Cut (21 page)

“Are you finished?”

“No, not even close. You emailed the entire guest list to your wedding and publicly blamed Carl for ending a relationship that you've known has been over since the first date.”

A bolt of anger shot through Jessie's stomach. “How do you know about the email?”

“Melanie and Luke were on your guest list. Luke was showing me the email when you entered his office. Then you snuck around my brother's house, knowing how upset he would be.”

Jessie had been about to retaliate when she stopped. The look in his eye softened for a brief moment. She saw tenderness and warmth, and it scared her.

“You haven't seen your sister one-on-one,” he continued with more gentleness. “You backed out the second the nurse told you to wait. Aren't you going to try to contradict anything I've said?”

The damn tear rolled down her cheek like some traitor. Jessie didn't give Brent the satisfaction of wiping it away. “You're withholding evidence too.”

He said nothing.

“What do you want from me?” she said, defeated.

“You.”

“Me?” she said in disbelief. “Excuse me if I don't buy into that lie after what you've just told me.”

“That didn't come out exactly like I'd planned.”

“I heard you loud and clear.”

Another tear slid down her face. This time Brent extended his hand and wiped it away. Weakness overpowered her with each stroke of his thumb on her jaw. Their warm breaths on the cool air blended between their lips. “I get you, more than you realize,” he said with a husky voice.

“I don't care.”

“You do care. Because you're in love with me.”

“You're wrong.”

“I see you for the woman you are and I'm not afraid to call you out. I see the person no one else bothers to look too far past the surface to get to know because you either push them away or they're too intimidated by you to speak up. You know what? I like what I see. A lot. Enough to stand here and tell you that I know there's more to you than you let on. I should walk away from you. I should never even tell you what I think of you, because I should have written you off.” Brent slid his hand over hers.

“Then you should walk away.”

“I can't.”

“Why?”

“I already told you. I need you to believe me that we're in this together until the end. I won't let you push me away. You need me.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“And I need you.”

And I need you.

Alone is how he left her, with those words still spinning around his heart. The honesty he threw at her didn't drive her away. He swore he saw her heart in her eyes. It brought him a step closer to her. He was used to being in total control. With her, she lured him to an uncomfortable place. Somewhere that made him vulnerable.

A woman had never made him feel this way before. It tore him up to walk away from her; to let her go without knowing if she would come back. As blunt as his assertion of her had been, he couldn't hold back. It was crucial to get the diamond from her. If she trusted him, then she might change her mind. He needed to believe she was capable of doing something good—of performing a miracle for him.

Irritated, and in the mood to be antisocial, he returned to Luke's house.

“Where's my daughter?” Leslie said to him the moment he walked through the door.

“She's outside,” he said, catching his brother's eye.

Luke turned to Leslie and said, “Are you headed to the hospital?”

“Yes. I downloaded some of Melanie's favorite books. I'd like to read to her for a bit, if you don't mind. I just want her to hear my voice. Are you going there as well?”

“I think I need to spend some time with the girls. Take all the time you need with Melanie.”

“I apologize again for Jessie.”

“She can't come back until I can trust that she'll follow my rules.”

“I'll talk to her.” She rummaged through her bag and scooped up her keys. “I'll see everyone later.”

Leslie walked out of the house at the same time Daniel strode in. Clad in his leather jacket and hands in pockets, he looked ready for a model shoot rather than a business meeting. “Afternoon,” he said.

“Everyone's here,” Brent said, “we might as well get started. Shall we go to your office?”

“I'll join you in a moment,” Luke said. “I need to take care of something first.”

Daniel and Brent headed to Luke's office. Brent was glad to have a few minutes with Daniel before Luke joined them. The room smelled of caffeine from earlier and Brent remained standing as Daniel took a seat.

“What did you find out?” Brent said.

Daniel leaned forward and spoke with a quiet voice, “Something you won't want to hear. Luke sold the diamonds to Chadwick's of London one week ago.”

Brent's jaw hardened. “One week ago? Not possible. Those diamonds I sold before I found out Jefferies wanted them back. Now you're telling me he sold them without my knowledge?”

“Ask him yourself.”

“He went behind my back.”

“Not to just anyone either. Luke sold the diamonds to Alfred Gustavos, the purchaser at Chadwick's.”

“I know who Alfred is.”

“Alfred wired money to your brother's personal account with the description of each diamond matching the cut, clarity, measurements, and weight, of the diamonds. They all match the specifications belonging to the Abbott Tiara.”

“There must be some mistake.”

“Nope.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I saw a photo of the diamonds. They were taken in the lab downstairs where all the diamonds and gemstones are photographed for buyers. They are in the Trace Elements catalogue. You can have a look for yourself.”

The hair on Brent's arms stood up. The information took a full second to process. The deceit untangled from Brent's faith in his brother and it hit hard. Fury ripped through Brent. Luke sold Brent's diamonds behind his back. They hadn't been his to sell. Now they needed to get back to Jefferies and they were gone. The implications were huge. The attack on Melanie…the real reason Luke didn't initially tell the detectives about the diamonds. His brother had lied to his face. Brent gripped the top of the chair. He wanted to shove it across the room and tear off everything in Luke's office. “My brother is a liar,” he said with dead calm.

“Yes.”

“I want to see the proof.”

Daniel took out his phone and pulled up an image on the screen. Brent saw the diamonds laid out in a row on the backdrop they used for their photo shoots. He swiped and the next image appeared, a computer screen with account information and a sum of money transferred to Luke's account.

The proof stared back at him. Brent's hands formed fists. He squeezed them until they turned white. He remembered he was in Luke's house and about to discuss business. Brent uncurled his fist and tried to get himself together. “Act as if you don't know a goddamned thing,” he said to Daniel.

Daniel nodded with a grim gaze. “There's more.”

“What?”

“I did some research about the women named Elizabeth in this area. I checked and there's no one on that list connected to Melanie.”

“You're sure?”

“I have checked every possible avenue: email addresses, phone contacts, coworkers, her boss, and several other women Melanie hangs around with. There's no one by that name, not in her past or her present. This woman is nonexistent. However…”

Brent caught the trace of irony in Daniel's voice. “However, what?”

“There
is
someone in Luke's life named Elizabeth.”

Brent shoved the chair so hard that it fell over. “Who is she?”

“She's a lawyer he hired three weeks ago. She's been hired to work on the contracts for the jewelry store. The night of Melanie's attack, he was having drinks with her.”

“What you are saying makes no sense. We haven't hired a new lawyer.”

“Apparently Luke did.”

More lies
. Brent struggled to remain calm.
Just keep breathing.
“Have you spoken to her?”

“I'm told she has drinks every Monday night at the Starlight. I'll be there and I'll talk to her.”

“What makes you think she'll say anything to you?”

“My face hasn't let me down before.”

Brent did not laugh. Not with the chilling situation unfolding. The reality of his brother's betrayal. The entire events surrounding Melanie's attack. Luke sold the diamonds and Melanie took them from him, on purpose. How the hell had everything fallen apart so quickly?

This is what he did know. The jagged parts of this mystery began to have fitting edges. Melanie gave the diamond to Jessica, along with the note, because she hadn't trusted the people close to her. Maybe she thought Luke was cheating on her with this Elizabeth, but that didn't explain why she wouldn't have come to him. She trusted Brent. He would have been on her side. Brent shook his head. His stomach felt queasy. He still couldn't answer that question.

“Am I interrupting?” Luke said from the doorway. His gaze darted to the chair on the floor.

“No.”

“I'm going to the jewelry store. Daniel, I need you to come with me. The contractor wants to go over your suggestions for the work area behind the vault.”

Brent tried to watch his brother through neutral eyes. Luke was smart. He thrived in confrontations. To wait would be the biggest advantage, at least until Daniel met with Elizabeth. Then Brent would hit Luke with all he knew.

Luke walked over to his desk and picked up the same invitation Brent had received. “We're getting nowhere with the whereabouts of the diamonds. You need to make your client aware. We need to return the money to him.”

Brent played along. “My client would be willing to put a retainer down for the diamonds for several months, in the event we get them back. His name is Ron Grigsby and he'll wait.”

Luke didn't make eye contact with Brent. “I don't want to use a retainer. Tell Mr. Grigsby the diamonds are no longer for sale. We'll re-evaluate what to do with the diamonds once they are found. On another topic, I made a decision about this.”

Brent took the card out of his hand. “I got one as well.”

“The Diamond & Gemstone Auction from Salvador Alvarez's personal collection. The event is at Whitaker's tonight. I can't attend with Melanie at the hospital. I need to be with her.”

“The Alvarez collection is one of the most sought-after auctions to get an invite to attend,” Daniel said. “Alvarez always presents items not on this list. He saves the biggest, most valuable piece of his collection for the last one and nobody has a clue what he'll put up for sale. What if our diamonds are there?”

“Salvador doesn't sell stolen diamonds,” Brent said.

“I agree,” Luke added. “However, Daniel has a point. There will be people we know there. Buyers and jewelers and collectors in our trade. They might know something. If someone is out there trying to make a sale, word will travel. Brent, I need to ask that you go and represent our company. See if you can find out any information. The diamonds haven't been gone long, someone might have something to tell us. This might be just the place to be.”

“I hadn't planned on going,” Brent said. He did agree that one of their friends at the auction might know something about the Abbott Tiara. He didn't want to go now that he needed to figure out the extent of his brother's lies, but he also couldn't resist the chance that he might learn something about what happened to his diamonds.

“Will you go?” Luke said.

“Yes,” Brent said.

“Kendra will email you the list of items I'm interested in acquiring and our price caps. I want to get a diamond that's worth talking about. Something big. A stone we can use to attract big buyers to the jewelry store.” Luke looked up from his computer. “You'll also need a date.”

“That won't be a problem.”

“Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

Brent narrowed his gaze. “You tell me.”

“I think it goes unsaid that you need to keep running things while Melanie's in the hospital.”

“I can do that.”

“Oh, and say hello to Jefferies Abbott for me.”

Daniel laughed hard.

Brent flashed him a look that said, shut up. The prospect of running into Jefferies steamrolled the rest of Brent's patience. Nor did he want Luke to start asking questions about Jefferies or the man who'd approached Jessica in front of the hospital. The less Luke knew, the better. Up until this point Luke knew the diamonds belonged to the tiara, but he didn't know precisely how they came to be in Brent's possession in the first place—no one except for Daniel knew. What he told Detective Brennan about getting the diamonds from Jefferies Abbott hadn't been the entire truth and Brent wanted to keep it that way.

Luke and Daniel left the house. Brent stayed behind in his brother's office. Personally he didn't like much of this room. It felt fit for a robot. But what he loathed more, was the named Jeffries Sinclair Donald Abbott III, President and CEO of D & F Diamonds. Jefferies was in town for one reason alone: to meet with Brent.

The gravity of his predicament formed a knot in his stomach. He needed to get back the diamond from Jessie. He couldn't waste any more time. He'd tell her about Luke, he'd pay her anything to get back the key to his future, but she wouldn't take his money or other diamonds. He'd have to be creative—and romantic. He couldn't wait for her to come around to his way of thinking. And to see him in a different light.

“Oh good, you're still here,” Kendra said as she entered Luke's office. “Luke asked that I find you a date for the auction.”

“I already have one.”

“You work fast.”