Some of Stacey’s relatives arrived, her mother’s sister and her daughters, who I was surprised to see, considering her mother wasn’t even present. They were busy holding court in the living area and sneered in our direction as we passed, so instead of staying in the nearby vicinity and possibly getting dragged into whatever that was, I took Vienna down to the shooting range where we let off some steam for a few hours.
Then, I decided to show her the underground warehouse and Sage’s grow rooms. She was suitably impressed with the setup and remarked how the boys were going to be pissed to learn this was under their noses the whole time. I guess that was the last secret out in the open. I’m pretty sure my dad is going to kill mewhen this is all said and done, but I can’t bring myself to care. I deserve a little bit of happiness after having to hold a sinking ship together with my bare hands. I did my best, and that’s all he can ask for.
We grabbed a jar of weed while we were there and took it, as well as a bottle of tequila, back to my room where we proceeded to drink shots and share a joint before fooling around while naked. Neither of us were particularly enthusiastic in our sorry state, and I think both of us missed our guys more than we wanted to admit. We snuck out around one in the morning with the munchies and raided the fridge before returning to my room and passing out in each other’s arms.
“Yes, it is,” I reply, stroking my hand down her naked back then cupping her butt cheek before giving it a squeeze.
“Ugh,” she groans before rolling over and bolting toward the bathroom. Retching sounds echo back to me, and I chuckle before assessing my own state.
My head aches a little, but apart from that, I feel pretty good. I get up and grab a sport drink out of my mini fridge before walking into the bathroom and giving it to Vienna. She takes it with a mumbled, “Thank you,” her head still hanging over the toilet bowl. I leave her to suffer in peace and turn on the shower.
“What time is it?” she grumbles after a few minutes. I hear the toilet flush and feel a slight change in temperature before the door opens, and she climbs in with her toothbrush already in her mouth.
“I don’t know, I didn’t check,” I tell her as I soap up the loofah and wash myself while she brushes her teeth.
“Stacey said hair and makeup teams were going to be here at one, then the limo is taking us to the botanical gardens at four with the ceremony being at five. Then photos before heading out to the vineyard for the reception at seven,” Vienna says, giving me today’s itinerary.
“Fuck,” I mutter, hoping the shower will drown out our voices for any cameras that might be in here. Colton told me there weren’t any, but I wouldn’t put it past Mario to have added them without telling him. “I need to make a couple of calls, so I need to slip into the safe room for about half an hour. Will you distract Stacey for me?” I ask her, and she grimaces.
“Yes, but you owe me,” she growls, and I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her wet body flush against mine.
“Oh, and pray tell, what would you like as payment? Would you like me to lick that pretty pussy until you come in my mouth?” I offer, and her pupils blow with desire.
“Yes, but I want you to spend the day with Addi and me, doing girly stuff, once we finally get her back permanently.”
My eyebrows jump in surprise at her response. “Girly shit?” I ask her, and she giggles, giving me a kiss.
“Yeah. Shopping and nails and maybe a high tea somewhere, wearing pretty dresses and having a car drive us around like princesses. Addi hasn’t ever known what it’s like to be spoiled, and while I don’t want to do it all the time, I feel like I need to do this to make up for all the bad treatment…” By the time she trails off, she’s no longer looking at me, and I hear the desperation in her tone.
“Vienna.” I lift her chin so she will look at me. “You don’t need to buy her love. She knows you love her, and she loves you. She doesn’t blame you for anything. You heard her, she knows Mario is responsible for everything.”
She shrugs. “Doesn’t stop the guilt,” she replies.
I groan playfully. “Fine, but don’t be surprised if Suzy, Maeve, and Aunt Carla weasel an invitation. Aunt Carla is very big on female bonding, and we should probably invite Casey too. I want to get to know her better.”
Vienna beams and leans in to give me a kiss when the bathroom door bangs open, and Stacey screams, “Hurry up,sluts. The hair and makeup teams are here. If you make me late for my own wedding, I will make sure you suffer. I can’t believe Mario made me have you as bridesmaids.” She doesn’t wait for a reply, just whirls around and disappears back into the abyss she stuck her head out of.
“I hate that fucking bitch. I hope Gio and Sage make her scream,” Vienna mutters as I release her from my embrace, and we finish our shower as quickly as possible. Neither of us want her to come back.
After wrapping ourselves in robes, we are plucked and primped, our hair is tugged and teased, and we’re slathered with weird products, until we are finally given the okay to get dressed. Vienna and I stare at ourselves in my bathroom mirror in horror once we finally have our bridesmaid dresses on.
“Oh my lord, what fresh hell is this?” Vienna mutters as I struggle to find any words. Vienna and I look like rejects from the eighties, with our hair teased into bouffants, blue eyeshadow on our eyelids, and bright pink lipstick staining our lips. “I wondered why her cousins were giggling while they were watching us have our turn. I knew we couldn’t trust those vapid bitches.”
“Not a fucking chance.” I shake my head in denial and find my phone, looking at how much time we have. “Stacey did this on purpose, making us look like ugly stepsisters. There is no way I am going out in public looking like this. I say we wash this off and start again. What do you think?”
“I think that’s an excellent idea, even if I have to listen to her bitch and moan the whole drive over.” Vienna pokes at the fake eyelash that looks like a spider on her eyelid.
I grab a couple of hand towels, and we scrub the makeup off.
“I can’t believe she was going to make us look like this in her wedding photos.” Vienna is still in disbelief.
“I can. I bet she had every intention of not having us in any photos.”
She hums her agreement as she starts her makeup process all over again. “You may be right.”
It takes the full half hour, and I don’t get to make the calls I need to, but when we emerge onto the front porch, our hair and makeup is on point, even if the bridesmaid dresses are ugly as fuck. Stacey picked a color that looks terrible on both of us—a burnt sienna orange brown. The dresses themselves are different from the ones we tried on. The ones we tried on were basic sweetheart necklines with an A-line skirt. Simple but classy. These look like a potato sack. Stacey must have messed with the measurements or ordered the dressmaker to change them once we had our final fitting. There’s nothing we can do about it now.
“Oh my god, what are you wearing?” Stacey’s aunt screeches in the same kind of tone Stacey does.
