“No, I didn’t notice any pin. What does that have to do—”
“I think it’s Nana’s pin, Ty. I think it’s one of Aphrodite’s Tears.”
“What? The set was stolen decades ago.”
Annabelle swallowed a gasp at the last second. Her pin had been stolen? From Jared’s grandmother?
“I know it sounds crazy,” Jared said, “but I’m pretty damn sure that’s what it is.”
“Did you ask her where she got it?”
“She said her grandfather found it years ago at a flea market in a box of costume jewelry.”
“So…what? You wanted her so you figured you’d have her and tell her in the morning, ‘Oh, by the way, your jewelry’s hot?’ You don’t even know if her pin’s real. Christ, Jed, you’re an idiot.”
“Of course I’m not gonna say that. I’m not stupid. But the pin fits Nana’s description perfectly and you know how much she wants it back. I’ll pay Belle for it, of course. Anyway, last night was a one-off. It was fun but you said it yourself. She’s not part of our crowd. I doubt I’ll ever see her again. She doesn’t exactly run in the same circles.”
Indignation, hot as lava, flooded through her. Did Jared think she was some hick who just fell off the hay wagon? A laughable diversion?
Bastard.
She heard the brothers continue to talk but she shut out their voices. As quickly and quietly as she could, she jumped out of bed and pulled on her dress. With a pen and pad from the bedside table, she jotted down the address of the post office box she used for her lawyer.
Then she removed the pin from her dress.
Did he want the pin so badly, he felt he had to sleep with her to get it?
Just another asshole. She took a deep breath and pulled open the door.
Jared didn’t notice her right away, standing with his back to the door. “That’s not—”
“Jed.” Tyler nodded toward her, his expression solemn, and Jared turned to face her.
Even with too little sleep, his hair mussed, and his eight o’clock shadow, the man was beautiful. Even if he had been exposed as a prick.
Jesus, did guys like this have some kind of radar that pointed her out to them?
“Belle—”
“All you had to do was tell me about the pin, Jared.” She held the piece out in front of her, ignoring Tyler. “If I’d known it was stolen, I would’ve returned it to its rightful owner years ago. I do have scruples. If the pin actually isn’t your grandmother’s, I’ve included the address to my lawyer. You can return it to him.”
Jared didn’t take the pin, his eyes staring straight into hers. “I don’t know what you think you heard, but—”
“Basically I heard everything.” She forced ice into her tone, feeling it run through her veins as well. “The night’s over, Jared. It was fun. Thanks so much for inviting me to your party.” She made sure he understood exactly what she now thought of that party. “And please don’t worry. I have no desire to be sued. Your secrets are safe with me. As I hope mine will be with you.”
Then, instead of throwing it at him like she wanted to do, she flipped the pin to him like she was flipping a quarter. As if it didn’t matter. As if she wasn’t losing a piece of her grandfather. But she couldn’t keep it. Every time she looked at it, she’d be reminded of tonight. And her gullibility.
Jared caught the pin, his mouth opening as if to speak, but she walked by the brothers, stepped through the door into the hallway, and headed for the elevator. Luckily, she saw no one in the halls. At this point, she didn’t think she’d even care. Forcing herself not to think, she went straight to Kate’s room and knocked. After a half minute or so, Kate cracked open the door. Her sleepy eyes widened, probably at the sight of the tears forming in Annabelle’s eyes. Kate waved her through and Annabelle let the tears flow.
Six
“Jared, oh my goodness. The pin! What…How did you find it?”
A few hours later, Jared smiled at his grandmother’s stunned delight when he placed Belle’s pin in her hands.
“So it is yours?”
Her eyes wide, she flipped the pin in her hand, staring at the back before flipping it over again. “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen it but yes, it is. Where did you get it?”
Fuck. He’d almost been hoping the damn thing wasn’t the right pin after all.
“One of the women at the party last night was wearing it. When I recognized it and told her its history, she insisted I return it to you.”
Beatrice’s pale blue gaze lifted and pinned his. “She just gave it to? Did you offer to pay her for it?”
“I don’t think she would have taken any money.” Belle would’ve rather had his head. He could still see the betrayal in her eyes before she’d closed the door in his face. She thought he was a snake.
God damn it, he wasn’t. He’d planned to tell her about the pin that morning. He hadn’t invited her to the party with the intention of seducing the pin away from her, though it was pretty obvious that’s what she thought.
“Well, who is this woman?” Beatrice demanded. “I want to meet her.”
Jared couldn’t sit still any longer so he moved to the kitchenette in his grandmother’s suite for a Coke. His grandmother didn’t drink coffee and Jared would kill for a whole pot right now.
“I’m not quite sure how to contact her.” He hated lying to his grandmother. He popped the top on the can and chugged half of it. “But she gave me the pin, and I’m returning it to you. I thought you’d be thrilled.”
Beatrice’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know where she found it?”
“She told me her grandfather found it at a flea market.”
“Really? A flea market? Did you ask her if there were any other pieces?”
He shook his head and turned to set his soda can on the table to avoid meeting her gaze. “I honestly didn’t think about that, Nana.”
“So,” Beatrice said slowly, “you’re telling me you told her that this pin had been stolen almost forty years ago, was rightfully mine, and she simply gave it to you?”
With nothing to do but grin and bear it, Jared looked her straight in the eyes. “Yeah. Amazing, huh?”
His grandmother paused, staring back at him. “Yes, a little too amazing.” Beatrice shook her head as she held the pin out to him, her mouth a straight, flat line. “This pin is no longer mine, Jared. You have to give it back to the woman you took it from. Then you have to beg her to forgive you for being a complete jackass. I know you. You’re hiding something, something that wouldn’t reflect kindly on you. How exactly did you tell her the pin was stolen?”
Yes, his grandmother knew him too well.
He sighed but didn’t reach for the pin. “I didn’t actually tell her. She overheard a conversation I had with Tyler that she…misinterpreted. And”—he pushed forward before his grandmother could say whatever she’d opened her mouth to say—“I am planning to apologize. But I’m sure she’d want you to have the pin. Of course I’ll compensate her—”
Beatrice cut him off with a sharp hand motion. “You will do no such thing. You will take this pin back to her. You will apologize for whatever you did and you will find a way to make it up to her.” Shaking her head, Beatrice sighed and her shoulders sagged. “Didn’t you listen to anything I’ve said about the legend in all these years? Jared, you may have thrown away your one chance at true love.”
Silence filled the room as that four-letter word floated in the air.
Love.
She didn’t really believe that. Did she? Jared stared at his grandmother, trying to figure out when she was going to laugh, to tell him she was joking.