Cut (33 page)

“What about your job?”

“My bosses understand the situation.” He maneuvered them over to the nearest couch. “Let's sit down and talk. Okay?”

“I don't know what to say.”

“Tell me what you've been doing.”

“My mother and I have been shuffling back and forth to Luke's house. The funeral will be on Saturday, I think.” She sighed and felt her body exhale what little energy she had left. “I'm just so…I want everything to stop changing so fast.”

He put a hard hand on her shoulder. “I want you to know that I will not change.”

“Thanks,” she said, effortlessly.

“I drove all the way to be with you.”

“I appreciate the effort.”

“Do you understand what I'm saying?”

Jessie blinked. “You're here for me, thanks.”

“I've felt horrible about how I left you. I've become so rigid in my professional life and I treated you like a patient, not like my fiancée. I'm mad at myself for dumping you while your sister remained in a coma. What a jerk move, huh? I am sorry and I owe you more than an apology.”

“I don't think this is the right time to talk about that.”

“There's more.”

Jessie's shoulders tensed. She looked at him with questioning eyes. “More?”

“I haven't stopped thinking about you or about us.”

“Really?”

“We've had eight good years. That's too many to throw away. I made a mistake by waiting too long to ask you to marry me. I think of all this time we could have built a life and a family. We could have a son or a daughter in elementary school by now.”

“We weren't in a rush.”

“Then I threw the move to Singapore on you too. I can't stand the thought of losing you. I kept thinking about you and your sister and her death, and I've been going crazy with worry and sadness for you. I loved Melanie like my own sister. I can't imagine what you're going through. I came to be supportive and to let you know, we'll work out this mess. We'll get back on track. We can un-cancel the wedding if you like.”

A splatter on Jessie's arm caused her to look down. A tear had fallen in the graceful, quiet way the body shows emotion. The gesture wasn't for Carl, it was for her own string of losses over the past twenty-four hours.

“This is the most passion you've ever showed for us,” she said. “I waited for this for so long. All we've been doing is riding a neutral wave. You in your career and me along for the ride. I appreciate the gesture of your arrival today. It means a lot to me.”

“I don't want to rush you. You don't have to take me back this second.”

“I'm not thinking about us right now.”

This took him aback. “I know, because of Melanie.”

He had no idea about Brent. No idea that the passion Carl spoke about didn't match the enormity of what she felt with Brent over the last few days.

“I can defer the job until April, if I choose.”

She looked at Carl, but all she saw was Brent's face. The future may not be a reality for them, but she desired love with depth and width and heart, even if short-lived. Not eight years of lukewarm.

A large group of women entered the hotel. They spoke loud and their high heels and shoes slammed onto the floor. They congregated around the front desk. The interruption broke Jessie's line of thinking.

“Tell me you'll at least give us some thought, Jessica.”

The way Carl said
Jessica
, sounded weak and uncertain compared to how Brent sounded. Brent said her name with power and certainty; he commanded her attention. She liked his attention too. No, she loved the intimacy of his voice, particularly when they made love. The thought of Brent's hands on her body caused an inward glow. The kind that stayed with her long after he'd left.

Leslie appeared out of the elevator with a purse slung over her shoulder and a tissue balled in her hand. She looked at Jessie with contempt, but the sight of Carl erased her mother's frown.

“Carl!” Leslie said, engulfing him in a hug. “What a welcome sight to see you.”

“I came to see Jessie,” he said.

“I have to get to the airport to pick up my sister. You are welcome to come along.”

“Mom,” Jessie said sharply, “Give Carl and me a minute.”

“Of course.”

“I'll stay for the funeral,” Carl said.

This tickled Leslie pink and she gave them space.

“Jessie?” Carl said.

“I don't want you to stay.”

“Why not?”

“You deserve someone who loves you. I'm not that person anymore.”

“I anticipated you'd be angry with me.”

“That's the problem. I'm not angry about our breakup. I am relieved. I don't love you in the forever sort of way. My heart isn't aligned with yours.”

His face paled. “You sound sure about that.”

“I may not have a career or even a plan, but I know my own heart. And I'm sure.”

He put his bony arms around her. “I'll leave the door open for you.”

“I have to go.” She stepped back and watched him go.

Jessie's mother came directly over the moment he had gone. “What did he want?” Leslie said.

“Nothing important,” Jessie answered.

“We should get going to the airport.”

“I'm not coming with you.”

“Why not?”

“There's somewhere else I need to be.”

“If you're still trying to take matters into your own hands, I insist you stop at once. We're not finished yet with our discussion either. I'm still angry with you, but right now I have to get to the airport. I want to talk with you later.”

Jessie watched her mom leave. People walked in as she walked out. The large windows gave her access to view outside. A steady stream of cars entered the path to the hotel. Jessie grabbed a cup of coffee from the bar. She contemplated her next move.

The diamonds continued to plague her every move. She couldn't let them go. She couldn't answer the question of why Melanie hid them in the first place. Jessie chose to do the only thing she could do. She sipped her coffee.

“You look like her,” said a deep baritone voice with that familiar accent.

The hairs on her neck stood. Jessie opened her eyes and turned around. “Jefferies,” she said.

“You remember my name.”

“I remember you sent someone to threaten me.”

He chuckled. “All in the past.”

“You have no business being here.”

“You're a hard woman to track down.”

“Depends if I want to be found or not.” She stared coldly at him. “If you'll excuse me, I have to go.”

Jefferies large hand gripped her elbow. “I have this bad habit, you see. I want the odds in my favor before I go into a negotiation. It's a business strategy I've used for years.”

Jessie wriggled her arm.

“Do not fight me,” he said with quiet wrath.

She locked her eyes on his. “I'll scream.”

“I'd advise you not to. You'll be interested to hear what I have to say—what I have to show you.”

“If you're looking for Brent—”

He jerked her elbow. “I'm not.”

“What do you want with me?”

He ran his hand over his impressive head of silver hair. “I want you to answer a question for me. I heard the most unsettling rumor about you. I'm told you took my wife's green diamond.”

Jessie's stomach flopped. All points fired back to that damn diamond. It just wouldn't end.

Jefferies carried on with unnerving calm, “I'm told you tossed it in the ocean like some piece of trash.”

She tried to remain as calm as his voice sounded. “You can't believe everything you hear.”

“Sometimes, yes. Other times, when my source witnesses what you've done, the evidence is hard to dispute.”

Jessie's jaw dropped. “Who saw me?”

“Someone I pay to be loyal to me and my company.”

“My sister gave me the diamond,” she said, defending her position.

His fingers dug into her arm. “It wasn't Melanie's in the first place.”

“You're hurting me.”

“Good.”

“You're on a security camera. The police will recognize you.”

“I don't think there's anything wrong with a gentleman talking to a lady.”

“The pink diamonds are still out there. We can make an exchange for Gabriel. I know where they are and I can get them for you.”

“The deal was for Brent to give me back all the diamonds. I'm not worried about the pink diamonds. I can assure you I'll get them back. The problem is you threw away something of great value to me. I can't let you get in your car and drive away and forget this whole thing never happened. I don't work that way. You took the one piece that my wife adored. In fact, she loved that tiara so much, she dedicated an entire page in her will about what should happen to it for an entire century. Have you ever loved anything that much?”

Her heart whispered Brent's name. “Yes.”

“We understand each other then.”

“Tell me what you want.”

A smile curled at the corner of his lips. “I want for you to see the look on Brent's face when I tell him he will never see his son again.” Jefferies got closer to her. Her legs backed against the couch. “I want you to feel what it's like to make a mistake and have to relive that error all over again…because I can assure you any happiness between you and Brent will die after our meeting today. He will always associate you with the loss of his son. You had a choice. No, you had a responsibility to protect the diamond. You were stupid not to do so and I want you to remember this day. I want you to feel remorse for the rest of your life.”

“You can't control how I feel.”

“No, but I can break you down. Then we'll see if you feel the same way.”

“I'm going to start screaming if you don't walk away.”

“Go ahead. Although, I think you'll want to come with me.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“You have three beautiful nieces.” To prove the point, Jefferies took out his phone and scrolled down the screen. The girls sat in front of their house with matching solid purple dresses and oversized bows in their hair. Their expressions priceless with two pouts and one of them smiling too big for her face.

“No.”

“I finally have your full attention.”

“You won't hurt them.”

“I'll hurt whomever I want.”

The evil in his eyes told her he'd fulfill such a promise. “Tell me what you want.”

“I told you. I want you to come with me. I have a car outside.” Jefferies offered his arm. “Take my arm. Smile at the hotel employee, the one by the front desk. He's been watching us. Make him think we're old friends.”

She put her hand on his arm and smiled. Through clenched teeth she said, “We'll never be friends.”

The walk from the lobby to the front door took forever. Jessie caught the doorman's eye and nodded with politeness, despite her trembling hand. Jefferies put his hand over hers as if to quiet any attention she might draw upon them. She didn't make eye contact with anyone else.

She held the photo of her nieces in her heart. Jefferies had gotten someone to take a picture of them or he'd taken the photo with his own phone. The latter didn't make sense. Jefferies on the Harrison property wouldn't have gone unnoticed. Unless Luke knew him? Brent and Jefferies were enemies. But Luke and Jefferies? The question mark hung in the air.

“Huh,” she said, thinking further along this trail.

“Did you say something?” Jefferies said.

There was no point in answering. She couldn't let this go. Someone had betrayed Brent. The thought grew and swelled until she thought her head would burst. She squeezed her hands together.

What about Luke
, she kept thinking.

Luke loved Melanie. But he sold the diamonds without Brent's knowledge. Was there more to this? Melanie must have suspected Luke of involvement too, because otherwise she would have asked her own husband for help. Except Melanie didn't feel comfortable going to him. If she couldn't go to him, then she didn't trust him. Disloyalty was the opposite of trust. The two didn't coexist on the same continuum. Luke must have been involved from the start, which was the awful reality.

They stopped in front of a black SUV. “Give me your phone,” Jefferies said, holding out his hand.

She barely heard him over the swarm of blame she placed on Luke. Slow burning animosity moved through her blood. The beat of her heart grew faster. The muscles in her fingers cramped from the fist she made with her hand. Slow and focused on the image of Luke sitting by Melanie's bed, Jessie handed over her phone.

Jefferies snatched the phone from her. “Don't even think about turning all that anger on me.”

She blinked up at him. “What?”

“Get in the car.”

Jessie got in the back of the car and stood immobilized by the two faces in her way. “Daniel,” she said, astonished.

“Hello, Jessie,” he said from the driver's seat.

The other guy she knew at once to be the D & F business card guy. “I heard your sister's dead,” he said with the same subtle accent as Jefferies and winked.

Jessie lurched forward. “You!”

Daniel caught her wrists before she made impact. He shook her once. “This is Andrew,” he said, grinning and in the same breath, his lips straightened. “Sit down.”

Jefferies got in next to her and slammed the door. “Get us out of here.”

“Did you kill my sister?” Jessie said, with Daniel still holding her wrists.

“Enough,” Jefferies yelled.

Daniel let go of her. He slammed on the gas. The impact drove her forward and she landed face-down on the floor. The smell of dirty socks met her nose and she coughed. She pulled herself up, but a boot shoved her back down. The pain hit first and the watery eyes, second.