Page 62 of Stolen Love

“Rogue, this isn’t a discussion. I’m telling you that you’re not coming with me.”

“Baby.” He winces when the pet name drops from his lips. His skin turns a subtle shade of green. “Ivy, even if you’re right… and you might not be… you’re talking about confronting the man who wants to marry you so badly he’s willingly played a part in covering up your dad’s murder. He helped Nicole murder another man so she can frame me. All the while hiding that we’re related. If you go to him alone, he will not let you go.”

I cross my arms over my chest and jut out my chin. “Then I won’t go alone.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ivy

“Tick tock. Tick Tock,” Dizzy says with a big smile that lights up her eyes.

She’s wearing my bunny ears on her head, but the tips of the ears are as pink as the tips of her hair. She takes my hand.

Twining our fingers together, she tugs me along. “We can’t be late.”

“Late for what?” I hurry to keep up with her, my heels clicking on the marble floor as we run toward the railing on the second level. Below us a double staircase leads to the foyer of my family home. There are wrought iron panels every few steps where the iron has been twisted and curved into filagree spindles.

The wooden handrail is smooth under my palm, glossy and silken from constant polishing. Red satin bows, gold bells, and holly hang from it.

A chandelier is suspended between the two staircases, heavy with crystals. Below is a circular stone table with a huge spray of red roses in a tall vase. A pair of turtledove figurines sit beneath it.

“To your birthday party, silly,” she calls out, already halfway down the stairs.

“What? How did you get so far ahead? Wait up.” And what does she mean, I’m late to my birthday party? That’s the last thing I want to deal with right now. “I don’t have time for this, Dizzy. I need to work out how to stop Nicole.”

“Everyone will be there.”

I catch up to her at the bottom of the stairs. She wraps her hand around my wrist and drags me along.

When did my cast come off? And why is Dizzy in my childhood home? “What are you talking about?”

“Where’s your invitation?” she asks.

“What? Why do I need an invitation to my own party?” I start to pat my pockets only to discover that I’m wearing a white dress. It has a fitted bodice with a sweetheart neckline that makes my boobs look phenomenal. And a top layer that is cut out to look like leaves.

I have coveted this dress online. Obsessed over the delicate stitching and lace work. It’s beautiful. It doesn’t have pockets though. “I don’t have one.”

“Of course you do.” She looks at me like I’m the one not making sense. “It’s in your hand.”

“Oh.” I look down. The envelope I’m clutching is the same one I received from my father when I was at Mojito. On the front are six numbers.

“Open it.” Dizzy giggles as a shadow passes over us.

I shiver, the hair on my arms standing up. Tearing into the envelope I pull out a key. “Is this the invitation?”

“Hush. He’s coming for you.” Dizzy puts a finger to her lips and smiles. “We better hurry.”

Somewhere inside the house someone starts to whistle. That song. It was Alec’s way of letting me know he was coming for me. My pulse quickens as the shadows around us grow longer. “Are you working with Alec? Did you know he’s Rogue and West’s cousin?”

“Oh I know everything,” she says. “He told me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I dig my heels in as she drags me toward a set of double doors. “He told you what? Who is he?”

“We can’t be late.” She snatches the key from my hand and inserts it in the lock in the double doors. Twisting the handles, she opens both doors at once.

“We’re here, Miss Love.” Jackson’s announcement drags me out of the memory of last night’s vivid nightmare and returns me to the backseat of the Range Rover.

Alec barely made an appearance in the nightmare. West didn’t at all. And I’m certain most of it was conjured by the stress we’ve been under. But I can’t shake this ominous feeling that’s taken up residence in my spine.

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