Page 185 of The Penalty

“Baby girl, I love you.” He held my arms in a tight grip. “But I will replace you as my best man if the sarcasm continues.”

“I thought I was your maid of honor.”

“Victoria Ava.”

“Killian Rhys.”

His entire face scrunched up like I’d served him a plate of moldy cheese. “I banned you from using my middle name in seventh grade.”

“Anyway.” I wriggled out of his grip. “Where are the rings? You were supposed to give them to me twenty minutes ago.”

“About that. Uh. Max lost his ring.”

“That can’t be possible. I put them both in the boxes myself when I got here and left them on the dresser.”

“Well…yeah.” Chagrin coated my best friend’s face. “We sort of did a role play thing with them and—”

Grabbing his arm, I pulled him toward a quieter area. “Tell me you didn’t have wild sex in the shower and—”

“Jacuzzi.”

“The jacuzzi?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Did it get sucked down the drain?”

“We don’t know. Can you look?”

I gestured at my dress. “I am not climbing into the jacuzzi wearing this to find your ring.”

“All the water is gone. I just need you to look. Please.”

Storm clouds filled his gray eyes. A calculated frown pulled at his mouth. When his bottom popped out it was game over. Killian knew I could never resist his sad, puppy dog face.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

A few minutes later, we walked into their suite. Max sat on the bed fidgeting with a pillow but looked rather handsome in his tuxedo.

“Without going into too much detail, were you wearing the ring the whole time?”

Max’s shoulders slumped. “No. I put mine in the little soap dish on the edge of the counter.”

Well that’s surprising. Between the two of them, Max was always the more responsible one.

“Okay.” I shot them both a look. “If I don’t find it, I’ll let you use this.” I tugged at the ring hanging from my necklace.

Killian’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Didn’t Xavier give that to you last spring?”

“Yes. But if I can’t find Max’s, you’ll need something to exchange during your vows. Xavier won’t mind.”

Killian opened his mouth to protest but Max clamped his hand over it. “Thanks, Victoria.”

I went inside the bathroom. Towels were strewn all over the floor.

I scanned the area around the jacuzzi.

Candles. A box of chocolate. Nachos?

I laughed to myself, noticing the soap dish Max mentioned. Kicking aside some of the towels, a small object bounced and glittered on the tile.

Jackpot.

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