Page 14 of Theo (Stone Brothers #6)

TWELVE

LACEY

M y mom's fingers trembled as she helped me put on the diamond necklace. "Mom, it's all right. I'm pretty sure you can't break them."

"I want to make sure the clasp is tight."

"I think I'd notice if they slipped off.

" I lifted the necklace off my chest. "It must weigh three pounds.

" I'd opted for a plunging neckline, but no one would notice the neckline now because it was filled with sparkling diamonds.

I was pretty sure people wouldn't even notice the bride beneath the strands of diamonds glittering under the lights.

Mom leaned back and looked at me. For the hundredth time, tears filled her eyes. "You're so beautiful, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom."

Concern creased her brow, and she took my hand. "It's just the jitters. You'll feel better once the ceremony is over."

"Lacey! Let's go." A deep, familiar voice called up the stairs.

Mom's eyes rounded. "Who on earth is that?"

"Uh, I'm not sure," I said, but I knew damn well who it was. The long, silky train of my dress flowed behind me as I hurried out the door.

"Your dress, sweetie. No one should see it!" Mom called.

I reached the landing. Joan was standing at the top, speaking angrily into her phone.

I was sure the police were on the other end.

And there in the middle of the massive staircase stood the boy who'd stolen my heart in high school.

Heck, he stole it long before that. As I looked down at Theo Stone with his thick, dark blonde hair and dark brown eyes, I realized he'd never given it back.

He'd always made my knees weak and standing just feet from him again, they were pure jelly.

"Theo." It was the only word that came out.

George and a few of the brutish looking security personnel were standing a few steps below, trying to decide how to handle this without causing a spectacle in front of the wedding guests.

Theo's brother, Cormac, and his cousin, Crusoe, were standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking ready to jump in if needed.

"The police are on their way," Joan said sharply. She shot me a menacing glower. "Friends of yours, I suppose," she said with disgust.

"Oh my," Mom said behind me. Dad came out from the crowd, too. He stayed at the bottom of the stairs. Cormac nodded politely at him, but Dad didn't return the greeting.

"C'mon, Ace, this isn't for you." Theo walked up a few more steps.

George and his guards did the same. And then the strangest thing happened.

I was surrounded by people, everyone staring up at me, but they all faded away and for a brief moment, it was just me and the boy I'd loved for what felt like my whole life.

Theo ignored them too, even though I knew we were just seconds from the security team grabbing all three Stones and removing them from the property. He held out his hand. "I'm serious, Lacey. You belong with me. We've always belonged together."

"Come now, Theo, why don't you three boys go before you get into trouble," Mom said.

"So, you know these hoodlums, too?" Joan asked sharply.

"I've known them since they were babies, and they're good boys. They're not hoodlums," Mom spoke back just as sharply, and if my heart and mind hadn't been in an utter state of turmoil, I would have turned around and hugged her.

"All right. That's enough. You're going to be escorted off the property and held until the police arrive," George said sternly. He was always good at keeping his composure. It was part of his surgeon's training, but his voice cracked just enough to let me know he was worried.

"Lacey, go back to the room. You should never have come out." His order made me bristle.

One of the guards moved up to the step below Theo.

"Uh, you don't want to get any closer," Cormac called from below. He plastered on a smug grin. "Trust me."

The guard actually seemed to take pause from Cormac's warning.

Theo hadn't taken his eyes off me. "What do ya say, Ace?"

I turned back to my mom. She looked almost amused. "You might need this." She handed me the satin clutch I'd bought for the day, a day that was turning out nothing like I'd expected.

I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Love you, Mom."

"I put your phone inside. Call me," she whispered back.

I reached back and fiddled with the stupid clasp on the necklace.

The weighty rocks slipped down off my neck, and I handed them over to Joan.

For the first time since I'd met her, she was speechless.

I lifted the front of my dress. I was still only wearing flip-flops, the perfect getaway shoes.

Who needed glass slippers? I was always more suited to flip-flops.

My heart was pounding. Everyone had gathered in the small landing area to see what was happening.

There were plenty of gasps, and a few cell phones came out to film.

I avoided looking at George, but I could feel him shooting daggers at me from his eyes.

The second my hand landed in Theo's, I knew I'd done the right thing.

Theo didn't hesitate. He turned and looked at the guard blocking our path. "C'mon, bro, you know you hate working for these rich fucks. This one's for our team." The man stepped out of the way.

Cormac and Crusoe brought up the rear as we headed past the awestruck spectators.

"We'll have all of you arrested," Joan screeched. I'd never heard her speak in anything but a clipped, measured tone.

I was glad I'd opted for the simple dress. I had to hold it up to keep from tripping on the front hem, but it didn't hinder my escape. And that's exactly what it felt like—an escape.

Theo held tightly to my hand as we raced to their car. "Uh, so that necklace. It was fake, right?" he asked.

"Nope. Worth a quarter of a million."

We stopped at the car. "Shit. Not sure I would have handed those back." Theo reached up, took hold of my face and kissed me lightly on the lips. "Yep, still the best fucking lips in the world."

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Romance," Cormac said. "You need to save your best lines for somewhere else. There's an angry mob heading this way."

A good portion of the guests had poured out the front doors. George was leading the crowd, his face red with rage.

"Lacey, get back here now. You can't be serious. Get back inside!"

Theo opened the passenger door before hurrying around to his side.

Crusoe and Cormac piled in the back. Theo yanked the car around, and he raced down the long, winding driveway.

The gates had been left open for the arriving guests.

We zipped past a few cars, and he shot out through a break in the traffic.

I sat back and realized I might have been in a state of shock. "Did that just happen?" I asked but I hadn't really meant to say it out loud.

"It sure did, Ace."

Cormac sat forward. "Nice dress, Michaels, but probably overdressed for where we're going. Where are we going, bro?"

Theo looked over at me. "There's this crummy little motel about twenty miles down the highway." His smile melted me, and suddenly, I was as liquid as the five-hundred-dollar-a-yard silk on my dress.

I felt a blush warm my face and just smiled in return.

After our sexy phone call, I'd been thinking nonstop about being in Theo's arms. I supposed that was what made it so easy to leave the wedding.

That and the fact that I was miserably unhappy about the whole thing.

Being in Theo's old car with his brother and cousin, I felt myself transported back to my teens when living life to the fullest and being crazy happy and in love was the order of the day.

"Uh, Theo," Crusoe said dryly from the back seat. "What should the two of us do while you two do whatever it is you're planning to do in a crummy motel room?"

Cormac was scrolling through his phone. "Dude, I know exactly what we'll be doing. There's a pool hall with topless dancers just a few miles from the motel. Drop us off there, Jones," Cormac said in a snobbish tone. "Shit, I think that one bite of caviar has made me a rich asshole now."

"You've got part of that right," Crusoe said.

I laughed. Theo shook his head. "Didn't want to show up to the house alone in case there was a whole army of security."

"That's right," Cormac said. "He had to bring along his own badass bodyguards."

"Yeah, that's what you two were," Theo said sarcastically. He reached over and took my hand. "Hey, I'm glad you came with us."

"If I hadn't, it would have been kind of embarrassing for you." I stopped. "Never mind. I forgot who I'm talking to. Theo Stone doesn't do embarrassment."

"Not true and I wouldn't have been embarrassed cuz I couldn't give a shit about those rich fucks. I would have been heartbroken … again … because you, Lacey Michaels, are the one girl who unconditionally owns my heart."

Crusoe and Cormac both sat forward and propped their chins on the top of the seat backs. "Aw, that is just about as cute as it gets," Cormac said. "By the way, Lacey, you are still smoking hot."

I reached back and nudged both of them to sit back.

"Time to dump my bodyguards," Theo said.

"Yep. Oh, and bro, since we came along with you on this adventure, it's only fair that you lend us some money for the pool hall."

"Yeah, yeah, anything to keep you asshats busy for a few hours," Theo said. He looked over at me and smiled. "Glad you came," he repeated. As he said it, my phone rang. I opened the clutch. It was George, and there were a dozen texts from Mindy. I silenced the phone and put it back in my purse.

I had no idea how bad things would get for me after this, but for a few hours, I was going to forget all about George Plunkett and his horrid mother and go back to being little old Lacey Michaels from Trayton.