Blue diamonds. White diamonds. Everything I discussed with Antonio’s boss is here.
But there’s one stone we need to have a conversation about.
I fist the one in question in my hand and then nod for Jack to take the others away. He quickly rolls them in the velvet and stows them in a locked hand-carry safe.
“This one.” I open my hand and keep my eyes on Antonio, who licks his lips and has a light sheen of sweat on his brow. “Let’s talk about it.”
“What would you like to discuss?” he asks, trying to look innocent.
He’s a bad fucking liar.
“Tell me about it.”
His brows pull together for just a heartbeat. “Well, it’s a blue Cullinan diamond, eight carats?—”
“What’s it worth,” I cut in.
“Approximately eight million dollars.”
I stare at him, unblinking, until he clears his throat and tugs at the collar of his shirt.
“This is worth about, oh ...” I look down at it and tilt my head side by side, as if I’m pondering it. “Jack shit. It’s fuckingfake.”
Antonio starts to shake his head, but I stand, and his eyes widen with fear.
Good.
He should be afraid.
“It’s not fake,” he says.
“Here’s my loupe,” I say, passing it over to him. “Have a look for yourself.”
Carefully, he takes it from me and examines the stone, and by the time he looks back up at me, his face has gone white.
“I don’t know how this happened.”
Nodding, I sigh and put my hand out. Jack passes me a hammer, and I swing it at my side.
“The thing is, Antonio, I think you’re skimming. I think you planted this fake, and you have the real stone, which you’re going to sell yourself. Thatreallypisses me off.”
I glance at his guards.
“He’s been paid in full for the real gemstones. You can leave.”
Without thinking twice or arguing, the two men leave the room, and Antonio starts to shake.
“I swear, I don’t know what happened. I wouldnever?—”
“Sure you would.” I lean on the desk, as if we’re just having a nice civilized conversation and Antonio isn’t about to lose the function of his right hand. “It’s eight million. A nice little take for someone like you, Antonio. I bet you only make about a milliona year, so if you swipe one of these every six months or so, that puts you in a nice spot. Makes it so you don’t have to do this forever. You can retire on a beach somewhere and disappear.”
I shake my head, as if I’m disappointed in him.
“The thing is, I’m damn fucking smart. I’ve already learned everything there is to know about you. I know what your taxes look like, the balances in your bank accounts. Those match.”
His shoulders loosen.
“However, theydon’tmatch the twenty million you have stashed in the Caymans. I also know that you have a sister in Orlando, who likes to go to Disney every Saturday. Your niece is in Paris, studying abroad.”
