Page 93 of Ghost

“It looks real…” I pulled my hand back, unable to look away.

“That’s because it is.” Damen sighed, resting his arms on his knees. “Maria, you shouldn’t have that. Titus had it set aside for safekeeping. And why did you change out the jewelry? Did you raid—”

“In this matter, of course.” Maria gasped at him. “Would you have her wear plastic? What kind of man are you?”

Miles frowned, staring at the container. “She does have a point—the plastic is gaudy. Besides, we can appreciate this much more.”

“Wait,” I was so confused. The jewelry was a part of the game? “What is this game?”

“It’s calledPretty Pretty Princess!” Maria gushed, pulling her hair into a bun at the top of her head. “If you were with Mr. Stuffy all those years, then you’ve never been exposed to the finer things in life. Don’t worry about Damen. He’s being a butt because I took the liberty of upgrading the game—”

Damen put his face in his hands. “Maria, you’ve replaced the original pieces with millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry. Does Titus know?”

“I’m not denying it.” Maria shrugged as I gaped at the jewelry in horror.

“Is this Titus’ jewelry?” I couldn't keep the wonder from my voice. So it was true, Titus did have a secret hoard of treasure somewhere.

“He’ll get over it.” Maria clapped her hands, regaining my attention. “Here are the rules. You pick a color, and you claim the corresponding pawn with that color. We all spin, and the highest number goes first.” She pointed to the circular lid, which had a spin dial on the inside. “Then the game moves to the left. You begin anywhere on the board, but you must move clockwise. Obviously, the number of spaces that you spin determines how many spaces you move.”

“Now,” she sat forward, “the jewelry. Each space has instructions. You can gain an item, lose an item, and so forth. The object of the game is to collectallthe jewelry in your color, to have the crown, and tonothave the black ring.”

I stared at the game in front of me. This was fantastic, I had to win. I needed that crown.

“You know, you can’t keep the jewelry,” Miles muttered, but Maria threw her slipper at him.

“As you can see,” Maria continued. “The four playing colors are pink, green, purple, and blue. I usually take purple.”

“I claim blue,” Miles interjected quickly.

“Goddamnit,” Damen, who had been hiding his face, jerked his head up and glared at Miles. “You can’t take blue!”

“You’ve gotta be quicker than that.” Miles smirked, picking up his coffee. “Sorry.”

Damen glanced toward me, his eyes pleading. “What color are you taking?”

I bit my lip, glancing back toward the board. There was only green and pink left, and I liked both colors. The pink jewelry appeared to be opal, which was nice, but the emerald green was even more tempting.

It was on the tip of my tongue to say green. But then I saw his face. “I can take pink.”

“No,” Damen groaned, ruffling his hair. “It’s fine, baby girl. I’ll take pink. Pink used to be a masculine color anyway. You can have green.”

“Alright, whatever.” Maria scooted back. “Time to spin.”

We all took a turn, and it was determined that Miles would be first.

Maria cracked her fingers. “Miles, do you—”

“I remember how this goes.” Miles cut her off, an intense look taking over his expression as he flicked the spinner. “Five,” he muttered, counting out as he moved. “Damn.”

I glanced at the board, Miles had landed on the pink necklace tile.

“You can only get a necklace if you land on your color,” Maria told him, pushing the lid toward Damen.

Miles huffed and slid back into his seat. “I know! Damen, do it. We can’t let her win.”

Damen tentatively took his turn. “Two,” he moved his pieces. “I get a necklace.”

“No!” Maria sounded distraught. As Damen pulled out his prize, she slid the spinner toward me. “You can do it.”