Tonight was the night Jade had to put on her best show yet. We were headed over to meet my parents at 6:30 p.m. Jyl had gone over to help Jade get ready—I knew this because Jade had called several times over the course of the day to ask silly questions like what color my mom preferred to wear. Who cares? Apparently, it was important to the ladies, and Jade didn’t know any better, so she followed Jyl's instructions to a tee. It didn’t surprise me that Jyl volunteered and even brought over several items from the Boutique for Jade to try. It was in her interest for Jade to be part of the LeBete family. Jyl was probably hoping to tag along at events and tell everyone that she personally knew my mom. Typical.
I met Jade in the lobby at six.
Jyl stood at the front of the elevator and stepped out to the side. Jade clicked past the doors in scarlet pumps and a fluffy black fur coat opened wide so I could see the outfit. The duo had chosen a black cocktail dress that hung tantalizingly low in the front and showcased a ruby medallion hanging from her neck.
“Ready?” I asked, gazing past her long, sweeping lashes into her smoky eyes.
“The real question is, Stephen,” Jade said as she walked past me, turning her head back coyly, “are your parents ready for me?” She grinned and turned back, flouncing out of the building to the limo my mom had reserved for us. Totally over the top, but that was the LeBete family way.
I had hoped to find a clue in her face to indicate how she was really doing, but she was in full D Glow mode.
A flash went off in the distance as we climbed into the limo. Some D Glows passing by had taken a photo of us, most likely hoping to sell it to some D Glow tabloid.
We drove in silence for most of the way.
“Jade,” I started solemnly. “Tonight's a big night.”
“Yes,” she said simply, staring out the passenger window.
“I think my father will approve of you, but he may give you some hassle. Just don’t let him rattle you.”
“Why wouldn’t he like me, Stephen? I’m the perfect D Glow,” Jade stated indignantly. I could tell she’d had enough of my guidance, although I didn’t really understand why she was acting so prickly about it. Maybe it was just too much to process? The sheer pressure of what was at stake was probably nerve racking. I decided it was best for me to just shut up. If she didn’t have it together by now, the game was over.
We rode in silence the rest of the way to the house.
The butler welcomed us at the door and immediately approached Jade to take the fur coat she had on. Tonight was a good night to wear fur. It was bitter cold. The cloudless sky highlighted the waxing moon and silvery stars. I watched Jade with silent admiration as she handed the butler her coat and hid her surprise at the excessively lavish entryway. The butler led us past the gold foyer to a sitting room in the right wing. Jade's heels clicked noticeably across the floor the whole way. We paused at the open sitting room door as the butler knocked to announce our arrival.
“Your Royalness,” he bowed. Ever since the crowning, every D Glow was required to bow to my mother and father in reverence, but only if it was in a private setting. Even Alecia and I had to bow to our parents. It was highly annoying. “Your son and Miss Jade Lavaigny are here.”
Mom had redecorated this room since I had moved out—it was now adorned in all white, to include chairs and a sofa that circled around a white marble coffee table and a plush white carpet on the floor. On the right side of the fireplace, in an elegant French antique chair, sat my mother. She waved us in, and I immediately bowed my head in respect.
“Mother, this is Jade. Jade, this is Esmerelda LeBete, our queen.”
Jade bowed her head. “Your Royalness.” Esmerelda did not stand up. Instead she waved her hand and beckoned us to sit.
I walked over to the couch across from her and sat down. Jade followed and sat next to me.
“Call for Pierre,” she said to the butler, who bowed and then turned and left the room.
Seconds later, Alecia, dressed in tight black pants that flared at the bottom and a bright blue-and-gold-patterned blazer, stepped into the room.
I announced, “Alecia, this is—”
“Jade,” she interrupted with a tilted smile. She walked past us to take a seat on a smaller chair next to Mom, after bowing to her.
“Jade, this is my sister and my deputy in training, as well as the future head of intelligence for the LeBete family.”
Jade stood up and did a slight head bow as a courtesy. “It's an honor,” she said, poised, and sat back down.
I was about to throw in a snarky comment about Alecia being dressed like a peacock when I felt a chill go up my spine; I turned, and there in the doorway stood my father, dark and looming.
Alecia, Jade, and I immediately stood while my mom stayed put in her chair.
“Father,” I said, lowering my head. “This is Jade Lavaigny.”
Jade bowed her head respectfully.
Pierre sauntered directly up to Jade, lifted her chin with a large, bejeweled hand, and looked her in the eyes.
He said nothing. Jade said nothing. I pressed my fingers together to keep myself from fidgeting. I wanted to strangle him for just touching her. He was not my father, and I despised him. I gritted my teeth.
Jade remained in place, fists clenched and defiant.
Pierre let go after what seemed like a lifetime and walked over to Esmerelda, kissed her hand, and then sat in his chair on the left side of the fireplace.
“Have a seat,” he commanded.
As if rehearsed, Alecia, Jade, and I all sat down in sync.
Pierre asked the butler in the room to bring him a case that was on his desk.
Oh no. What did Pierre have planned now?
The butler came back and laid a case—clearly a gun case—down on the white marble coffee table in the center of the room.
“I’m thinking about selling this one. What could you get for it?” Pierre asked Jade, walking over to the case and opening it.
“Come, take a look,” he said, beckoning with his long, tan fingers, gold rings glinting.
I knew right away this was a test. I just hoped that Jenna chick had trained Jade as well as Jade said she did.
“Well, I am generally a Smith & Wesson Ladysmith kind of gal, but this one here, wow—what a beautiful antique Beretta shotgun. May I?” Jade lifted the shotgun. My heart pounded.
“It's in perfect condition,” she continued. She held it up and pointed it toward the fireplace. “I could probably get you around $5,000 for this,” she said, setting it back down.
“And this one?” Pierre took a gun off the fireplace mantel as nonchalantly as if it were a pack of gum and handed it to her.
“I’m sorry to say, but this gun is…crap.”
Pierre crossed his arms and smirked.
“It is clearly an FGC-9, 3D printed. It's worth only about $100, but I suppose if the buyer knew it belonged to you, I could get a little over $350 for it.”
“I see,” Father said, turning to his butler.
Pierre then took a gun out of the holster he had on and held it up, barrel toward the ceiling.
“Oh, wow,” Jade said as she got up close to the third weapon. “Are you kidding me?” She squealed in what I hoped was feigned delight.
“May I?” she asked cautiously. Pierre nodded and handed it over to her.
“It's loaded,” he stated.
She picked up the gold-inlaid Colt.
“Incredible! A gold-inlaid Colt model 1849 pocket revolver? This is worth over a million dollars!”
Pierre beamed.
Jade felt the weight and balance of the gun. Maybe you should just kill him, I thought to myself, all the while putting on a fake smolder in admiration for her gun knowledge.
Jade started to hand the gun back, but Pierre held up his hand and pushed the intercom by his chair, calling for Jack, one of our operatives, to come to the room. I did everything in my power not to let my worry show on my face. If Father was calling in an operative, he either wanted Jade to do something illegal or he wanted Jack to do something illegal. Neither was a good scenario. I looked at my mother. Turning her head, she avoided eye contact and asked Alecia what time her flight departed for an intelligence mission in Albuquerque. I took my phone out of my suede blazer pocket and pretended to be occupied with my emails so I wouldn’t give away my true feelings.
Jade stood there holding Pierre's gun, waiting. If she was nervous, she didn’t show it.
A minute or two later, Jack arrived. He bowed to Esmerelda and again to Pierre, then to Alecia and me.
“Miss Lavaigny, this is Jack,” Pierre introduced. “He's one of our undercover agents. That's why he is allowed to look,” he paused for emphasis, “untidy.”
“Hello, Jack,” she said confidently.
“Uh, hi,” Jack said in a low voice. He was a thin, chalky-faced fellow with a short sleeve button-down shirt that was unevenly tucked into light-beige slacks.
“Shoot him,” Pierre ordered Jade.
“No, wait!” Jack cried out, putting his hands out in fear.
Alecia chuckled, and I cursed under my breath despite myself.
To my surprise, Jade, without a second's hesitation, raised the gun and pointed it at Jack. I gulped and recomposed myself, going back to my memories of Alecia putting slugs in my shoes and Father making me sit through meetings with slideshows of rival cartel members’ hanged bodies as a warning to other cartels. Jade was about to pull the trigger when an invisible force pulled the gun out of her hand. Mother. Jade's eyes followed the gun in disbelief as it floated in the air and rested on the mantel.
“Aw, come on,” Alecia whined.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mother snapped, standing up. We all immediately stood as well. “I just had these carpets put in here last month. They were personally made for me by my favorite Italian designer.”
Pierre scoffed.
“Make yourself scarce, Jack,” Mom warned, “I suggest you don’t let Pierre down again. I won’t stop the next bullet.”
“Yes, your Royalness.” He did a deep bow and literally ran out of the room.
Jade walked over to the mantel, picked up the gun, and walked it back to Pierre. She looked him in the eyes.
“Here's your gun back.”
My mom sat down again, so we all did as well, except Pierre. He instead walked over to mother and whispered something in her ear. Jade clasped her hands together firmly in her lap. Alecia crossed her arms and feet and sank back in her chair in apparent boredom. I felt my body shaking slightly and I breathed in slowly so it wouldn’t show. Was she really going to shoot Jack? I couldn’t believe she was so quick to aim the gun. On the one hand, she didn’t have much of a choice, but on the other hand, she hadn’t seemed fazed at all. I couldn’t think about this anymore. I had to press forward while we had momentum. Pierre had just finished his side discussion with my mom and was returning to his seat, so I took a deep breath and stood up.
“Mother, Father, if I may,” I paused to bow. “I would like to state my intent to partner.”
Alecia perked back up in her chair, interested again.
Mom's face remained emotionless. She glanced over at Pierre, who did a slight head nod, and proceeded in a calm manner. “We say yes on two conditions.”
The room was so silent we could hear the second hand on the nineteenth-century grandfather clock ticking.
“I had a feeling you would ask to partner eventually, so I already went to the Council. They want six years and three children, or no money is passed to you, Jade.” Mother looked at Jade pointedly.
Jade shot me a look of astonishment. It wasn’t difficult to pretend to be surprised; we had no idea they negotiated the number of D Glow children we had to have. I did know that my mom needed the Council's input and approval since she was now royalty. Normally the two sets o=f parents alone could set the parameters.
“I’ve never heard of a contract that requires three children in six years,” Jade said.
Alecia laughed. She was thrilled by the apparent strict parameters.
“And the other condition?” I asked, glaring at Alecia in annoyance.
“The partner ceremony will be in three weeks, before I meet Darkness. I asked for this condition because I do not know where Darkness will send me after we meet. It could be here with the Council, or perhaps another galaxy. I wish to celebrate my firstborn's partnership.”
It was time. I turned to face Jade and put my right hand out, palm facing down.
Jade stood up.
“I must admit that it is a little sooner than I expected,” Jade started slowly, evenly, “yet I understand your wishes and agree to these terms.” She did a slight head bow to both Pierre and my mom and then placed her right hand, palm down, on top of mine.
Mom stood up, prompting Alecia and my father to also rise, and walked over to us. She placed her hand, palm down, on top of ours, and Pierre followed. Alecia reluctantly dragged her feet over to us and put her hand down as well.
“Let it be so in the name of Darkness,” we all said in unison and released our hands. I could swear, after we said those words, the lights flickered.
Pierre patted me on the back, the smell of whiskey, smoke, and old leather lingering as he passed me to kiss Jade's hand. Mother put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a half smile.
“Let's hope she can last six years in this family.”
I grimaced. I knew she meant that she hoped Jade could hold on for three more weeks. I was starting to feel more concerned about me being able to hold on for three more weeks. I looked over at Jade. She was tossing her hair, laughing and taking sister selfies with Alecia. She looked completely at ease.
“Now, then,” Mother announced. “I suggest we head to the dining area for dinner. I told the chef to prepare something special in anticipation of this evening. Jade, darling, I do hope you like short ribs.”
“My favorite,” she purred.
Dinner went by in a blur and somehow I muddled through it. Alecia luckily did most of the talking. She loved to hear her own voice and was delighted to share her opinions on where to have the partner ceremony and what food to serve. Pierre spoke fewer than twenty words the entire evening. He blatantly stared down Jade whenever she spoke, listening intently to what she said. I sensed he was silently taking notes to check out the story later. I forced my food down with probably too much wine, still sick to my stomach about the whole gun incident. We closed out the evening with champagne, dark chocolate mousse with salted caramel, and the ring presentation. My mother clanked her crystal glass with her gold dessert fork, and our butler entered with a small leather box Mom had apparently arranged for him to have and handed it to me. I took the box and stood up with an alcohol-induced flair.
“Jade, you have agreed to the terms set by my parents and the Council, and now you will be part of the LeBete family dynasty. Together, with the aid of the great Darkness, we will continue to be the most powerful Glow family in the world. Our children will carry our legacy…” I saw my mother's eyes flash me a warning look.
I knew instantly I was being overly dramatic, so I hastily opened the box and handed it to Jade.
“Here is your ring. May you remember what it stands for when you wear it,” I concluded my speech.
“It's breathtaking,” Jade gasped, grasping the box. Gingerly, she raised the gold ring—a large princess-cut ruby encircled by diamonds—out of the box and slid it onto her delicate finger. She then stood up and kissed me on the cheek and sat back down, holding her hand up to watch the candlelight dance off of the diamonds. I sat down and sipped some water.
“Long live the LeBetes!” clinked Mother and Alecia. The servants in the room all cheered and clapped, and even Pierre did three small claps before returning to his mousse.
“Well, I would say that was a huge success,” slurred Jade as we got into the limo to go home. I was stone-cold sober now and feeling gloomy.
“What's the matter with you?” She leaned in and tried to kiss me.
I didn’t want the driver to overhear what I wanted to say, so I played it off.
“Nothing. I was actually running through the mission plan in my mind. I think we might have an issue with one of our connections in DC,” I lied. I was actually not sure what to think about Jade's performance. It was almost too convincing.
“Oh, business, always business. Let's worry about that tomorrow.” She giggled and grabbed the champagne from the ice bucket in front of us.
I picked up a gold-rimmed crystal flute and held it in front of her so she could pour me some champagne. She sloppily poured herself a glass, too, and then raised the glass in the air and toasted, “To the legacy.” I flashed a smile as our glasses clinked together.
“You look amazing in that ring.”
“Yes, it does suit me.” She looked at her hand, now distracted by the ring.
When we got to the apartment complex, I asked her to come up to the penthouse for a nightcap and she readily complied.
Once safely inside my apartment, I emptied my pockets and threw off my blazer onto my sofa in a huff.
“Should we have more champagne?” Jade asked, throwing her fur onto a bar stool before heading to the built-in temperature-controlled champagne drawer in the kitchen.
“Darkness, Jade! Are you kidding me? You do remember that you’re actually not a D Glow, right?”
“Shh!” she warned. “What's the big deal, Stephen?” she asked, exasperated, as she proceeded to open the champagne drawer.
I marched into the kitchen and pushed the drawer back in. “You’ve had plenty.”
“Oh, now you’re playing my father?”
She was starting to sound like Alecia.
“Jade.” I stood in front of her and placed both hands on her upper arms. “Remember who you really are and what we’re doing all this for.”
“I do,” she retorted, squirming away from me. I turned around and opened a small cabinet by the refrigerator, pulling out a small bottle containing pills to help curb the effects of alcohol.
“Take this,” I ordered, handing her one of the yellow pills.
She sighed and rolled her eyes, but took the pill from me. I quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, opened it, and gave it to her.
After swallowing the pill, she grabbed her fur coat and started heading to the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Well, you invited me up for drinks, but that's clearly not happening.” She pushed the elevator button.
“Jade, wait—stay.” I ran over to the door and stood in front of it so she couldn’t leave.
“Get out of my way, Stephen,” she hissed, her lips pursed.
“Listen,” I said, trying to remain calm. “You’re starting to freak me out. All this excessive drinking…you almost happily shooting Jack…you getting along with my stupid sister…”
Jade slapped me across the face.
I stood there, stunned.
She backed down, turned, and stormed over to the living room.
“You’re such an idiot, you know that, Stephen?” She threw her coat onto the floor, turned again and glared at me.
I stayed by the door and put my hand on my cheek, still in disbelief that she had slapped me.
“The only way I could make it through tonight was to drink. The only choice I had was to point that gun at Jack. And, yes, Stephen, I was prepared to shoot him—a D Glow no-good operative—to save the millions of lives we are supposed to save with this stupid ass mission” she yelled the last three words.
“OK, OK, keep your voice down.” I put my finger to my mouth as if to say “Shh” but didn’t dare utter those words to her in the frantic state she was in.
Jade plopped down on the sofa and stared at the floor.
I went and sat by her. “You just seemed so at ease tonight.”
“Well, I wasn’t, OK?” Jade said still looking at the floor.
I rubbed her back, not knowing what to say. She turned abruptly and faced me.
“Don’t you get it? This is all an act. I was literally having a mini heart attack up until dinner.” Jade laid her hand over her chest. “After that, I guess I did relax a little because we made it through the test. You have no idea what it was like to stand that close to Pierre and remain perfectly calm and confident.”
She was fully sober again and now teetering on the edge of a meltdown.
“OK, I’m sorry. I clearly overreacted. I just, well, I guess I’ve never seen you like this, and it scared me that you seemed more D than L Glow.”
I tried to circle my arms around her but she shrugged me off. I felt bad now. It was true, she was under way more scrutiny than I was. Pierre barely even noticed I was there this evening; all eyes were on Jade. The pressure had been intense. “I’ve had nightmares every night this week,” she whimpered.
“I’m sorry, Jade,” I whispered. “I probably would’ve reacted the same way if I had been in your situation. You had a lot on you tonight. Your acting was so real, but that's a good thing, I guess. You did it.” I kissed the top of her head. “You did it. The hard part is done. We just need to get through the wedding, and you know Alecia will be all about it. You can just hand her the ball.”
Jade sat back up. Her eyes were red and watering. She looked exhausted. “I’m sorry for hitting you.”
“It's OK, I kind of deserved it,” I smiled sheepishly.
She touched my face where she had slapped it and reinforced my words hopefully. “Just three more weeks. Just three more weeks.”