Veiled Revenge Read Online Free Page B

awful, Lace. I’m too ashamed to tell
you
.”

Chapter 2
    “Spill,” Lacey insisted. “I don’t want any surprises.”
    Stella was constitutionally unable to keep a secret. “I think I might hate my dress,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Totally hate it. In fact, I don’t love it at all.”
    “But you look great,” Lacey protested. After all, the stylist was decked out in classic Haute Stella.
    “Not
this
dress!” She pointed to her bandage-tight red dress. “This dress rocks. It’s gonna rock Nigel later tonight, if you know what I mean. No, no, no, I’m talking about my wedding gown.”
    Not the giant white puffball!
Lacey knew if a woman didn’t feel right in what she wore on one of the most important days of her life, it could poison the entire event.
    “You don’t like your wedding dress? But it’s . . . pretty.” Lacey pictured the layers of white organza and the lightly beaded bodice, highlighted with a sprinkling of faux pearls and sparkling rhinestones. She’d been astounded that Stella had been able to find a dress on such short notice. The wedding was rushed, with barely three months to plan the whole thing.
    The hunt for the Great White Whale of Dresses had come down to the giant ball gown style or the mermaid silhouette. To Lacey’s surprise, the ball gown had won, and it was a sale gown that needed only minimal alterations. It was white, it was poufy, and the strapless bodice pushed up Stella’s Girls to a seductive-but-not-trashy level.
    “Yeah, it’s
okay
. But it’s like the dress that everyone’s wearing this year, and last year and next year. It’s like the expected dress. The typical dress. The just-say-yes-to-the-dress dress. And I’m so not the typical say-yes-to-the-dress bride.”
    Lacey found it hard to argue. “I know you wanted something like a pink leather bustier or a miniskirt with a graduated train, that mullet skirt look—something.” She had to shut off the vision. “But it would have to be custom made and there isn’t time.”
    “It’s not that. I’m not even sure I wanted it to look so Las Vegas showgirly and all. It’s just that
my
dress, my wedding dress for that, hopefully, once-in-a-lifetime occasion—well, it’s just not
special
.” Stella looked heartbroken. “I know I’m someone people think would probably get married in, you know, a Dragon Lady red leather mini with, like, lightning bolts up the side or something, Lace, but I’ve been thinking about my wedding day since I was a little girl, wearing a bride’s costume on Halloween. Little fake pearls and tiara and veil and everything.”
    “You really had a bride costume? Not a little Goth princess outfit?”
Where did that Stella go?
    Stella downed her champagne cocktail. “Oh, I had one of those too. But the point is, I’ve always dreamed of this day and I want it to be out of the ordinary. Fabulous, stupendous. Extra-special, s
pecial
.”
    “But, Stella, you’ll
make
it special.” Lacey groped for something positive to say. “You have, um, pink-highlighted hair. Besides, you get to wear Marie’s haunted shawl. Something borrowed, something old? And that is definitely one of a kind.”
    Stella lowered her voice. “And that’s another thing. You know I adore Marie, but what if that spooky Russian thing really is dangerous?”
    Lacey gave herself a mental head slap. “But Stel, you heard Marie. The shawl can’t hurt people in love. Like you and—”
    “I know, I know, and I am totally in love with Nigel Percival Griffin.”
    “Wait a minute. Percival?”
    “But what if the shawl doesn’t believe me? I mean, Nigel and me, we’ve had bad luck. Seems like ever since we met.”
    “You’ve had your share. But I believe it simply has to be over and done with.”
    “Do you, Lace? Really and truly?”
    “Law of averages, Stella. You’re due for good luck. And besides, Marie hasn’t fainted, has she?”
    They turned in unison toward the voluptuous psychic,