Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

JAKE

"See!" Nina shrills. "See! I told you it wasn't me." She takes a step toward Rosie, her gaze narrowing to where her hand is wrapped around Anthony's shoulder.

"That woman was after my fiancé—she—" She flinches, her gaze dropping to the writhing vines on the carpet as she nearly steps on one.

" Snakes ," Lainey hisses out, her tone a bit vindictive. She squeezes my hand and gets to her feet, a bit wobbly. I watch as she goes to Rosie, wrapping her up in a hug. She's probably as thrown by Rosie's confession as I am, but she trusts her friend. She's giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Fuck.

Elaine Catlan is one hell of a woman, and I don't want to lose her. I'd do anything to stay with her, to hook my carriage to hers, but Mrs. Rosings has the necklace.

Nina, who doesn't give a shit about my internal crisis, is having a stare-off with her would-have-been mother-in-law.

"Leave," Mrs. Rosings commands, her voice hard as she stares Nina down. "Take your valise from the front closet and go. You may keep the necklaces, but if you ever try to contact my son or anyone in my family again, I will report them stolen, and I will ruin you so thoroughly you'll discover new meanings for the word."

Something flashes in Nina's eyes. Her gaze dips to Anthony again, but she only holds eye contact with him for half a second before turning wordlessly toward the front closet.

"Uh, she can't drive right now," I say. I don't want to tell them what Joy did. For all I know they'll insist she's thrown into jail for it, so if possible, I need to avoid telling them why Nina shouldn't drive. But I can't let any of them get behind the wheel of a car for hours.

Nina turns to look at me, hatred burning in her eyes like they're the coals at the bottom of a fire. "Just because he bought the BMW doesn't mean it's not rightfully mine."

"It's not yours," Mrs. Rosings insists. "Because I bought it for him . She can bring you to the airport." She nods toward Joy, who's even pinker in the face than before.

"Yes, of course," Joy offers quickly, probably recognizing the reprieve, same as I do. She hurries toward the door as Nina lugs her heavy suitcase from the closet where Mrs. Rosings stowed it.

Anthony gets to his feet and watches his former fiancée prepare to leave without so much as a goodbye. "That's it?" he says, sounding sober now, like whatever was in that tea has already started to wear off.

Nina glances back at him from the door, her expression hard. "Don't pretend you were in it for the right reasons either," she says with a shrug, as if all of it meant nothing, and then she steps out of the house and, presumably, out of his life.

Joy gives us an apologetic wave and hurries out after her, closing the door behind her with a snick of sound.

A sigh leaves Mrs. Rosings's lungs as the front door closes on Nina.

Anthony doesn't say anything, he just turns and leaves the room, staggering a little as he heads down the hallway. From where the door slams shut deeper into the house, I'm guessing he's in his bedroom.

Mrs. Rosings mutters something about Adrien, her mind probably still giving her his father's image when she looks at him.

"He'll be fine," Mrs. Rosings murmurs. Then, turning toward Lainey and Rosie, who's still quietly crying, she clucks her tongue and says, "There's no need for carrying on. Tears never did anything for a woman. You'll sit down and explain why I shouldn't have you arrested. Now ."

Rosie shoots me a panicked look, and I know, I just fucking know, that her reason for taking the necklace involves me.

"And then you," Mrs. Rosings adds, skewering me with a look, "are going to tell me just who it is you are, and why everything in this room suddenly looks like it's alive. I enjoy playing games as much as the next person, but after a while, they grow tiresome."

"Jake's a therapist," Lainey says, straight-faced. She guides Rosie over to the vacated loveseat and then walks over to me, wrapping an arm around me as if she could protect me from the world.

She would, I think.

And I know that even though I'd destroy myself to save my brother, I'd do the same for her. I can't let her get in trouble, not for something I've done, not even for something she did, so I only have one move here.

"If he's a therapist, then I'm the Queen of England," Mrs. Rosings says imperially, reaching for her teacup.

"Don't drink that," I tell her, deciding I might as well start being truthful now since I've decided to try it on for size. "There's something in the tea blend that's a little…psychedelic."

She smiles at me, shaking her head, and then lifts the teacup to her lips anyway. "Good."

Turning to Rosie, she says, "Well?"

I sit back down, tugging Lainey with me because I have a feeling we're going to be here for a while. Rosie is giving us a desperate look. She's nearly red in the face, and I know she's agonizing over what she can say without pointing a finger at me.

"Tell her everything," I say to Rosie. "I'm going to do the same."

Lainey turns on her cushion to face me, her pupils still dilated and her eyes fearful. " Jake ."

Maybe she's remembering how well I did in a locked room for ten minutes, and drawing the obvious conclusion that I'd be fucking wrecked in jail. Maybe she's thinking what I am…that I want to continue the life the way we've lived it this past week—understood, cared for, supported. As a pair.

But the only way I can live that life with her, whatever it might look like, is by facing up to the man I've been. I never figured an old rich woman would be my judge and jury, but maybe it tracks. I've stolen from the rich, so it's probably only poetic justice that I find myself facing their judgement.

Even though I can feel Mrs. Rosings shamelessly staring at us while Rosie tries to pull it together, I lift a hand to Lainey's chin and trace my thumb over her bottom lip before kissing her. "This is how it has to be. I love you."

Her eyes widen. "You're not the third sword. You're my wand."

I have no idea what the fuck that means, but I kiss her again before holding her hand and nodding to Rosie.

Rosie clears her throat. "I'm so sorry. I…" She glances at us.

"Eyes over here," Mrs. Rosings says sharply.

Rosie looks at her. "I…I knew Lainey was worried about the necklace being taken."

By me, obviously, but I appreciate that she doesn't state the obvious.

"When the power went out," Rosie continues, "I figured it was purposeful, and whoever wanted the necklace was about to act. I'd headed straight to the drawing room once the game of Hide and Seek started, so I was already in there. So I just…I tried to open the case to see how good the lock was, but there was no lock. Anyone could have come in and grabbed it."

Mrs. Rosings laughs under her breath, as if she's patting her back and saying good one.

Rosie swallows, playing with the ends of her hair, then says, "It occurred to me that if I took it out of the case and hid it, I could put it back after the power came back on. So I took it and hid it beneath a bush at the back of the house, where I thought no one would find it…" More tears trail down her cheeks as she steals another glance at Lainey. "I know it's awful that I didn't say anything. I thought I'd lost it…and when you told me Jake didn't have it, I figured it must have been someone else. I…I moved away from my brother's house in such a hurry because I didn't want anyone to know what I was doing. I've spent every spare minute I have trying to figure out what happened to it and who could have taken it. You were looking into Anthony and Nina, so I've been following around other people from the party."

"And that's why you convinced us to suggest using Joy to cater the tea," Lainey says softly. It's obvious from the look on her face that she believes Rosie, and I do too. "You wanted your own chance to search the house."

Rosie nods softly. "Yeah. I poked around a bit when I went back to find water, but then everyone was acting so weird, because… Well…"

"Of the psychedelics in the tea. Yes," Mrs. Rosings says. She shifts her attention to me. "Do we have you to thank for that?"

"Indirectly," I say, clearing my throat. "We told Joy we'd love for everyone to be in an…honest mood. And she should have asked for more direction."

She holds my gaze. "You've lied to me, and you've lied to my boy." Her eyes drift to Lainey's hand, cradled in mine. "And despite that, you've managed to win over what is usually a very sensible young woman. How am I supposed to believe you're in in an honest mood?"

I squeeze Lainey's hand lightly. "Because I love her," I say. "And I like Anthony. And I'm sick as hell of lying."