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“You dropped it because it was in your best interest,” Carmen decided. “Brett’s affidavit would have sunk you. And you know we were going to uncover evidence of your fraud. You’d have bigger problems than—”

“Brett was part of the journey,” Fortune said calmly, extending her arms so the various metals on her person and clothing chimed. “Didn’t you find it odd how easily my homes opened up to you?”

“Bullshit,” Lola said and Carmen agreed. “You’re a fake and peddling crap that desperate people are too eager to buy.” Lola turned to Bamford. “Um, no offense.”

Fortune’s smile only widened, unfazed by Lola’s outburst. “All is unfolding as it should, my dears. Your souls have always been intertwined. I merely gave you a nudge down destiny’s path.”

Lola scoffed.

With infinite patience, Fortune tilted her head like a dog listening for a noise. “The currents of energy never lie, darling. A profound bond has awakened within you both. I predicted it would, did I not?”

Carmen shook her head. A mystical destiny? That was absurd.

“You two have always been in love. You just needed a little help to see it.” Fortune smiled serenely.

“That’s not how anything works. That’s ridiculous,” Lola objected, but uncertainty flickered in her eyes.

“Is it?” Fortune challenged. “Haven’t you felt it taking root? Growing quietly all this time beneath the bluster? You’re like two sides of the same coin. Meant to be united. You’re—”

“If you say twin flames, I swear—”

Fortune laughed before Lola could craft her threat. “Labels rarely matter. You have managed to see each other for who you truly are. Carmen, you have given Lola safety and love without condition, and she has absolutely blossomed, hasn’t she? Lola, my sweet fireball, you have ignited Carmen, haven’t you? Made her realize that she is entirely limitless. You unlocked each other. A prize only available to the one with the key.”

Carmen opened her mouth, but she couldn’t find any way to object to that. It was true. At least for her.

“So, what? You think I’m going to pay you for your unhinged matchmaking services?” Lola asked.

Fortune held up her hands, jingling. “I don’t want anything from you. My purpose has been fulfilled and something was set right in the universe.” She smiled and shot a glance at an impressed Bamford. “Though an invitation to your wedding would be nice.”

Carmen found the door pull behind her and opened it. “You can’t just refile the suit, you know. That would be in bad faith.”

Fortune’s smile was unwavering. “The truth wants to emerge, if you let it.”

Hitting the button for the parking garage over thirty floors below, Carmen was well and truly jarred. She looked at Lola, who was looking at her. The truth brimming from her the way it was bursting from Carmen.

“Lola,” Carmen whispered, pulling her close.

Lola’s mouth was on hers before she could say anything else. “Do you have your car keys?” she asked, instead of the confession Carmen was expecting.

CHAPTER60

“I don’t believein Fortune, but I believe in you,” Lola confessed the moment they were in the backseat of Carmen’s SUV. “I don’t know about her brother, or the lawsuit, or her cult.” Lola's words poured out from the crack in her chest. “The only thing she was right about—”

She held Carmen’s gaze, wishing they were somewhere more romantic than a freaking car in a dull, gray parking garage, but she didn’t want to keep anything else in. Not anymore.

“I don’t know how long people are supposed to wait for this and it’s probably too soon.” Lola forced herself not to back out. “But you do make me feel those things Fortune said, and…” she took the final leap. The one that would surely crush every bone in her body when she landed wrong. “I love you.”

The admission sounded so much louder than Lola expected, but she couldn’t stop there. Her mouth kept moving and words kept coming and Carmen’s eyes were only growing brighter and more beautiful.

“And you’ve seen me at my absolute worst, Carmen.” Lola’s pulse was racing fast enough to split at the seams, but she barreled onward. “Shit, you’ve even seen my mother at her worst, and you’re here…” She furrowed her brow like that might make what she and Carmen had finally make logical sense. It didn’t. None of this was rational, and yet Lola’s heart pounded for her just the same.

“And I love you,” she said it again more easily the second time. “Not because of some garbage a Stevie Nicks wannabe said, but because of this.…” She reached out and cupped Carmen’s face. “Because you show up for me and I show up for you, and I promise to keep doing that until you don’t want me anymore. But you’re still here, so I’m pretty sure that means you love me, too.”

“You think?” Carmen’s eyes turned glossy, emotion brimming. “You don’t know?”

Lola bit the inside of her cheek, pain the only way to stop the grin tugging at her lips. “I’ve never been one to presume,” she joked with as straight a face as she could muster.

The sound of Carmen’s laughter, bright and effervescent, filled every pore of Lola’s body. Every cell. Every fiber and sinew and beat of her heart.