Four Letters (The Lust List: Devon Stone #3) (4 page)

“Us?” Kaidan speaks first. “Nah, we’re fine. It’s just how we are.”

Devon continues the thought, making it more apparent just how close they are. “We have each other’s backs, no matter what. But sometimes, we have to kick each other’s asses in the meantime.”

“Especially with Devon and the drinking and—” Kaidan stops short, throwing a look at Devon. “Never mind.”

But I know damn well what he was going to say. The drinking
and the drugs
. I wonder if Kaidan’s ever said anything to him about it.

The next morning, the sun streams through the huge windows overlooking the ocean, interrupting my sleep. Devon’s missing from the space next to me, and I feel instant disappointment. But in his place is a small, white envelope. My heart leaps at the little surprise. Inside the envelope, I find a folded piece of paper with the sexiest chicken scratch handwriting I’ve ever laid my eyes on, but at this point, I may be bias.

Didn’t want to wake you. I’ll see you soon, and I’ll miss you every minute I’m gone. —Devon

This man drives me crazy! Everything with him is a whirlwind of ups and downs, and I hope, more than anything, this ride can last 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. I’ll…I’ll look into it for you.”

Serena obeys and walks away, defeated.

Kaidan lingers in the doorway a second longer.

“Thank you.” He didn’t have to stick up for me. “I appreciate it.”

“It’s nothing.” He turns and walks away, closing the door behind him. The pleasantries of last night are clearly over.

Then again, I am sitting in bed, covering my half-naked body with a blanket. Now’s not the time for conversation anyway.

I lay back down trying to figure out what the hell that charade was about. Serena just confronted me like I’m a criminal, and why? Because I’m a guest here? Because I’m not a celebrity? Give me a break. A part of me hopes she’s lost her ridiculous necklace for good. Maybe it’ll teach her a lesson of some sort.

My choice is to stay here, basking in the sun and relaxing or to return home to my
grubby
life.

It’s time to get the hell out of here.

I could have Mark drive me home, but there’s one person eager to come to my rescue—Maddie. After hanging up with her, it takes her all of twenty minutes to show up.

“How fast did you drive to get here?” I ask as I finish grabbing the last of my things. The room’s a mess from Serena’s escapade, but someone else can pick up after her.

Maddie sits on the edge of the bed watching me, a little too excited to be bringing her best friend back home. “I evaded the cops, so what does it matter?” She laughs and bounces lightly on the bed. “This thing is comfortable. A good sex bed.”

I throw a clean pair of socks at her, hitting her upside the head. She grabs a throw pillow and retaliates.

“I’ve missed you,” she says.

“I’ve missed you too. The apartment still in one piece?”

“Of course not. I’ve been hosting raves every night, your room’s been transformed into a meth lab, and I’ve added five more roommates to the lease to make up for your absence.”

Har har. Very funny. “That’s some amazing productivity given I’ve only been gone a couple days.”

“Seriously, though. I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. Who wants to live this insanely rich life anyway?” She pauses a moment. “Oh right,
I
do. Why are you coming back to our crummy apartment anyway?”

“Because there’s a lot more to living than money. I want to cook my own meals—maybe even in the microwave. I don’t like the feeling of people waiting on me hand and foot.”

“Right…Sounds like a nightmare.” She rolls her eyes.

“Plus, Calvin and his crazy girlfriend are back, so the Stone mansion vacation is over.”

“Ah, a valid reason.”

I zip up the duffel bag, certain I haven’t forgotten anything
or
accidentally taken something not belonging to me. Who knows the hell Serena would raise if she found out I left with a Stone q-tip.

“All set,” I say and lead the way out of the room, down the stairs, and into the foyer.

Before we reach the front door, I hear Kaidan. “Hey, Olivia. Come here a minute…Please.”

“Give me a sec,” I tell Maddie and follow Kaidan’s voice to the study. “What’s up? I was just leaving.”

“I wanted to say sorry for earlier. Serena’s insane. You don’t need to leave because of her. And sorry if I was a little weird. There’s a lot going on right now.”

Kaidan Stone apologizing to me…this
is
weird.

“It’s no problem. I need to get back to my life, but I appreciate you all letting me hang out here.”

He nods. I assume that’s my opening to say goodbye, but then he changes the subject. “He cares about you, you know.”

My heart does that flutter thing again.

“I’ve never seen Devon like this with other girls,” Kaidan says, leaning back in his tall leather chair. “Just don’t let him get away with his bullshit. You and I both know he needs help. He may not listen to me, but I think he’ll listen to you.”

“I hope so.” I look towards the front door at Maddie and then back at Kaidan. “Thank you for that. And good luck with you and Hayley.”

He just shakes his head, and I can’t help but feel like I said the wrong thing again. I say bye and hurry back to Maddie.

Goodbye Stone mansion.

We get in her car, and I feel instantly liberated sitting in the passenger seat of a ten-year-old Toyota with non-tinted windows. Back to normal.

We weave our way down the long driveway, passing the carefully pruned hedges and tall green trees. But as we near the gate, it looks like leaving won’t be so easy.

“What’s going on?” Maddie asks.

The iron gates are closed, and Roger, the gate guard, is talking to one of the Stone’s security detail. The guy’s dressed in a black suit, sunglasses, and one of his hands holds firmly to the cuffed wrists of a woman they have in custody.

The woman is clearly distraught, yelling at the men, and it takes me no time at all to recognize her.

Her pixie cut dark hair. A cropped black tank top. Smokey eyeshadow.

It’s Lex.

“
Holy shit. It’s Devon’s sister.”

“Then why is she being arrested?” Maddie stops in front of the closed gate.

“Good question.” I reach over and tap the horn to get Roger’s attention. He looks over but holds up an index finger, telling me to wait.

I get out of the car and get as close as I can.

“Roger, what’s wrong?”

“Olivia?” Lex says, looking instantly relieved to see someone she knows. But this is the same girl who wouldn’t give us the time of day in Oregon. I’m not sure what she’s hoping I’ll do here.

Roger walks over. “Mr. Stone informed me there’s a woman following you all. We have reason to believe she—”

“And I already told you I’m fucking family, you asshole.” Lex yanks against her restraints again. This time, the security guy opens the backseat of his SUV and pushes her inside.

Roger sighs. “Once she’s away from the area, I’ll open the gate for you two.”

“She’s telling the truth,” I say. By now Maddie’s at my side, intrigued by the sudden drama.

“According to her, she’s the sister of—”

“Half-sister. They share the same mother. Devon and I just found out. I think he told Kaidan, too. And I’m sure Calvin knows Melody Hastings had another kid.”

“Damn. I haven’t heard that name in years,” Roger says. “But I still can’t let her in.”

“But you can’t arrest her either. Just let me talk to her.” Not sure what I’ll say, but she must be here for a reason.

Roger hesitates but then signals to the other guy to let Lex out. He brings her over to the gate.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. She looks like a wreck, like she hasn’t showered in a week.

“It’s all gone, Olivia.” She starts to sob. “All my money. My apartment. I got evicted. I’m broke.”

“So you came down here because?”

“Because it’s all fucking your fault.” She kicks the gate, and the guard yanks her away from it putting more space between us.

“How is it our fault?”

“Your people found out about me. They contacted the lawyer in charge of the will. They’d assumed mom was alive all this time accepting her payout, but when they found out she died, the money stopped.”

Should I feel bad about this? I mean, we didn’t intentionally do anything to hurt her. She could just as easily get a job to support herself—but even I know that’s sometimes easier said than done.

“I’m sorry, I guess. But what do you want from us?”

“You have it all. A cozy, stupid mansion. All the money in the world. Power to go with it.”

Does she know who she’s talking to? “Lex, you have no idea—”

“Oh, fuck off, Princess,” she yells. “What the hell do I do? I get kicked out. I have nothing left. Nothing. I hitched a ride down here just to kick your ass.”

“And you know I can tell these guys right here to take you in, right? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Roger speaks up. “We suspect she’s under the influence of an illegal substance. Likely, cocaine.”

Well, great. Just what I want to deal with—
two
Stones dealing with drug issues.

“Just take her down to the station,” Roger says. “We’ll deal with her—”