Sam sighed dramatically and inched her shirtsleeve back, turning her wrist from side to side. ‘Second is that I’m wearing a Cartier love bracelet, and you haven’t even noticed.’
Georgia set her coffee down on the bedside table and shook her head, her hands covering her mouth as she looked at the bracelet. ‘It’s amazing, Sam. Absolutely, without a doubt, the most gorgeous bracelet I’ve ever seen. I’m so pleased you bought it.’
Sam grinned. ‘Itisgorgeous, and I’ve been dying to show it to you, but I’m actually far more interested in what you’re doing. Why the luggage?’
‘Because I’m going to Geneva.’
‘You’re going toSwitzerland?’ Sam asked. ‘I don’t believe it.’
‘Well, believe it, because I’ve booked my ticket and I leave tomorrow.’
Sam’s jaw dropped. ‘You, Georgia Montano, are leaving London and travelling to Switzerland? I’ve never, ever known you to travel for pleasure.’
She groaned and flopped back beside Sam on the bed. ‘I know. I’m having palpitations just thinking about it.’
Whenever they’d travelled for work, Sam had had to practically drag Georgia onto the plane—she certainly hadn’t ever gone willingly. It was more being on the plane than leaving the country that she hated. Thankfully when they were younger,Sam’s family had taken all their holidays by car or train, which meant she’d been perfectly fine.
‘What made you decide to go? What have you discovered that you haven’t told me?’
Georgia closed her eyes, trying to visualise herself getting on the plane, foreseeing sitting there and gripping the arm rest, her knuckles white. Her eyes flew open then, wishing she hadn’t imagined it.I’m going to be fine. There’s nothing to worry about.
‘You know you’re going to be fine, right?’ Sam said, as if she could read her thoughts. ‘Completely, one hundred per cent fine?’
She took a deep breath. ‘Logically, I know that. But telling you just now has made it real.’ Georgia sat bolt upright. ‘Why don’t you come with me?’
‘Can’t,’ Sam said. ‘I’m, well?—’
‘Samantha Bradshaw, are you blushing?’ Georgia laughed.
‘I’m going to meet Harry’s parents. There! I’ve said it.’
‘Wait, you’re ditching your best friend and business partner for a man?’
‘Yes,’ Sam said. ‘But only because I knew nothing about this trip when I agreed to a weekend in the Cotswolds with his family, and in case you’ve forgotten, we’re no longer business partners, so you’re released from having to spend every day with me.’
Georgia gave her a look that she hoped she understood. She would never get tired of spending time with Sam; she was the sister she’d never had.
‘I’m happy for you, Sam,’ she said. ‘You know that, right? I couldn’t be happier that things are working out so well with Harry.’
Sam reached for her hand and squeezed it. ‘I know. But your family mystery is far more exciting than me pretending I likebeing out of the city for the weekend. Now, explain to me why you’re going to Geneva and not Italy?’
Georgia got off the bed and began to reach for her discarded clothes, holding them up and waiting for Sam to either shake her head or nod, before putting them away or placing them in her luggage.
‘I still haven’t had the newspaper clipping translated. To be honest, I haven’t looked into it, but the man from Christie’s told me to call a jeweller in Geneva, a Luca Kaufmann, who has apparently been searching for a missing sapphire for many years.’
‘Which is potentially the sapphire in your possession,’ Sam clarified.
‘Precisely,’ Georgia said, surveying how many things she’d already packed. ‘I mean, I don’t really believe it could be the missing stone, but if it is, then I thought I should travel with it rather than send it to a stranger, no matter how legitimate his business might be.’
‘I agree,’ Sam said. ‘It’s no different to when we took all our samples to show retailers because we were scared the competition might somehow intercept them.’
Georgia grinned. ‘Exactly.’
It felt like a lifetime ago that they’d been a start-up company, peddling their samples to retailers in the hope that someone would pick up their products and put them on the map. Their business had been twofold: first they’d developed software to match the foundations and lipsticks of big brands, to allow their customers to easily shop their more affordable products online and work out which colour they wanted; and then they’d created the same technology in-store for their biggest retailers. A woman could walk in wearing her favourite lipstick from another brand, and with facial recognition they could match the pigment and shade, with the sale made in minutes. Their technology hadset them apart more than their make-up; the ability to provide a service that made shopping easy and affordable. And it was the reason they’d been courted by one of the biggest cosmetic companies in the world, selling the controlling shares to their business before their thirtieth birthdays. Georgia still wanted to pinch herself sometimes, and she knew Sam felt the same.
‘So what do you know about this Luca Kaufmann?’ Sam asked, draining her coffee and dropping the takeout cup in the bin beside Georgia’s bed. ‘Have you looked him up?’
Georgia shook her head. ‘No, but I’ve spoken to him.’
