forever.
Last night had been so relaxing. In fact, the past couple days have been. But getting to spend time and see Devon and Kaidan act like normal brothers—it was nice. All this time, I thought their relationship needed to be fixed, but apparently, it’s just fine.
Watching them made me miss my own normal life though. My little apartment. Maddie. The everyday scramble to find a job. But then there’s this place—the Stone mansion—with all its luxury and leisure. I have the choice to stay here—to lounge on the beach and eat gourmet food. How could I pass it up to go back to my simple, sometimes stressful life?
The door bursts open, and I rip at the blanket to pull it up to my chin. Hello , there’s someone in here! Serena Lynn comes crashing in. I didn’t know she and Calvin were back from their weekend trip, but…it’s obvious now.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
She ignores me, instead stomping over to the dresser and sifting through the drawers. After an exasperated huff, she moves to a desk, yanking open a drawer, causing it to topple onto the ground. She leans down, pushing things aside.
Standing up, she looks from one side of the room to the other. When her eyes finally land on me, I can see she’s crying. Yesterday’s eyeliner is smudged to her temples.
“You’re not going to get away with this,” she says to me angrily.
What the hell is she talking about?
Before I can respond, she moves into the walk-in closet. I listen as things fall to the ground and bang into the walls. She comes back out, holding Devon’s duffel bag, the one we’d packed with all my things for my short stay here.
“What are you doing?” I can only handle so much crazy, but she’s not just trashing a guest room, she’s going through my stuff.
“You know damn well what I’m looking for. Where’s my necklace?”
“Your necklace? What—”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” She empties the few things that were in the bag. Unsatisfied, she drops to the floor, looking under the bed. Then she crawls across the Persian rug, searching under all the furniture.
“Um—Serena? I don’t have your necklace. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh please. I mention a necklace, and the whole world knows what I’m talking about.”
Self-centered much?
She continues, “Huge diamond? Very expensive? You stole it. Ring a bell?”
That big, gaudy thing she wears? If we’re being honest, the first time I saw it on her, I thought it was costume jewelry—a big fake. But I quickly felt stupid. It’s the Stone family, after all. Of course it would be real. There’s no way in hell I’d steal it though.
“I didn’t take your necklace. I wouldn’t want that thing.”
“Of course you would. It’s worth more than you make in, what? Ten years, easily. It would pay your rent on whatever trashy apartment you must live in. It would pay for a new car.”
Well, when she puts it that way, I can see why stealing it would be worthwhile. I laugh at my own joke.
“You think this is funny?” She gets closer to me. Her excessive use of perfume competes with her obvious morning breath. “I’m going to find it. And when I do, your little butt is going to—”
“What the hell are you doing, Serena?” Kaidan’s in the doorway. His fists clenched at his sides.
“Kaidan. You’re a lawyer. You can arrest her.”
“That’s not what lawyers do, genius.”
Serena gives him a big pitiful look. “She stole my necklace. You know how much it means to me, and she snatched it with her grubby hands.”
Who’s she calling grubby? All I can do is look at her in bewilderment. Has she completely lost her mind?
Kaidan looks more angry than he should. This is actually pretty comical.
“I didn’t take it,” I say. “She doesn’t seem to believe me though.”
“She didn’t take it,” Kaidan repeats, glaring at Serena. His face seems to drop as he says each word. “Leave her the hell alone. Get out of here.