Page 34 of Her Ghostly Embrace
Likethatwasn’t suspicious.
Aurora schooled her expression. Gia wouldn’t open up if she felt judged, and Aurora wasn’t judging. She was just shocked. “Do you get paid in cash?”
Gia shoved the unopened bag of cereal into the box. “I don’t have a job right now. This is my savings.”
“Okay.” Aurora wasn’t sure it was the truth. Gia seemed closed off, guarded in a way she hadn’t been when talking about anything else, even her headaches. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
Gia arched a brow.
“I only meant to pry a little,” Aurora amended. “It’s not every day I see that much money. No shade if you sell weed or whatever.”
“I do not sell weed or strip. And yeah, no judgment to anyone who does, but I’m unemployed,” Gia said, calmer than before.
Aurora didn’t buy her nonchalance. “You’re the only unemployed person I know with stacks of twenties lying around.”
Gia lifted her chin, her composure fully in place now. “Maybe I robbed a bank.”
Aurora snorted. They could pretend this wasn’t a strange development all they wanted, but what the fuck? There was a hell of a lot more to Gia than Aurora had thought, and it had nothing to do with magic.
Damnation, nothing drew Aurora in like a mystery. Secrets. A little danger. She wanted to be the keeper of all Gia’s hidden pieces. Her protector, her co-conspirator, pulling answers into the light.
Most of all, Aurora wanted to earn Gia’s trust.
She drifted closer. “Seriously, whatever’s up with—” She gestured toward the cereal. “You can tell me. You won’t shock me. I’m literally a ghost.”
Gia didn’t crack. If anything, she closed off further. “It’s nothing. I found out I inherited this place and decided to move, taking what I had with me. I don’t trust banks, okay? Who knows what they do with your money.”
“Okay.” Aurora didn’t believe her, but pushing wasn’t working, so she resolved to drop it.
A buzzer sounded, and Gia jumped, her careful composure shattering as a hand flew to her chest, gripping her hoodie.
Yeah, she was hiding something important. Maybe even dangerous.
“Pizza’s here.” Gia hurried over to the intercom and buzzed the delivery person in.
Aurora checked out the window, and sure enough, Trey wasn’t paying the pizza delivery any attention.
Soon, the delivery was at the door. Gia paid the guy politely, and he thanked her with a grunt before turning to go.
“Hey, Gia,” another voice called from the hallway.
Aurora willed herself invisible and zoomed over to see who it was.
“Hi, Viv.” Gia jostled the pizza box, her other hand coming to rest on the door like she wanted to close it.
A petite, young woman with short black hair and a sleek all-black outfit grinned slyly at Gia. “Dinner smells good. How’re you settling in?”
“Oh…fine.” Gia glanced over her shoulder, right through Aurora toward the window.
“Don’t worry, I won’t keep you from a good pie. But I wanted to ask if you’ve noticed that guy handing around?”
“What guy?” Gia did an excellent job acting confused, as if she really had no idea Trey had been lurking across the street all day.
She was a good liar. Interesting.
“There’s a man hanging around across the street. He’s been there for hours, looking at the building,” Viv explained.
“Oh. I hadn’t noticed. Are you sure he isn’t waiting for someone?”
