I drink the entire thing within a minute, crying the entire time.
I play the camera footage again and Denver walks into my bedroom. He puts something on my pillow and his lips move. My fingers are clumsy as I rush to rewind it and turn the volume up so I can make out what he’s saying.
“I never gave you this back. I’m so sorry, Sinclair. Sullivan had it tested. It’s not him.”
My eyes are blurry as I stumble into my bedroom.
The diamond is glinting against the white silk, its chain like a thin golden snake curling around it. I pick it up and let it dangle from my fingers as I sink onto the bed.
Monty comes and sits by my feet, whining as he looks at it twirling around in a circle.
“It’s not him, Monty,” I whisper, my voice so small it’s almost nonexistent.
He paws at my leg, and I reach down to stroke him, curling my fingers around the silky tufts of hair on his ears. I knew the moment Theo so cruelly told me that these weren’t my brother’s ashes that she was telling the truth. I don’t know how, I just did. But it hasn’t stopped me from missing the weight of it around my neck. It’s been the one thing I’ve held on to for so long, desperately trying to maintain some kind of connection to him.
The chain slips through my fingers and drops to the floor.
“We’ve lost both of them,” I whisper to Monty as I play the footage and watch Denver walk out of my apartment without looking at the camera again.
“We’ve lost both of them.”
44
DENVER
The security guywho answers the door at Seasons eyes me up and down.
“Denver? What are you doing back, Buddy?”
I clasp his hand in mine, and we shake. “Just come to talk with Sterling.”
“He’s interviewing for your replacement.”
“Still?”
The guy chuckles. “Apparently he thinks you’re hot shit or something, because none of these chumps have measured up yet.”
I tilt my head at the door further down the hallway behind him that leads to Sterling’s office. “Can I?”
“Go ahead. I think they’ll all be glad of a break. Sullivan and Mal are in there with him,” he adds.
I nod and stride down the hallway, opening the door at the end. There are three guys in dark suits sitting on chairs, lined up outside Sterling’s closed office door. All six eyes flick up to take me in, assessing me for the level of competition I pose.
One of them clears his throat as I walk past the empty chair beside him and head straight to the door.
“I wouldn’t interrupt them,” someone else pipes up as I lift my fist to knock on the door. “Last guy just about pissed himself when he walked out.”
I turn and my eyes connect with Killian’s as he walks in from the direction of the main bar.
“Bet Jenson would have loved cleaning that up,” I reply.
Killian breaks into a grin and pulls me into a hug. “You’re a slippery beast. Anyone else wouldn’t have gotten away with it,” he says low enough that only I hear.
“I’m impressed,” I say, clapping him on the back.
“What can I say? I was taught by the best.”
I pull back and look at him. “The others?”
