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“We left them down by the elevator. It’s too hard to carry a statue in high heels.”

At this point, I was sincerely wishing I hadn’t agreed to any of this, but here we were, the three of us and the Virgin Mary crammed into the small elevator. It seemed like the start of a very bad joke.

Ugh.

When the doors opened on the second floor, I stepped out first, checking the hallway. “Clear,” I hissed.

“Did you check to make sure everyone has gone downstairs?” Mia asked.

“No, was I supposed to?”

“Yes, go check,” Alessa said impatiently. “We’ll wait here, but hurry.”

I walked up and down the hall tapping on doors, reminding everyone that it was dinnertime. When I heard no response, I headed back to the elevator, passing the top of the stairs.

“Cara?”

I almost had a heart attack on the spot. “Slash?”

He stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. “Is everything okay?”

Chapter Thirty-One

Lexi Carmichael

I froze, guilt plastered all over my face. I was glad for the distance, because I was sure I would have been totally busted if he had a better look at my expression.

“Fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine, of course. I’ll be down in a minute. I just have one more thing to take care of, okay?”

“Okay, just don’t get carried away trying to make everything perfect.” He headed back toward the dining room.

My heart pounding, I ran to the elevator, where they were trying to keep the doors from closing. I kicked off my own shoes, figuring I needed the mobility as well.

“The coast is clear,” I said. “Hurry.”

The two girls hefted the statue between them and started shuffling down the hallway. I stood near the staircase, but out of sight so no one would spot me. I watched as Mia opened the door of Gio and Vittoria’s room with the key. Together they lifted the statue over the threshold of the door, setting it down in the room with a thump so loud it made me jump.

Why did I ever agree to this?

They disappeared into the room with the statue, but the door was still ajar. I checked the stairway, determined it was clear, then sidled down the hallway, peeking in to see how it was going.

From what I could see, the two of them had wrestled the statue onto the far side of the bed. Alessa was trying to prop it up while Mia tried to get the sign off her neck and onto the statue.

Just then I heard someone laugh from the vicinity of the stairway and crept back to see what was going on.

I almost passed out when I saw Vittoria and Gio headed toward the stairs.

Crap!

I ran back to the room, flipping off the light and nearly knocking over Alessa. Mia was fixing the sign on the statue, making sure it wasn’t crooked.

“What are you doing?” she said in surprise.

“They’re coming,” I hissed. “Gio and Vittoria.”

“What?” Alessa said, her face turning pale. “Why are they coming back up so quickly?”

“How am I supposed to know?” I whispered frantically. “I didn’t ask them.”