by S. E. Rose
She grimaces. “Are you…I mean…I’m on the pill…” She trails off and hands me back my pocket square. I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking she just fucked some male whore who probably has twelve STDs. I’m not saying I haven’t had my fair share of women, but I always, always use a condom and I also get physicals three times a year which includes STD testing, probably because Paolo thinks I’m a male whore, too.
“I’m clean,” I mutter as I stuff the square back in my pocket.
“I didn’t mean…” She trails off again, and I give her a pointed look.
“Sorry,” she whispers as I pick up the case and start walking toward the street. This woman makes me do crazy things and not the crazy things that I’m used to doing. I don’t know how I feel about that. Just before we reach the street, she grabs my arm, and I stop.
“Auggie…I’m sorry. I should know better than to believe tabloids,” she starts before pausing and taking a deep breath. “I trust you.”
I turn around to face her. Her eyes are wide and search mine as I stare down at her.
“You shouldn’t,” I murmur as I spin back around and walk toward Luc’s apartment.
“I need to go back in here,” I tell her.
“I know. I’ll head back to my parents,” she says. I grasp her hand, and she looks up at me.
“Take this with you. Meet me at my place later,” I say to her as I look around to make sure no one followed us.
Her eyes widen. “Me?”
I nod and cup her jaw. “I trust you too, Kate.”
And with that I walk through the gate and into Luc’s garden, leaving Kate on the sidewalk with her mouth gaping and a five-million-dollar diamond in her hand.
My mind races and my phone keeps buzzing, probably Anna. I want Kate with me.
As though sensing my internal conflict, she turns one last time. “I’ll meet you back at the house after my parents go to bed.” And with that, she disappears down around the corner.
I don’t like her walking around by herself, and when I see a figure follow her, I start to run after her until I see that it’s Jackie. Well, shit. At least she’s safe.
I turn and climb back into Luc’s room. A minute later, I’m back at the party. Nico gives me the side-eye, but I ignore him as I pour myself a drink.
Kate
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Jackie’s angry voice snarls from behind me. I stop dead in my tracks and slowly swivel.
I don’t even have an excuse. Nothing.
She continues her rant. “Are you insane? Are you trying to get killed?”
“I…”
She holds up her hand. “I don’t want to hear your bullshit excuse. Tell me the truth or I call it in.”
Her angry stare tells me that she is not playing around. Fuck. Although it’s better her than Dominic. I trust Jackie with my life.
“Fine.” I look around and find a park bench across the street. I motion for her to follow me and we sit.
I tell her everything, only omitting a few details. I admit it’s therapeutic. Jackie listens, only asking a few questions as I relay the story. She doesn’t speak for a few long seconds after I finish. I bite my lip and wait.
“Dang, girl. You really know how to step right in it.”
I shrug. “It wasn’t like I jumped into this on purpose.”
“We need to bring in the big guns,” she says, and I cringe. That doesn’t sound like a good idea.
She picks up her phone and I place my hand on hers.
“Please, don’t get my parents involved.”
She laughs. “Are you crazy? I’m calling a friend in intelligence.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. Give me a little credit, will ya?”
I pull my hand back, and she speed dials a number on some sort of app.
“Watermelon. Four, three, seven, six, nine. I need to speak with the hornet. Yes, I’ll hold.” She bites her nails while she waits.
“Who’s the hornet?” I ask.
She’s about to answer when I hear a voice on the other line. “Hey. Got a situation. Yep.” She launches into the story, and five minutes later, the hornet says he’s coming to see us tomorrow.
She hangs up and looks at me. “Princess Anna is well versed in intelligence, more so than I thought.”
“Wait? Anna’s the hornet?”
Jackie shakes her head. “No, but she’s already spoken with him.”
Chapter Nineteen
August
As soon as we are back at the house, I walk toward my room. If I don’t call Anna back, she’ll probably hop on a jet and come down here and kick my ass.
“Hold up,” Nico says.
I stop. I’m not used to my employees telling me what to do.
“Your Highness, I know something is going on. I would prefer to be looped in.”
“Nico, I will let you know if I require your assistance,” I say sternly, not bothering to look back at him.
“Auggie…” he says, lowering his voice. “Just...don’t do anything stupid, OK?” Nico seldom uses my given name. He’s worked with me long enough that I don’t expect him to always be so formal, but he’s irritating me tonight. Well, maybe everything is irritating me tonight.
I don’t say anything but nod as I walk to my balcony. Once I’m alone, I call Anna.
“You cocksucking, little motherfucking asshole!” She starts but I cut her off.
“Listen, I’m sorry. I needed to get Kate and me out of there. And what the fuck, Anna? You shouldn’t have sent Kate in there! What were you thinking!?” I half yell.
“It’s under control. Kate’s background lends her to be able to handle this. You, on the other hand, are green.”
I take a deep breath, and she’s quiet for a moment. I can sense the course of our conversation changing direction before she even speaks.
“It’s the diamond, isn’t it?” she says softly.
“Yes.”
Neither of us says anything as the realization begins to dawn on us.
“Do you think it’s been sold for parts?” I finally verbalize my thoughts.
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s worth so much more as a complete tiara,” Anna says. I hear her typing, and I know she must be online, scouring the dark web.
“When’s the next auction?” I ask.
“Two more weeks. It’s early next month.”
“Anna?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Why do I feel like this is more complicated than just a stolen crown?” I muse.
“Because it probably is.”
“Great,” I groan. I’ve opened Pandora’s box.
“Oh, by the way, Jack’s going to be there tomorrow,” she adds.
“Say what?”
Jack Ross is a high-up intelligence officer who works with Interpol and helped us out when Anna stumbled upon a dark web conspiracy to take down our monarchy. I haven’t talked to him since then and that was over a year ago.
“It seems your new girlfriend’s security is former intelligence and worked with him. And, Kate also spilled everything to her. I thought Kate would be smarter than that. We need to keep this shit on lockdown, you get me?”
“Wait, my Kate told her security?”
“Your Kate?”
“Whatever, she should know better,” I say, trying to avoid discussing my Freudian slip.
“I already spoke with her, since some people weren’t answering their phone.”
I sigh. “Anna…” I start and trail off because this whole mission has gone to shit aside from the fact that we now have a piece of my mother’s tiara.
“Auggie?” I hear Kate’s hesitant voice from behind me.
I’m surprised to find both Kate and Jackie standing in my doorway.
“Put me on speaker,” Anna says as though she already knew they were on their way. Shit, she probably did.
Kate
I nervously look over at Auggie. I’m not sure how he’s going to feel about me spilling th
is to Jackie, but I had little choice.
I’m surprised when Jackie speaks first. “Long time no talk, Knight.”
“Shit, Watermelon, didn’t realize that was you. Small fucking world,” Anna says. Auggie and I exchange confused looks.
“I take it that you two are acquainted, then?” Auggie asks them the question that’s on both our minds.
“Yep. Your bodyguard is a badass,” Anna says to me.
“So is your sister,” Jackie says to Auggie. “What’s the game plan?”
And with that, Anna launches into a plan to draw out the person who auctioned the diamond.
“We are going to use Kate’s connection to Jared,” she starts.
My face pales.
“The fuck you are,” Auggie growls, pulling me against him in some sort of caveman show of domination.
Anna sighs. “Listen, it’s the fastest way to figure this out. I’m not going to be able to get us in with a sheik on short notice,” she says as though she could get an audience with a sheik if she had more time.
“Before I say no, what’s your plan?” I ask, biting my lip.
“Well, what if I were to set up a chance encounter,” she says.
I frown. “Anna, he’s not supposed to be near me. I’m not sure he’d even speak to me. There’s a lot of history…”
“I see. OK. Augs, you’re up! I’m going to have you cross paths.”
Auggie’s jaw clenches.
“Augs?”
“Anna, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he grits out from between his teeth.
“For fuck’s sake, use your princely charms. This is our one shot; you want it or not? Because honestly, as much as it bothers me, I’m happy and I’ve let it go, well, pretty much let it go,” Anna says.
Auggie groans and runs a hand through his hair. He yanks it slightly, which leaves it sticking up after he pulls his hand away. How can he look so fucking sexy all the time? And why am I distracted by his sexiness at a time like this?
“Fine,” he growls. “But if he ends up in an unmarked grave, that’s on you.”
“Play nice, big brother,” Anna scolds.
“Prepare to see him tomorrow. Looks like you’ll be grabbing a drink at the Bleue. I’ll make sure he is at the bar at one.”
No one asks how she knows this or how she’ll make sure because I’m pretty confident that she’s gaining this intel through unapproved methods.
“I’ll call you in the morning so we can pre-game. You’re going to have to use that world-class charm we all know you have,” Anna adds.
Auggie rolls his eyes. “Whatever,” he mutters but the look of determination in his eyes is clear. He’s going to see this through.
“And, Auggie,” Anna says. “Be careful. This isn’t a game.”
“I will,” he answers before hanging up.
“We have some discussing to do,” he says to Jackie and me. Jackie nods, and Auggie walks over to a side table and pours three glasses of scotch.
“I don’t drink,” Jackie quips. “But you’ll probably want to pour yourself a double.
Auggie raises an eyebrow and pours himself another finger of scotch before sitting down in one of four chairs by the balcony.
August
“So, you know Anna,” I state, looking Jackie in the eyes. She meets my gaze, not backing down in the slightest.
“I do,” she answers.
“What do you know about Jared?” I ask because my gut tells me that she knows much more than Kate or myself think she knows.
“Enough to know that if you two are smart, you’ll stay far away from Jared and his family,” she replies.
Kate’s eyes widen. I’m a little surprised she didn’t know her security was former CIA. But then again, Kate would have been young when Jackie started working with the Secret Service.
“Jackie, I think now is the time you share your past with us,” I command.
“It’s mostly classified,” she replies coolly.
I give her a pointed look, and she sighs.
“Fine, generally speaking, I investigated the world of black market antiquities while undercover. Mostly because of the sales ties to cartels and such.”
“And what do you know of Jared?” I prompt.
“Other than he’s an asshole?” she mutters before looking over at Kate. “Sorry.”
Kate shrugs. “You’re not off base about the asshole part.”
“His father has been linked to shady groups, as well. They are...opportunistic,” Jackie adds.
“Any idea why Jared might have been there today?” I prod.
She shrugs. “He could be after a piece to sell for profit. It’s essentially a way of money laundering. The money they shouldn’t have goes straight to an investment that can’t be tracked,” she explains, using air quotes around the term “investment.”
“Do you know if he regularly attends these?” I ask.
She shrugs. “No, it’s been a while since I was privy to such information.”
“Thoughts about tomorrow?” I ask.
“Tread carefully, Jared is just smart enough to be dangerous,” she says. “I have a feeling Anna will want you to do a transaction. Just be mindful that there are things you don’t know about Jared and his family.”
“Noted,” I reply as I down the rest of the drink.
“I’m taking Kate to be with her parents. They have a day trip planned tomorrow with her sister. I will push for them to wrap up their trip by the end of the week. I think it’s better if they head home.”
I nod, and my throat constricts because I wonder if “they” also includes Kate.
Jackie and Kate stand to leave. Jackie looks between us and smirks.
“I’ll be out front,” she says as she walks out.
Kate remains silent as she looks at me. I can’t tell if she’s scared, overwhelmed, angry, or a combination of all three. She bites her lip.
“You going to be alright?” I ask as I take a step toward her.
She shrugs. “Yeah, I’ll survive.”
I reach out and caress her face. She leans into my touch and closes her eyes. Her beauty and vulnerability punch me in my gut. The desire to protect her is so strong that I almost tell her to stay with me. I lean down and brush my lips against hers.
“I want to stay,” she verbalizes my thoughts.
I lean my forehead against hers and her big eyes open to look at me.
“I want you to stay too, but I want you safe, and it’s not safe right now,” I say to her.
“I know,” she says on a sigh as she pulls back.
“Go enjoy some time with your family,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
She gives me a forced smile. “OK.”
She leans up and kisses my cheek before wrapping her arms around my waist and squeezing. “Be safe,” she says as she pulls away and walks out of my room.
I walk out to the balcony and stand, looking out at the garden and the sea. It’s eerily calm. I can feel a storm building, and I hope that it won’t be as bad as I suspect it will be.
Chapter Twenty
The bar overlooks the water. I’ve been sipping on a glass of cognac for the past ten minutes. Even though I’ve been debriefed by Anna, I still feel that I look like a poser. What am I doing here? I even vocalized that to my sister who rolled her eyes and assured me I would be fine. She also pointed out that ethically she could not devote resources to searching for a lost crown.
My gut keeps telling me this is about more than my mother’s crown.
Motion at the entrance to the bar draws my attention. Jared walks in and sits two seats away from me. He orders a martini with extra olives.
A moment later, he turns to me.
“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, I’m Jared Farrington,” he says, holding out a hand. Anna had warned me that he would likely approach me first.
“August,” I say, forcing myself to shake his hand.
“I was at your gala the other ni
ght,” he states, his eyes boring into me.
I play dumb. “Oh?”
“Seems I was uninvited,” he sneers.
“Well, royal events can be overrated,” I reply, casually sipping my drink. My turn to take control. “What brings you here?”
“Just taking care of some business,” he says.
“Nice place to do business.”
He shrugs. “I go where the money is.”
“What type of business are you in?” I prod.
“Buying, selling, you know, making money.”
His comment is vague and quite frankly odd. My gut tells me to call his bluff. It’s unplanned and sort of a Hail Mary pass, but I proceed anyhow.
“Do you ever deal in rare gems?” I inquire.
He looks at me with increased curiosity. “Sometimes…”
“I have recently acquired a rather valuable gem. Any interest?” I ask.
He shrugs nonchalantly as he licks his lips. He’s interested. I feel like I’m reeling in a big fish.
“Perhaps,” he says. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a card. “Text me a photo. We’ll talk.” And with that, he takes his drink and walks out of the bar.
I take another sip of my drink and stare at his card. It’s black and has only the number forty-four inside a wreath of leaves which is embossed in gold. The symbol seems oddly familiar, but I don’t know why. I flip it over and there is a phone number, which includes the country code. I flip it back over and examine the symbol. I don’t get it. I stick it in my pocket and toss some cash on the bar before heading back to the house.
As Nico drives me back, my phone pings with an incoming message.
Anna: Call me when you get back
I groan. Now we are going to have to come up with another plan of action. At the rate I’m gathering intel, we may find Mom’s crown in another twenty years.
We pull up to the house, and I head inside, calling Anna once I have a secured line.
“So?”
“Can’t you just snoop around the dark web and find who sold the diamond?” I huff.
“You seriously think I haven’t already tried that?” she half yells.
“Calm the fuck down. I’m just saying, this is going to take forever!”
“Well?” she prods.