Page 112 of The Love Bandits

“Yes,” Mrs. Rosings says flatly. “You did. It was clever of you not to take anything from my bedroom. I don’t know how you got into the basement safe, but a thief has her ways. I’m only surprised you were clumsy enough to lose the Heart of the Mountain since you went to the trouble of getting such a fine replica made.”

What’s this now?

Lainey leans into me, her hair tickling my ear, and stage-whispers loudly enough for everyone to hear, “She’s talking about the Heart of the Mountain.”

She’s adorable, and I might be about to get busted for any number of things, so I take the opportunity to kiss the side of her face. “Yes, I picked up on that, hellcat.”

“But I didn’t do that,” Nina says, and this time I can tell she means it. It’s there in her tone and the honest confusion painted all over her face.

Rosie and Joy walk back in with a pitcher of water and five glasses, but when Rosie sees Anthony curled up on the floor next to the sofa, she sets the pitcher down on the coffee table with a resounding crack. Then she goes to him and wraps a hand around his shoulder before leaning in and whispering something into his ear.

He looks up, his expression as astonished as a man who’s seen the face of God, and says, “Whoareyou?”

“I’m Rosie,” she says simply, her hand still on his shoulder.

My attention shifts to Mrs. Rosings, whose hard gaze is on Nina. “You’re trying to tell me that you didn’t steal the Heart of the Mountain, replace it with a fake, and then hide the necklace in a bush? You must have been surprised when it wasn’t still there when you went back for it.” She huffs out a bitter laugh. “As if I wouldn’t have a tracker on my most expensive piece of jewelry.”

“Ididn’ttake it,” Nina huffs. “I wouldn’t know how to sell something like that.” She lifts her hand to her mouth as if she could stuff the words back in.

“I’m the one who took it,” someone says in a small but forceful voice.

It’s Rosie, her hand still on Anthony’s shoulder. And as everyone turns to stare at her, she bursts into tears.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

JAKE

“See!” Nina shrills. “See! I told you it wasn’t me.” She takes a step toward Rosie, her gaze narrowing to where her hand is wrapped around Anthony’s shoulder.

“That woman was after my fiancé—she—” She flinches, her gaze dropping to the writhing vines on the carpet as she nearly steps on one.

“Snakes,” Lainey hisses out, her tone a bit vindictive. She squeezes my hand and gets to her feet, a bit wobbly. I watch as she goes to Rosie, wrapping her up in a hug. She’s probably as thrown by Rosie’s confession as I am, but she trusts her friend. She’s giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Fuck.

Elaine Catlan is one hell of a woman, andI don’t want to lose her.I’d do anything to stay with her, to hook my carriage to hers, but Mrs. Rosings has the necklace.

Nina, who doesn’t give a shit about my internal crisis, is having a stare-off with her would-have-been mother-in-law.

“Leave,” Mrs. Rosings commands, her voice hard as she stares Nina down. “Take your valise from the front closet and go. You may keep the necklaces, but if you ever try to contact my son or anyone in my family again, I will report them stolen, and Iwill ruin you so thoroughly you’ll discover new meanings for the word.”

Something flashes in Nina’s eyes. Her gaze dips to Anthony again, but she only holds eye contact with him for half a second before turning wordlessly toward the front closet.

“Uh, she can’t drive right now,” I say. I don’t want to tell them what Joy did. For all I know they’ll insist she’s thrown into jail for it, so if possible, I need to avoid telling themwhyNina shouldn’t drive. But I can’t let any of them get behind the wheel of a car for hours.

Nina turns to look at me, hatred burning in her eyes like they’re the coals at the bottom of a fire. “Just becausehebought the BMW doesn’t mean it’s not rightfully mine.”

“It’s not yours,” Mrs. Rosings insists. “Because I bought it forhim. She can bring you to the airport.” She nods toward Joy, who’s even pinker in the face than before.

“Yes, of course,” Joy offers quickly, probably recognizing the reprieve, same as I do. She hurries toward the door as Nina lugs her heavy suitcase from the closet where Mrs. Rosings stowed it.

Anthony gets to his feet and watches his former fiancée prepare to leave without so much as a goodbye. “That’s it?” he says, sounding sober now, like whatever was in that tea has already started to wear off.

Nina glances back at him from the door, her expression hard. “Don’t pretend you were in it for the right reasons either,” she says with a shrug, as if all of it meant nothing, and then she steps out of the house and, presumably, out of his life.

Joy gives us an apologetic wave and hurries out after her, closing the door behind her with a snick of sound.

A sigh leaves Mrs. Rosings’s lungs as the front door closes on Nina.

---