Page 202 of The Sweetest Return

“Where?”

“Inside.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Because something came for you.”

“For me?”

I took her hand and led her into the suite.

The black Saint Aurelia box waited on the table near the window, the house name stamped in gold across the lid. Imani stopped when she saw it.

“Why is there a Saint Aurelia delivery in your suite?”

“Open it.”

“What are you up to, Andre Malik?”

“Open it, Mani.”

Her fingers moved over the lid slowly. When she lifted it, the room light caught all those diamonds at once.

For the first time all day, Imani Bennett had no words.

That alone almost made the price too low.

The necklace rested against black velvet, all brilliant-cut diamonds and clean, grown lines, the stones graduated toward the center with enough fire to rival the ones I wore myself. It was not delicate. It did not ask permission to be expensive. It looked like something made for a woman who could walk into a room, change the value of everything inside it, and still make people wonder if they had understood luxury before she arrived.

Her hand hovered above it without touching.

“Andre.”

“I worked with your people.”

Her eyes came to mine. “My people?”

“Saint Aurelia.”

Confusion moved across her face. “When?”

“A week ago. I was waiting for you to finish a call, and Nia came through the front area.”

“Nia?”

“She recognized me, tried to pretend she didn’t, called me Mr. Jones three times in one sentence, then pulled herself together like a professional.” My mouth curved. “Poor girl was starstruck for about forty-five seconds, but she recovered.”

Imani’s lips twitched despite the emotion gathering in her eyes.

“She connected me with the atelier director and the master jeweler. I told them what I wanted.”

“What did you want?”

“Something for you.” I stepped closer. “Diamonds that could stand beside mine and not shrink.”

“Baby…”

“Beautiful. Rare. Expensive. Made with care. Worth the trouble.” My voice lowered. “Like you.”