by E. M. Moore
It’s too bad after this is over is open-ended. I don’t think any of us know when that will be.
My family has been searching for the treasure for hundreds of years. My father believed we were close. Now with Stone’s technology and assistance, we have a real chance at finding it sooner rather than later. Sometimes, I pinch myself. I wouldn’t have kept searching if I didn’t actually think I could find it but planning on actually finding a Spanish cache of gold and jewels, sounds so...fiction. It’s something I would read in a book, and trust me, I would read the shit out of a book with a treasure hunt in it.
As long as the girl got to have several boyfriends. That sounds like a freaking masterpiece.
“It’s the best-case scenario.” Lucas draws over my thighs with his fingertips. “Also, Cole interrupted breakfast, so I’m hungry.”
“Speaking of...” I start, “you three are in trouble.”
There’s dead silence in the car before Lucas breaks it. “We were worried. You can’t be mad about that.”
“I get that part. What I don’t understand is the getting in his face, wondering if he wanted to fuck me part. If he did, that’s up to me. Just because I’m fucking the three of you doesn’t mean I’m going to drop shorts for anyone.”
Stone glances in the rearview mirror to meet my eyes. “I’m with Wyatt. I’m pleading jealousy.”
“Plead stupidity and sexism and I’ll be more apt to forgive you.”
Lucas grips my thigh. “I didn’t think you were going to jump into bed with him, but I was worried about his intentions. Coming to find you, helping us, telling you the truth. It seemed like there was something there.”
“I like him,” I tell them all, making sure to look at each one of them, including Wyatt who’s turned around in his seat to stare at me. “But like a friend. He’s helped us so much, and he doesn’t have to. You all need to learn how to get along with him.”
Wyatt’s face pinches, and I understand his apprehension. One of Cole’s guys actually hurt Wyatt—freaking stabbed him—and I don’t expect him to get over it so easily, but Cole explained that he was playing a part. He had to be the big, tough gang leader back then.
“Promise me that if you’re worried about something in our relationship it stays with us. I could’ve spoken to Cole about his intentions myself without you guys acting all macho to prove a point.”
“I’m not sure we scared him anyway so it is a moot point,” Wyatt throws out, completely disgusted by the fact that their little argument this morning had no impact on Cole whatsoever.
“I’m sorry,” Stone states, meeting my gaze in the mirror. “Really.”
I’m surprised he’s the first to say it. He must really be trying to butter me up after almost marrying Rissa.
“And I’m sorry for wanting you to put something else on. That was wrong. I was wrapped up in the moment, and you had this just-fucked face that—”
Wyatt groans. “I know what you mean. She gets this look and—”
I flick him on the shoulder.
He smiles back at me. “I’m sorry, too. But also, I’m not going to stop being me, and if I think a guy is looking at you like he wants to fuck you, I’m going to say something.”
“Me too,” Lucas admits. He gives me one of his lazy smiles. “I’m not going to be able to hold that part back, but I’m sorry you were upset about the way we handled it, and I’m even more sorry that we didn’t express our concerns to you ahead of time.”
I flex my fingers, trying to release the tension building up in them. “So, are we all on board with Team Cole then?”
“Please,” Stone scoffs. “I think Cole’s Team Wilder-Jacobs.”
Wyatt runs his fingers along the brim of his hat and scowls out the windshield. “I’m cool with it unless he brings his dangerous shit to us.”
“Yeah, what Wyatt said,” Lucas agrees. “We need him because the shit Lance is pulling is in his wheelhouse, but after all is said and done, we’re not going to play one big gang family with him. We’re staying out of that shit.”
“Well, of course,” I agree.
Lucas blinks over at me, his lips a thin line. He stares, watching my expression as if he’s expecting me to do something.
“Good, now that that’s over,” Wyatt says, “I’m looking forward to being punished for my transgression.”
Stone shakes his head. “Jesus….”
Lucas smiles and leans forward to punch Wyatt in the arm. “Look, you finally drove Stone insane. He’s at a loss for words.”
“He’s just mad he didn’t say it first.”
Stone meets my stare in the mirror again, features softening. He understands that I need some time. The flowers were a nice touch, and the idea to pay our own security team to watch over the jeweler was also spot on. Now I won’t be consumed by guilt that he might die because of us. But my heart needs to do a little more mending and forgiving.
Stone’s phone rings, and his car flashes the number. I only see Security before Stone yanks the car to the side of the road, kicking up dirt. He slams on the brakes, and Lucas holds his hand out to shield me.
“What the fuck, bro?” Wyatt growls as he grips the dashboard in front of him.
“It’s the security company to the house,” Stone grits. He presses the answer button, and a recorded voice fills the car alerting us that the police were dispatched to our house due to a zone alarm trigger. “Fuck!”
The ring.
Stone pulls back out onto the road. The tires finally grab the cement, and we peel out. We’re about ten minutes away—too long to get there in time to do anything if someone has broken in. If Lance’s team were listening in on the jeweler, they know about the ring now, and it would only stand to reason they would try to steal it.
“Stone....”
“I know,” he growls. His eyes narrow as the car revs underneath us. “They won’t touch the ring. I promise. That house has maximum security.” He takes a curve too fast and the wheels screech against the road before he straightens the car again.
“What if they get to it before the police get there?” Cole seems to think Lance hired ex-military personnel. If they’re that good, they could be in and out before our second-rate law-enforcement show up.
“They won’t find it,” Stone promises. He doesn’t meet my gaze in the mirror again which makes my stomach clench, fear dousing me in ice until I’m shaking.
Lucas rubs my back, and I swear the drive is the longest seven minutes of my life. When we get there, a Clary police car is in the driveway. He waves Stone down at the start of the cement walk that leads to the front door—which is wide open. “This your house?”
Stone completely ignores him. He exits the car and runs into the house, leaving Lucas and Wyatt to deal with the uniformed cop. I try to run in with him, but Wyatt grasps my hand to keep me from doing so. The patrolman tells us we’ve had a break-in, and that there’s no one in there anymore. He wants to know if there was anything that was stolen. Lucas asks him for his card and tells him they’ll get in touch if they find anything wrong. The deflection is just a story. If the ring is gone, law enforcement won’t be able to do anything about it.
The cop doesn’t have a card, so Lucas puts the officer’s number in his phone. I swear, Clary police wouldn’t know their asses from holes in the ground.
Stone comes back out as the squad car pulls out of the driveway. A moment later, he gets a text. He reads it with a frown. “It’s our security team sending us an update,” he explains.
“The ring, Stone,” I remind him, practically jumping out of my skin. It’s my most prized possession. I can’t lose it. Especially not to Lance Jacobs.
“It’s there.” Stone drops the phone to his side and makes his way to me. He places his arms around my shoulders and squeezes. “It’s there. I saw it. They don’t know where the safe is, and even if they did, it would take a bomb to get it open. I promise you. I wouldn’t have put it in there if I didn’t think it was secure.”
>
I sigh, relaxing a little with that knowledge. We all stride up the front walk to find the main door dented near the lock. “Fuckers,” Wyatt growls. “It’s a steel fucking door.”
“We’ll get a better one,” Stone assures, flicking his gaze away from it as if it’s the least of his worries.
Wyatt whistles, shaking his head as he inspects the damage. “The side of the house is damaged, too.”
“Our security was already here before the police came. No one left anything. No recording devices. No bugs. They’ve watched the cameras, and it was a team dressed in black, completely trashing the place. More than likely searching for the safe.”
I step further in and gasp at the wreckage they left behind. The sofas are overturned. Paintings that were on the wall are now on the floor, ripped away haphazardly.
“They didn’t take anything,” Stone reads, still staring down at his screen as if he’s giving us the highlights from the report.
Shit in the kitchen is pulled out of the cupboards, and drawers are lying on the floor. I start down the hallway and notice the same with our rooms. They’re ransacked. Things all over the floor, torn away from the walls and out of dressers. They really looked everywhere for the safe.
“They were systematic,” Stone calls out. “Professionals. I’m going to call the housekeeper and tell her I need her to work some overtime, and I’ll call a handyman for the door, too.”
I lean against the glass wall to my room, thankful that it’s only a bit of mess we have to deal with instead of the soul-crushing idea that they got the ring. Or anything else that was in my family’s hidden canister—our legacy.
I pull the sheets back up on the bed, making it as best I can. Then, I work on the closet and dresser until everything is packed away again. I work on my en suite next, which wasn’t really touched except for towels littering the tile floor.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Stone tells me as I walk back into my room.
“I know. I just....” I shiver. “I couldn’t stand to think someone was in here, messing with my stuff.”
“We’re completely safe,” Stone repeats. “I wouldn’t let us stay here if I didn’t think that. Hey.” He walks up to me, concern filling his eyes. “It’s been a long day already, and it’s not even 10:30am. Let me draw you a bath.”
“A bath? I only have a shower.”
“You haven’t been in my bathroom yet, have you?” He tugs on my hand, and I follow him into his room. He opens his bathroom door, and off to the side, is a jetted tub surrounded by windows that overlook the mountains.
He turns the faucet on, checking the temperature before allowing it to fill. He drops in a round, blue circle, and the water starts to fizz. “What’s that?”
“A bath bomb.”
An intoxicating aroma fills the air, and he shows me how to turn the jets on, then brushes a kiss across my forehead before leaving the room. I peel my clothes off, stepping into the humongous, oval tub. The warm water caresses my tired skin, and the scent of the bath bomb overwhelms my senses as well as tingles along my skin. “This is nice,” I say aloud, leaning my head against the back. Then, I remember to turn the jets on and that’s a whole different experience. It’s like heaven in a bathroom.
I don’t know how long I spend in the bath, but by the time I get out, the entire house is back in order. It’s as if the whole thing never happened.
11
I find Stone in the living room with his laptop across his knees, typing away. When he hears me coming, he sets it aside and jumps up. “Wyatt made you something. He thought you’d be hungry.”
He saunters into the kitchen, a pair of sweats on. Even the lazy look suits him. He has a way of making thrown together clothes sexy because he knows he looks damn good in them. “Where is he?” I ask, figuring he’d be out here, too.
“He went with Lucas to the store to pick up a few things for our next trip up the mountains. We were thinking we should go as soon as possible, and since school won’t be a factor, we can go for as long as we want.” He retrieves a plastic-wrapped plate from the fridge, placing it on the granite countertop in front of me. Turning toward the cupboards again, he grabs a bag of chips while I peel off the stretchy film. “It’s turkey breast. He whipped it up while you were taking a bath.”
“That bath....” I sigh. “It’s divine.”
He smiles as he empties some chips onto my plate. “You’re welcome to use it whenever you want.”
I pull the sandwich toward me. “I think I lost track of time watching the mountains. Sometimes I stare so long thinking they’ll give me a sign or something.”
Stone chuckles. “Wouldn’t that be nice? I’m all for a big X somewhere.”
I take a bite and chew slowly. This is way better than the lunch meat sandwiches we used to eat at home. It’s got some substance to it. Wyatt never goes half-assed with food.
Stone places his elbows on the counter and leans toward me, worrying his lip. “I was also thinking we should take reinforcements into the mountains with us. Dad’s not going to just let us find the treasure, and we can’t let him find it because it’s yours.”
I blink up at him and swallow hard before I choke. “We can’t let him find the treasure because he doesn’t deserve the money and power it would give him.”
Stone shakes his head. “The treasure is yours, Dakota. It was always meant to be yours. We’re going to find it, and you’re going to get everything you’ve ever wanted.”
My heart fills, expanding until it feels as if I won’t be able to hold it in my chest any longer. “What if I’ve already found everything I’ve ever wanted?”
Stone pulls back, eyes widening. It only takes him a second to recover. “We could drop everything right now.” He moves around the island, stopping in front of me. I turn in my chair, and he grasps the back of my neck, pulling me out of my seat. “We could leave this behind. Go to school somewhere else. Clary would only be a memory. Outside of its shadow, we could find out who we truly are.”
His words weave a dream that’s easily attainable. I could pluck it out of the air, nod, and Stone would make it happen. He’d build my fairytale for me from the ground up. I know he would.
“I could work full-time on you forgiving me.”
“I’ve already forgiven you.” His fingers squeeze me tighter, biting into the base of my skull. “I just need to bleach the memory from my subconscious, that’s all.”
“You already know I dream of you.” His breath falters. “I dream of little girls who look like you in overalls and curls hidden in braids, freckles spackled across their noses from the sun. They’ll give me those same eyes you used to when you were a little girl, and I’d be a goner for them, too. Just like with you, I’ll give them every damn thing they’ve ever wanted.”
Heat pricks the base of my spine, echoing out to wrap flames around my core. “Will the boys resemble you?”
“Me.” He drops his stare to my lips. “Or Wyatt. Or Lucas.”
I step off the seat and into his space. “You’re talking about something very unconventional.”
“Screw people’s limited minds. I don’t care about that, and neither do Wyatt and Lucas. All we care about is that we get to have you every day, and that our house is filled with the love we never got when we were small.”
“Is that why you want kids so badly?”
He delves his fingers into my skin, massaging small circles into my neck. “No, I want kids because I can’t think of a better way to spend my life than with you and little humans who are pieces of you.”
My heart squeezes. Taking a page out of Wyatt’s book, I attempt a joke. “You’re really hammering this apology home, aren’t you?” This kind of talk scares me. It’s not that I don’t want it, it just all seems too big for little old me.
“It’s not an apology. It’s a promise.”
My cheeks flush. This is different than my father making me agree to have kids and keep the Wilder legacy alive. No, this is
something else entirely. This is the sharing of dreams. Of lives. Of souls.
“It’s the truth,” he articulates. “One day, I’m going to ask you to marry me because I want to. It’s not going to be an arrangement between families and businesses. It’s going to be a representation of the single greatest thing in the entire world: love. I probably would’ve asked already if I thought you’d say yes.”
I grip his wrist, sliding my thumb over his skin. “What makes you think I won’t?”
Stone’s gaze hardens, and the lines of his jaw tense. “You’re killing my resolve, babe.” He moans, the sound vibrating through my core. “I think....” He groans. “Honestly, I think you’re too busy to enjoy it. I think you’d worry about Wyatt and Lucas and the treasure and everything else going on. We’d be starting out on a rocky slope instead of the solid foundation you deserve.”
I swallow. “What about Wyatt and Lucas?” Neither of them has said anything about marriage, and I’m not actually sure I can get married to all three, but that doesn’t really matter, does it? A marriage license is a piece of paper. There are many ways to be tied to someone. Not only in the eyes of the government, but in hearts and promises, and that’s exactly what Stone is offering.
I want to take it. Capture it in my hands and run away just like he offered.
But....
“The treasure,” he guesses, reading my face with a smile.
“I can’t shake it.”
“It’s not a bad thing.” Stone steps between my legs until our chests brush against one another’s with every breath we take. “It’s who you are, and I love who you are. All that other stuff can wait because my love for you sure as hell isn’t going anywhere.” His Adam’s apple bobs. “I’m sorry if standing up with Marissa stained us. I was going through the motions. I hated every damn second of it. I had a picture of you in my head the whole time. You were everything I thought of. And when it's you and I standing together, it’ll be everything. I can promise you that.”
I press a finger to his lips. “I don’t ever want to hear the name Marissa again. I don’t ever want you to bring up what happened either. It’s done.”