Chapter Thirty-One

Bianca

Knox went into the office again today, which led me to believe Dom was right and Knox had done something he regretted by allowing me to stay here. Either that or he was avoiding me for some reason.

But I wasn’t stupid, I could tell when someone needed space and I was a big enough person to be able to give him the space he needed. This was all a lot in a short amount of time, so it was to be expected.

Truth be told, even I needed the time and space, so I was fine with it. For now.

Plus, it gave me time to get myself together, something I desperately needed after the week I’d had.

Pushing up the sleeves on my sweatshirt, I reached for my phone and sat back just as I heard a knock on the door.

Figures, just my luck.

With nothing more than socks on my feet, I got up and walked to the door, pressing my hands against it as I checked the peep hole. Allie stood on the other side, a smile on her face and a grocery bag in her hand.

I unlocked the door and opened it. “Don’t you have work?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nice to see you, too, sis,” she said and walked in, not waiting for an invitation. “Knox here?”

I shook my head. “Please, come in,” I said sarcastically.

“You look like you’ve been through the ringer.”

I smacked my lips together. “Wow. This visit means so much to me already. Thanks for coming.”

Walking to the small kitchen, she dropped the bag on the counter and pulled out a carton of ice cream, moving to the freezer to slip it in. “For later,” she explained, reaching into the grocery bag and pulling out the last item (what looked like a bundle of herbs). “Why haven’t you called me?”

I walked to the couch again and picked up my phone. “What for?”

Gesturing wide, she looked around and then at me. “Uh, I’d say you need your sisters. You’ve been through a lot, Bibi. Let us in.”

She didn’t know the half of it. “You’ve been busy.” I shrugged casually. “Plus, you know all the highlights.” I’d personally told all three of my sisters that night I left my dad’s house for good.

Coming to sit down next to me, she pushed her hair back and placed her hands in her lap and looked at me expectantly. “I’m sorry, but I’m concerned. I had to see you for myself. And it looks like I have every right to be concerned—your usual bright yellow aura is spotted neon.”

I sighed and threw my head back. “Allie, please. I have no job, no home and I’m starting to wonder if Knox really wants me staying here with him. Isn’t my life bad enough? Now I have to listen to you talk about my aura?”

“I’m sorry, but you need to cleanse your aura and chakras.”

I shook my head. I knew she meant well, but I wasn’t in the mood. “I don’t need that,” I said and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. “Do you want something to drink or will you be leaving soon?”

Standing, she angled her head. “I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you let me help you. You’re clearly blocked.”

Blocked? I froze in place. What was she talking about? “I’m what?”

Joining me in the kitchen, she repeated, “Blocked.” Then she sat down in a chair at the small table. “That explains why you’ve been driven by fear lately, why you’re not your usual confident self, and why you’re quick to anger.”

I spun on my heel and looked her in the eyes. “I am not quick to anger,” I all but shouted.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

Okay, fine, maybe I was, but things weren’t exactly coming up roses for me, anger was to be expected. I tried another angle, asking, “Have you been talking to Maria?”

“Yes. So what if I have? You’ve clearly picked up debris. I’ve told you before your aura is like an energy field, so it can happen. Emotional and psychic debris can clog you.”

This conversation was getting gross. I walked back into the living room and reclaimed my spot on the couch, leaving her to stay in the kitchen or follow me, whatever she wanted.

Apparently she’d chosen to follow me because she sat down beside me. She really wasn’t leaving.

“Let me help you. You need a cleansing and to realign your chakras.”

Studying her closely, I looked at the orange silk top and dark blue jeans she was wearing. She looked great, like a woman who had a job to get to. “You should be at the office.”

She waved her hands in the space between us. “Nonsense. My team can handle things without me for a little while. Bibi, you’re more important. Please,” she said, and gave me her best pouty face—not that it had ever worked on me. She didn’t look sad, she just looked goofy.

I laughed and turned to face her, shaking my head. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to strip down to my underwear so you can scrub me and put stones on me. It’s just not happening.” She’d tried to get Maria, Perla and I all to do it once before and, well, let’s just say none of us ever agreed to having it done.

She rolled her eyes at me. “It’s fine, I figured you wouldn’t go for that. So I’m going to smudge you instead.”

“Smudge?” I asked, my brows coming together as I tried to figure out what she meant.

“Yes, you know, sage burning.”

“Ugh, again? I hate the smell of that.” Wasn’t smelling that in Milan enough for my aura or chakras or whatever?

She smiled and stood up, going back to the kitchen, probably to retrieve the bundle of greens she’d placed on the counter. “Yes, it’ll help restore peace to your mind and body.”

Resolved to letting her win this one, I sat back and waited for her to tell me what to do. “Fine, but while you’re doing that, you can tell me about your new roommate, because if you think Maria would blab to you about me and she didn’t tell me about your new roommate, then you’re wrong.” Truthfully, she hadn’t said anything more than it was a man, but Allie didn’t need to know that. I just wanted the details.

Full of laughter as she opened her purse and retrieved a lighter, Allie shook her head. “Sorry, no, but only because we’ll be chanting and engaging in rhythmic breathing. But when it’s all over, then yes, I can tell you about Brady.”

Oooh! Brady. Hot guy name. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” I wasn’t so sure about the smudging, but I knew hearing about my sister and her male roommate would do me a world of good.