Page 89 of Merciless Heir
And suddenly the lust morphs into excitement of a different breed. “Is…is this the fake?”
“Yes. It was delivered this afternoon, before you arrived.”
“Oh holy fuck.”
“Pretty much what I said. Those are the photos of it to show.”
One of the photos is with the date, and also with today’s paper.
I set them down, still holding the fake. “I haven’t ever seen the original except in photos, but this looks good.”
“Better than good.” And Sadie starts pointing out things. “There are little scratches on the original in the photo. And there’s the engraved stamp always left on his work. As a piece, this could fetch a handsome price. It might be better than the original, but since we haven’t seen it, we don’t know. It should do.”
She’s right, it should. I let her take the tiara and she wraps it and sets it back on her desk and picks up another envelope.
“What’s that?”
“For Jenson, like we planned. Can you get a courier?”
I whip out my phone. “I’ll have one of my subsidiaries here within the half hour.” I rub a hand down my face. “Looks like we’re going to be spending some time together.”
And I sit down on her sofa, getting to work on making sure this goes well.
It takes less than an hour for Jenson to call me. I glance at Sadie, who rises from her desk and comes to sit next to me. We’ve been quiet, both working, keeping our distance, but as I set the phone to speaker, that’s gone.
“Kingston, I got the photos you sent.”
“I have it.”
There’s a silence, long, loaded, and finally Jenson says, his voice low, “So I see. Uh, just, just be careful.”
“What are you saying? You said I had to have it found and I hired someone. We found it, so…”
“Kingston, listen, there might be a fake. We’ll need to make sure.”
“You think I have the fake?”
“I don’t know. I’ll call you back in the next few days, as it’s not due here yet until your birthday. Just be careful.”
He hangs up after droning on about legalese and what we’ll have to do when that time comes. He wants it on my birthday and not before. Sadie’s gaze meets mine.
“That was weird,” she says. “A stipulation? The waiting?”
“Who the fuck knows.”
She smooths her hands down her thighs. “It buys us time.”
“Does it? Because from where I’m sitting, it feels like Jenson is up to something.” I take a breath. “Maybe it’s him and not my mother behind this.”
“You think your father’s attorney stole the tiara?”
“I know my mother wouldn’t.” It just doesn’t fit. And I try and work out what she’s saying. “So it has to be him, right?”
But Sadie shakes her head. “I don’t think it’s Jenson.”
“How would you know?”
“Because,” she says softly, “I’m not sure it’s missing.”