balzanos’ reputation weren’t inviting Gia anywhere unless their parents wanted in with Franco, and they weren’t slumber party people.
As for anyone oblivious to Gia’s ties, RSVPing no a few times usually stopped the invites altogether.
Once her migraines set in, she became known around school as someone who stayed home anyway.