“Fuck.” Gloria’s storm gray eyes nearly rolled out of her head at the sight of the ring. She almost dropped her glass and silver mask. I had them commissioned at the same time; our masks were really one full face mask that was split in half.

Two halves of the same soul.

“That wasn’t really the effect I was going for.” I raised an eyebrow, looking up at her from my bent knee proposal. My own mask was placed on the carpeted floor next to me. I wanted to do this later on in the evening, but odds were that we wouldn’t be alone like this again.

The Halloween masquerade was on full tilt in the ballroom next door. Gloria and I were in an adjacent even room that was almost as big. Muffled music, dancing, and laughing could be heard through the wall. Candelabras and flowers filled the room with exotic scents and mysterious, uneven lighting.

A few guests that cut through this room hushed their conversations, when they saw me on one knee. There was a sensation of awe and wonder everywhere, except the only place that mattered; directly in front of me. Could I have misread our relationship? Was I moving too fast for Gloria?

Maybe this was a mistake. I began to stand up.

“Wait!” She pulled her mask off and reached a hand out toward me. “Shit, I’m sorry. You caught me off guard. Can we start over?”

I smirked, settling back down on my knee. I was again reminded why I loved this woman so much. Gloria was so unapologetically genuine. She always kept me on my toes, or in this case off them.

“Gloria Grant,” I started again. I raised the box containing the engagement ring I bought. The ring—like her—was very special, and extremely hard to find. I finally opened the box and let her see the modest, yet rare artifact. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” Gloria choked out the word, trying not to cry and failing. She tightly wrapped her arms around me like she had fallen off a boat, and I was the life preserver thrown in to save her. There was a quiver in her voice that warmed my bones. “Oh my God, yes!”

After a dozen tear-stained kisses, she let me go long enough to actually look at the ring. I couldn’t hide the pride I felt in getting her one I knew she’d like.

“Holy shit. Is that…” Her bottom lip quivered. “Missy Gladstone’s ring!”

I nodded, smiling.

Gloria had turned me onto her favorite band Twilight Son. They were a three-piece ensemble from the seventies. The bassist married the drummer early in their career, and they both died in a plane crash ten years ago. It took a lot of money and time, but I was able to track down the original engagement ring.

“You are amazing!” Gloria wasn’t the type of girl to squeal, but she came awfully close as she held it up to get a better look at it. “How?”

“That doesn’t matter.” I picked her up easily. I might tell her about the whole arduous process someday, but not now. I wanted her to remember today as the day she became engaged; nothing else.

“Y’know, you don’t have to do this,” She said, blotting at her cheeks to not spread her mascara further. “You already lost the bet.”

“I won something far better than an inheritance.” I said, ignoring my vibrating phone. No one was going to take me away from this moment.

“You are so goddamn cheesy,” She smiled broader than I’d ever seen before. “I love you so damn much.”

“I—” My phone hadn’t stopped vibrating. I took it out of my pocket, intent on throwing it across the room when Gloria stopped me. She looked up at me and told me to answer it. “It’s my assistant.”

“Go.” Gloria rubbed the deep maroon of her lipstick off my lips and cheeks. “I need to put my face back on and gloat to Molly anyways. You’d better come find me when you’re done.”

“Nothing could keep me away.” I kissed her long and passionately, ruining what was left of her lipstick. “Remember to wear your mask. This is a masquerade after all.”

Gloria sighed, frowning. She did her best to tolerate the party’s theme. She loved the mask, but didn’t love actually wearing it.

I slipped on my masquerade mask, straightened my tux, and went to the kitchen.

There was an argument with one of the chefs, and some administration noise for me to clear up, but soon enough everything was running smoothly again. I made my way through the dance hall to find Gloria.

“Hell of a ride, huh?” Lucas had stepped off stage and grabbed my shoulder. He’d been chatting with the band while they set up for their next song. His long hair fell all around the black skull mask he wore. He nodded toward the table where Gloria, Molly, and Judy sat. Gloria was showing them the ring. I couldn’t suppress the happiness I felt at seeing the excited smile sweep across her face as she talked about it.

Every time I looked at her, I felt warm all over.

“I used to think we were cursed to always come out on top, but never win,” Lucas said, slowly shaking his head at his pregnant wife and burgeoning new family. He still had trouble accepting that this wasn’t just a really good dream he’d wake up from. This was his life now.

“Yeah.” I threw an arm around my younger brother and jerked him to the side roughly. Because of our competitive natures, our brotherly love was always rough like how dogs played. “Dad would’ve finally been proud.” I shook him. “Don’t screw it up.”

“Speak for yourself, old man.” He flashed me a grin, nodded, then broke away as the band started to play the song he wrote for Molly. In true Lucas-style, he parted the crowd and slid on his knees to the table our women were sitting at.

I walked over like a normal person, when an argument across the hall caught my attention. Judging from the size and shape of the man getting yelled at, I knew right away that it was NFL MVP Garrett Walker. I hadn’t met him, but I remembered seeing his name on the guest list my assistant forwarded me.

I didn’t envy that poor bastard right now; his wife was really laying into him about something. It wasn’t any of my business, I decided. I had more important matters before me, like a fiancé to dance with.

“The trick to a masquerade party is to keep the mask on,” I said to Gloria with a smirk. She only humored me with this party. She never liked a lot of pomp and ceremony.

“Oh my fucking God!” Gloria roared, tearing the mask off and slapping it on the table. “There. Now it’s on the table.”

Judy and I laughed. Judy must’ve been giving Gloria grief about not wearing the mask either.