Nine

“What do you mean, ‘It’s just Cristian’?” I stared at the crew in shock. Everyone had shown up for the emergency meeting at Rose’s garage, but no one seemed to care that Cristian had been kidnapped and tortured by the mob.

“He walked out on us,” Emma said from her perch on one of our heist-planning tables. “And that wasn’t the first time. Whenever the chips are down, Cristian goes running.”

“He came back during our last heist,” I protested. “He helped Jack and me escape from Joseph Angelini’s study.”

“I say he got what was coming to him.” Gage leaned back so far in his chair I thought it might tip over.

“No one deserves to be tortured by the mob.” Chloe shot him a glare. “What if it was me they kidnapped?”

“Then they’d already be dead.” He dropped his chair forward with a bang. “Their friends would be dead. Their families would be dead. Their houses would be burned to the ground, and every trace of their existence would be wiped off the earth.”

“How about we put that kind of passion into saving Cristian,” I suggested. “He may not have been the best of us, but he is still one of us. We can’t leave him in the hands of the mob.”

“Call the police,” Emma said dismissively. “Saving kidnapped people is their literal job.”

“They’ll kill him if we get the police involved,” Jack said quietly. “Or worse, they’ll cut him up and send the pieces to us one by one until time runs out, and then they’ll come for us.”

“Oh my goodness, this is exciting.” Simone fluttered a hand in front of her face. “It’s like a real-life movie.”

I’d finally invited Simone to join us after she’d followed me around listing reasons why she should be included, one of which was a promise of access to a particular pool of her society friends who required an inordinate number of funeral services because their family members were prone to fatal accidents. She’d instantly won over the crew when she arrived at the garage with an enormous curated gift basket filled with an assortment of luxury foods. Only Gage dared to try the caviar, which, to her horror, he poured over the pizza slice he’d brought with him and washed down with beer.

“I still like the running-away option,” Emma said.

“We’re playing the long game here,” I protested. “Yes, it’s easier to get fake passports and run away, but we stand to gain more by seeing this through. It’s like chess. You give up the short-term benefit of taking that rook because there are greater rewards if you follow your plan and play through to the end.”

“I didn’t realize we had a plan,” Anil said. “In that case, the long-game strategy makes sense—it’s how I became a chess grand master when I was sixteen.”

“Is he serious?” Simone gave Anil an appraising look. “There are less than two thousand chess grand masters in the world.”

“He’s in Mensa,” Chloe said. “He’s a super-genius. You never know what’s going on in that immense brain of his.”

“Our plan is…” I made up a plan on the spot before the conversation went off track as it almost always did when we were all together. “Find the necklace and get our hands on $9 million before our time runs out. We’ve already wasted half a week trying to pretend this wasn’t real. And we do it together. No one walks away.”

Anil raised his hand.

“Yes, Anil?”

“With all due respect, that plan sucks. I think we should try to find Cristian before they kill him.”

“They’ll keep him alive as leverage,” Jack said. “Giving them what they want is our best option for saving him.”

Anil lifted his hand again. “What about Rose? She’s part of this, too.”

“I tried to get in touch with her again, but apparently she left the ship at their stop in Turks and Caicos and didn’t get on again.”

“I heard that happens a lot on cruise ships,” Anil said. “She was probably kidnapped as a sex slave.”

“She’s eighty-two years old,” Chloe pointed out.

Anil shrugged. “It takes all types.”

“How would you know?” Gage chuckled. “You’ve never even had a girlfriend.”

“I read.” Anil gave an affronted sniff. “I watch TV and movies. Some of them are even rated PG-13. I’m not an ignoramus when it comes to the ways of love.”

“We’re getting off topic,” I said. “Our biggest problem right now is finding the necklace. Chloe hacked into the Delhi police database. The robbery was a professional job. They have no leads. She and Gage checked the dark web, but it isn’t for sale on the black market. It’s like it disappeared into thin air.”

“What about the person who ratted us out in the first place?” Anil asked. “Maybe we could find them and convince them to go back to Angelini and say they made a mistake.”

I glanced over at Jack, who had been curiously silent. His arms were still folded, and he was toeing the ground with one of his boots. A sliver of dread slid down my spine. “Jack?”

He looked up and caught my gaze. My heart sank to my stomach when I saw the guilt in his eyes.

“You know, don’t you? Who was it?”

Before Jack could speak, the door crashed open, and Clare walked into the garage followed by a couple who looked like they’d stepped straight out of a gangster film. The man was tall and heavily built, with a thick neck and a shaved head. He had a silver ring in one ear, and a jagged scar ran across his cheek. The woman was strikingly beautiful, with long dark hair and a heart-shaped face. She wore a tight-fitting black lace top, black leather pants, and a pair of knee-high thick-soled black boots. They looked like they were ready to cause some serious trouble, but it was Clare who drew everyone’s attention because she was holding the Wild Heart.

“I heard you were looking for this.” She held up the necklace, turning it so everyone could see the giant diamond pendant glittering in the light.

Blood boiling, I turned on Jack. “You knew she was the rat. You must have known she stole the necklace, too, and you just sat there letting us worry.” I was shouting, all the stress and fear finding an outlet in my rage. “We all thought we were going to die.”

“You may still die,” Clare said casually, tucking the necklace into her bag. “I didn’t say I would give it to you.”

“Then we’ll take it.” Gage reached for his gun, but before he could even pull it from its holster, a knife flew through air and sliced into his shoulder.

Chloe screamed and ran to help him. Jack moved like lightning, crossing the floor in two long strides to grab the woman who had thrown the knife and pin her to the wall. Emma made a run for Clare but came up against a wall of muscle when Clare’s male companion blocked her way, a gun in his hand. Anil dropped into a fighting stance and turned in a circle, although there was no one for him to fight. Only Simone stayed calm, taking in the chaos with a look that was at once horror and delight.

“Stand down,” I shouted. “No shooting, beating, strangling, or throwing any more knives!”

It took a few moments, but eventually everyone calmed down. Clare and her minions moved to one side of the garage, and my crew and I stood on the other, with only the folding metal chairs between us.

“This is Clare,” I told them. “She used to be a personal shopper at Bloomingdale’s. Jack sent me to see her last year when I needed a dress for the charity ball where I met Joseph Angelini and got hired to run his daughter’s wedding. I didn’t know they’d been in a relationship, but I found out when Chloe and I saw them kissing at Bloomingdale’s last week.”

“Jack.” Anil’s usually calm faced creased with a frown. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“Yeah, dude,” Emma said. “That’s Cristian-like behavior. And this is my girl you’re dicking around.” She slammed a fist into her palm. “I think we’d better step outside.”

“If anyone is going to beat him up, it’s me,” Anil complained. “I’ve already got my green belt in Brazilian jujitsu. What’s the point in training to be a fighter when I can’t even defend the honor of my friend?”

“Green belt?” Emma snorted a laugh. “He’ll wipe the floor with you. Jack’s a street fighter. He’s not going to follow the rules. Let me handle this.”

“Actually, Simi promised that I could have the first crack at him,” Chloe said, pushing up the sleeves of her white cotton peasant blouse.

“Jesus, woman.” Gage stared at her in dismay. “You can’t fight Jack.”

“Why not? I’ve been taking Krav Maga.”

Gage yanked the knife from his shoulder like it was nothing more than a splinter and tossed it on the ground. “If you want him beat, then I’ll do it for you.”

“Chivalrous as that was,” Chloe said, “I can fight my own battles.”

“But it’s not your battle,” Anil pointed out. “It’s Simi’s battle. Maybe she wants to beat him up herself. And if she doesn’t, she needs to choose who gets to do it for her.”

A sharp whistle cut through the chatter. Everyone stopped talking and looked over at Clare as she pulled her fingers from her mouth.

“Are you guys serious?” She looked over at her companions and shook her head incredulously. “I’m standing here with the necklace you need to save yourselves from a ruthless mob boss and you’re arguing about who gets to beat on Jack?”

“When someone saw Moira’s husband cheating on her in the Hamptons, everyone gossiped about it for weeks,” Simone whispered, “but no one offered to avenge her through violence. I’m going to tell her we need better friends.”

“If I were you, I would stop worrying about Jack and start worrying about myself,” I said to Clare, “because now that they know you’re the one who ratted us out to the mob, you’ll be next on the list.”

It was a guess, but I had a feeling the menacing duo standing behind Clare weren’t there for window dressing, and Jack had pretty much given it away before she walked in the door. The dude looked like he could crush heads with his bare hands, and the woman had just shown us she was equally lethal. Clare had come for a reason, and she’d brought her own protection.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Gage kicked over the nearest chair. “Are you telling me we’re in this mess because of some kind of fucking ex drama?”

“She’s a very distant ex,” Jack said. “It was long ago and we agreed it was a mistake.”

“I have a picture of Jack handcuffed to my hotel bed.” Clare held up her phone. “Anyone want to see? I’ve also got some vacay pics, including one of us on a romantic cruise down the Nile.”

“Clare. Enough.” Jack’s voice held a ruthless edge that I’d never heard before, a harsh, low rumble of warning that reached deep into my beating, betrayed heart.

“It’s not what you think,” Jack said, turning to me. “She’s trying to mess with you to get back at me, just like she did at the department store.”

“Aw, Jackie.” Clare blew him a kiss. “It is exactly what she thinks. And yes, I set you up. I’m pissed. You derailed my heist. You outed me and you tried to get me arrested. And then I find out you’re seeing someone else? After everything we had together. You made me think you don’t care anymore.”

I saw red, a blinding rush of blood that changed the world around me with a sickening crackle and color. He hadn’t just put me in danger with his stupid ex drama; he’d endangered my friends.

“No one is going to touch him,” I muttered under my breath. “Because there will be nothing left of him when I’m done.” I had always considered myself to be an even-tempered person. As a child, when my needs had been overlooked in favor of my loud, demanding brothers, I swallowed the pain and hurt. But for some reason, this was different. I had opened my heart up to someone for the first time, and I wasn’t prepared for the pain of betrayal, or the anger that came with it.

“Take a breath,” Simone murmured, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. “There’s more going on here than a jealous ex out for revenge. She must have gone to a lot of trouble to get that necklace, and I am not getting anything from Jack except animosity.”

“What do you want, Clare?” Jack spat out.

“You cost me my anonymity and damaged my reputation with that little stunt you pulled the other week,” she spat out. “That was my score and now I can’t go on-site or hire the people I need to get it done. So, you owe me. I need your crew to do the job I was hired to do. When you hand over what I want, I’ll give you the necklace and we’ll call it even.”

“It’s my job,” Jack said. “I’m not giving it up.”

“The way I see it, you don’t have a choice unless you’re done with this two-bit crew and you want to see them dead.”

“What is the job?” Chloe asked. “It has to be worth one hell of a lot more than the necklace for you to fly to India, steal the Wild Heart, smuggle it into the country, and then out us to the mob.”

“The Florentine Diamond,” she said. “It’s one of the world’s most valuable missing treasures. It’s a 137-carat yellow diamond originally from India that made its way to Europe in the 1400s and then into the Habsburg crown jewels in the 1600s. It was stolen in 1918 and disappeared for over a century until last year, when a billionaire treasure hunter tracked it down and purchased it from a private collector for $200 million. I was hired to retrieve it for a very generous fee, and I’m willing to give you the necklace, the interest in cash, and a bonus $1 million in exchange for your assistance. That’s the same pay I’m giving Milan and Vito.”

“Which billionaire has the diamond?” Simone asked. “I know them all.”

“Peter C. Hearst. He owns a mansion in—”

“The Gold Coast.” Simone laughed lightly. “Actually, he and his wife, Vera, bought three houses and knocked them down to build one big mansion as their city place. Vera is very much into art but Peter is best known as a treasure hunter. He searches for lost antiquities and prides himself on owning the rarest and most unique pieces. I’ve heard that he’s got no scruples when it comes to getting what he wants.”

“I guess we have our replacement ‘insider,’ ” Chloe whispered. “With the added bonus that it’s unlikely she’ll have slept with the target’s husband, putting us all at risk.”

“We need a minute to discuss this in private.” I gestured to the door.

Clare shot a lingering glance at Jack before nodding to her minions to follow her outside.

“So, what do we think?” I asked after they were gone.

“I think she’s right. We don’t have a choice,” Chloe said. “But it makes me so angry that she put us in this position. If she hadn’t gone to Angelini in the first place, he wouldn’t have known who took the necklace.”

“It’s Jack’s fault.” Emma shot him a glare. “He pissed her off and put a target on our backs. I think we should beat on him for Simi, and then make him do the heist alone since he was going to do it alone in the first place.”

“It’s too big a job for one person,” Jack said. “I was planning to hire a crew.”

“So, you are a thief.” Anil folded his arms. “I thought you were a good bad guy, like Robin Hood.”

“I was sent to retrieve the Florentine Diamond and repatriate it,” Jack said. “I had no intention of keeping it for myself. It belongs to the Austrian monarchy. They have a rhinestone replica at the Natural History Museum in Vienna and would be thrilled to replace it with the original.”

“Does anyone have any other ideas for getting us out of this mess?” I asked, looking over my crew.

“There are seven of us and three of them,” Anil said. “Couldn’t we just overpower them and take the necklace by force?”

“Not a chance.” Gage shook his head. “Her bodyguards are highly trained assassins. They had at least a dozen weapons hidden under their clothes. Jack and I might be able to take them if we were prepared and fully armed, but the rest of you would be liabilities, and sixty seconds tops, you’d all be dead.” He twined his fingers and cracked the knuckles on both hands. “Still, if you don’t want to agree to the deal, I’m up for the challenge.”

“I don’t think the necklace she showed us is real,” I said. “Who would walk around with something that valuable, even with two highly trained killers as backup? I don’t think she’s stupid.”

“She’s not stupid,” Jack said. “And you’re right. It’s not real. I was watching the way the light shone through the pendant. She’ll have the original stashed somewhere safe.”

“In that case, I think our best option is to pull off the heist, give Clare the diamond in exchange for the necklace and the cash, and make things right with Angelini.” I swallowed my fear and fixed my crew with what I thought was a hopeful expression. “Who’s in?”

One by one, everyone raised a hand. Except Jack.

“I have a conflict of interest,” he said in response to my silent query. “I’ve been hired to retrieve the diamond, too.”

“And you will retrieve it, except that it will unfortunately find its way into Clare’s hands before you can hand it over to whoever you have to give it to, who is someone I suspect Clare knows since she seems to know all about your past. Unlike me. Your former girlfriend.”

That made Jack wince. “I was trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection,” I snapped. “What I do need is for you to raise your hand and agree to join this heist because if you don’t, there are six people in this room who will make sure you do.”

Jack raised his hand.

“Then it’s settled,” I said. “We’re doing another heist.”