The Diamond Affair Read Free Page A

rooms and showed me something...amazing," she said on a breath.
    "The
diamond?"
    "The
Florentine, yes."
    "He stole
it?"
    She shrugged. "Maybe.
But most likely he bought it on the black market."
    His scowl
deepened. "So what's so special about it that he wanted you to check it
out?"
    "It's the
world's most magnificent and most mysterious diamond. It was once owned by the
Medicis and then European royalty but went missing in 1918 when the Hapsburg Empire
collapsed. It was rumored to have been taken by the Nazis during World War Two
and presumably sold on the black market some time after that. It's incredible
that it's turned up after all these years in Australia." She sighed. "It
was truly beautiful. Everything I had imagined it to be. More." She lifted
her hand, palm up, still able to feel the weight of the diamond. All 137 carats
of it. "To hold it was a dream come true for me."
    "Okay, it's
valuable, I get it. But why did he ask you to authenticate it and not one of
the other thousands of jewelers in the city?"
    "I'm a gemologist
as well as a jeweler and I'm the only Australian expert on the world's famous lost
diamonds. This country is not exactly a haven for the diamond black market so
there's very few people who specialize in gems of such value or infamy here. Not
that I'm in the loop regarding black market gems," she added quickly.
    He raised a
single eyebrow but said nothing.
    She felt
compelled to add more. "Studying the lost gems has been a hobby of mine
from childhood. Instead of reading me bedtime stories, Dad used to tell me
about gems like the Florentine. I loved it. Their mystery, their romance...everything
about them. Over the years my passion grew stronger and I collected every piece
of information I could find on the diamonds, rubies and other stones thought
lost to the world. I was fairly sure the Florentine was still somewhere in Europe
based on my research and rumors."
    She'd been
staring into her glass, recalling the Florentine's brilliant sparkle beneath
the lamp in Beauvoir's office, and when she looked up, she found Jake watching
her intently behind hooded eyes. He lifted his shoulders as if shrugging off an
irritable thought.
    "I take it
you clarified for him that he had in fact purchased the Florentine?" he
asked.
    "Yes. But..."
    "Oh great. A
but. There's always a but."
    "Hey, if you
want to be childish about this—"
    He held up his
hands. "Just tell me."
    Another command. Boy,
he had arrogance in abundance if he expected her to obey him all the time. She
was not the sort of woman who liked being ordered around.
    For now, she
needed him more than he needed her business so she would bite back her retorts.
But not forever.
    "To be
completely certain it was the Florentine," she said, "I'd need to
take it to a specialized workshop, do some tests and take a closer look. When I
suggested it to Beauvoir he refused. He didn't want to let it out of his sight."
    Jake grunted a
laugh as if she'd said something funny, or stupid. "And now Beauvoir
thinks you stole it from him."
    She slouched back
in her chair, suddenly feeling like a deflated ball with all the breath and
energy gone from her body. "Yeah."
    "He's not a
man to get off-side."
    "Thanks,
Sherlock. If I didn't get that before I certainly get it now."
    He didn't rise to
her snarkiness. He sat with his arms crossed on the table before him, his body
relaxed. If it wasn't for his gaze constantly flicking between her and the
other bar patrons, he could have been mistaken for someone who didn't give a
damn about her predicament. She wasn't sure if that was reassuring or not.
    "So did you
steal it from him?" he said.
    "No! I can't
believe you have to ask me that!"
    "Why? You
could be a master thief for all I know."
    "You know Matt."
    He grunted. "Just
because you're related doesn't mean you've got similar principles." His
body had been very still but suddenly he started fidgeting with his glass and
shifting in his seat. It was as if all his energy had been