Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella) novel Chapter 600

Yvonne Quinn was sitting next to her brother Ronald, listening to him chat on the phone. The sugary sweet conversation between him and Stella was enough to make her want to crawl out of her own skin.

Seriously, she swore, if her pores ever got clogged from all this lovey-dovey nonsense, she’d be sending them both the dermatologist bill.

After all these years… They’d all been around each other forever, and now that Ronald was finally dating someone, he was acting like a total lovesick teenager.

Ronald murmured a few more soft words to Stella before hanging up. Yvonne shot him a teasing look. “Well, would you look at that, big bro. Didn’t know you had it in you to be such a smooth talker.”

“We used to worry you’d scare Stella off, you know.”

The truth was, everyone in both the Quinn and Lugar families had known for ages how Ronald felt about Stella. That was the real reason both families had always treated Stella like one of their own.

Family is family, after all. Of course they doted on her.

The thing was, Ronald had always come off so serious. Sure, he was good to Stella, but he just had this stern, almost fatherly vibe. It was like he was her overprotective dad, not her boyfriend. No wonder they’d all been worried she’d feel pressured.

But judging by that phone call, it seemed like they’d been worried for nothing. Ronald was absolutely doting on Stella, and honestly, it was kind of sweet.

Then again, he’d always been gentle with her. Even back when he looked super serious, one sad look from Stella and you could see him soften right up.

Ronald shot Yvonne a look—one of those classic, big-brother glares.

Her grin faded. “Hey, why are you glaring at me like that?”

Okay, so there were different kinds of “serious.” The look he gave Stella wasn’t the same as the one he gave her. Total double standard.

Ronald straightened the cuff of his shirt. “Stay away from Dan Murray.”

“Yeah, I know,” Yvonne said, nodding.

What was the point in staying friends with a guy who was practically engaged to someone else, anyway? Even if Dan was going to be in town for a while, she could manage to keep her distance. No point in making things messy.

Ronald gave her another sideways look. “You did a real number on him, huh?”

Stella glanced over the sparkling emeralds and various gemstones, all glittering under the lights. They were pretty, she had to admit.

Suddenly Lydia noticed the necklace around Stella’s neck. “Hey, that’s a beautiful necklace. Did Ronald get it for you?”

Stella smiled and touched the pendant. “No, my sister made it for me. Pretty, right?”

Lydia nodded. “It’s lovely. What’s it made of?”

“She said she ‘found’ the stone somewhere—wouldn’t tell me what kind. Honestly, knowing her, she probably got swindled into buying it and just didn’t want to admit it.”

If anyone tried to cheat Yvonne, though, they’d definitely regret it.

Lydia shook her head in amazement. “When did she learn to make jewelry? I knew she could sew, but this is new.”

Thinking about why Yvonne had learned to sew in the first place, Lydia’s eyes grew a little misty.