Diamond Among Jewels
Alistair
Ileaned over the balcony of my penthouse, watching the amber sky melt into the Persian Gulf. Palm Jumeirah sparkled below. Luxury yachts, city lights, everything I was supposed to want. It should’ve felt like power. Mostly, it felt like distance. My phone buzzed on the glass table behind me.
Vera
Send me proof you’re actually working and not just sunbathing, player.
I snapped a photo, tie loosened, city in the background, and shot it back
Hard at work. Shirt’s still on, for now.
Her reply came seconds later… a sleepy selfie, hair mussed, eyes half-lidded.
It’s two a.m. here. Only you could make insomnia look this good.
I grinned, leaning back against the rail, already missing the heat of her next to me. We’d spent the week bouncing photos and voice notes. Her coffee runs in Lester Harbor, my endless meetings in Dubai, flirtation skimming the edge of dirty.
You look exhausted, sweetheart. Get some sleep before you forget how to function.
Only if you promise to wake me up properly next time you’re here.
Count on it.
The sun dipped lower, casting everything in a golden glow.
I let her voice linger in my head as I got ready for another call, business as usual, but all I wanted was her.
Another week went by. Field test results on our plug and abandonment applications in our clients’ wells kept everyone happy.
We celebrated a small victory at a hotel rooftop club where I nursed a beer while half-listening to jokes and the music.
That aside, beautiful women who made seduction look effortless walked by, throwing suggestive glances at me.
But none of it landed. My mind drifted to Vera and Damian. It should be morning over there now.
My son.
I slipped out to the terrace, dialed the boy, and waited. His voice crackled through my wireless earbuds, bright and fast.
“Dad, when are you coming home?”
“Soon, son. What are you up to this weekend?”
“Eating pancakes for breakfast with Grandma right now. You should see what Grandpa and I made.”
I grinned. “Let me guess. A birdhouse?”
Damian snorted. “I made birdhouses when I was six. This is a game controller. Grandpa let me use his soldering iron.”
I could hear pride in his voice. “Already outclassing me. So, what’s next? Building an empire?”
He laughed. “An entire game. I want to make one where the hero can fly and build stuff. You’d play it, right?”
“In a heartbeat,” I promised. “Maybe you’ll teach me to code.”
His tone softened. “I miss you, Dad.”
That hit me harder than any drink could. “I miss you, too, buddy. I’ll call again tomorrow, yeah?”
We hung up, and for a minute, the city felt hollow. I scrolled to Vera’s name, ready for her voice, her sharpness, anything to remind me I was still alive.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” I greeted when she answered her phone.
“Good evening, loverboy. How are you?”
“Busy. My colleagues and I have been with clients and suppliers,” I said. “My engineers introduced a revolutionary decommissioning application in one of our clients’ land wells, so it’s big news here.”
“Well done. I’m proud of you,” Vera’s sultry voice purred.
“We’re hiring new people now. Are you interested in being on my legal team?”
“For Orion?”
“No, for Clemonte Oil Engineering. It’s a newer company, named after my mother.
Her maiden name was Clemonte. I’ve got a passionate team of engineers and developers, and we’re doing well in the Middle East. I need someone I can trust to handle our contracts.
” I chaired the board of directors for Orion, but my heart was with Clemonte, a rising star where I sat on the executive committee as the company’s CEO.
It was my passion to see this business succeed.
“It sounds tempting to join you, but I’m happy where I am,” Vera replied.
“You excelled in your business and law degrees, yet you’d rather focus on unfair dismissal cases and pro-bono cases on domestic abuse,” I pondered.
“Not everything’s about the money, honey.”
“Clearly. How are you?”
“Oh, I’m dealing with chaos. All about your ex-wife.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.”
“What happened?”
“Sapphire and I went looking for Julian one night. Well, guess who we found him with?”
“The she-devil.”
“Bingo. Right in her arms at one of her crazy sex parties,” Vera said.
Fuck. This should never have happened.
“So, you saw her and Julian together?” I asked, feeling my vocal cords tighten.
“Yeah.”
“Did she see you?”
“Yes, but…”
“Shit. You should never have done that,” I scolded, wishing she’d talked to me before facing my ex. “Do you understand the danger you’ve exposed yourself to? Saira is mafia.”
“Oh, I read the news about her ties with drug lords like ‘Mad’ Mike Marino.”
“Listen, sweetheart. She isn’t just connected to them. She controls them.”
“I had to step in and confront my brother. I was worried about him. So was Saph because Julian wasn’t returning her calls. I wanted him away from your ex-wife.”
“You’ve got a lot of guts to rock up to her sex party. Promise me, don’t do anything like that again.”
“I won’t. Julian and Sapphire broke up, and Saira threatened him. She wants to make his life hell. So, I need your help.”
“I’m here,” I assured her.
“Thanks. I’ve never needed anyone more than I need you now. Julian wants to end his contract with Saira, but she’s blackmailing him. She said she’ll destroy everyone close to him, including Saph. And he still loves her.”
“Vera, I know your heart is racing a million miles an hour, but stop right there.”
“Please…”
“I’ll get him out of his deal with my ex. I’m heading to New York, so let’s meet there. Bring Julian with you.”
“Thank you. I owe you one.”
“You owe me nothing. Remember that.”
“Okay.” Vera exhaled loudly. “I might also lose a flatmate. Saph wants to move out, but she’ll need a job that pays well. She applied for a PR role at a senator’s office.”
“What’s the senator’s name?”
“Paul McGrath. He’s…”
“I know him well,” I cut in. Paul and I had been close friends since college.
I supported his campaigns and connected him with other contributors.
In turn, he and his buddies passed into law a bill to legalize brothels.
It meant sex workers could have better working conditions.
“Vera, I’ll call you back,” I said. “What are you wearing?”
“Oh, Daddy. I’ve got on a black negligee made of lace and silk,” my lioness teased.
“Good. I hope you’re in the mood for some dirty talk and self-play later tonight,” I replied. “I expect you to take off the slip of silk and oil yourself from top to toe.”
“Do you want me completely naked?”
“Naked and oiled. I’ll call you later, sweetheart,” I promised, ending the call.
I poured myself a glass of wine and called Paul. Vera’s friend could use a decent job. I’d be damned if Saira tried to destroy an innocent girl’s career. She’d done it before, and she’d do it again.
“Scotty. How’s life?” Paul’s voice boomed.
“As good as it can be. McGrath, you’re a champion,” I responded, letting out a low chuckle.
“Eh? What have I done?”
“It’s what you’re about to do. I hear you’re looking for new staff.”
“Yeah, I got rid of my PR assistant after he leaked information to the opposition about campaign plans.”
“Stop hiring traitors. Keep both eyes open and both ears clean. Shield yourself.”
“I know, Scotty.”
“Listen to me. There’s a young woman, Sapphire, who’s gunning for the PR position.”
“Ah, Sapphire Blake. I’m interviewing her on Monday,” Paul replied.
“Hire her. You won’t regret it. You want staff you can rely on, yeah?”
“I trust your judgment,” Paul said. “A brother is born for times of adversity.”
“Confucius?”
“Come on. It’s in the Bible. Proverbs seventeen.” McGrath and I have always had this game… quotes and drinks. It started back in college. Too many nights ended in blackout laughter and hangovers that could kill a man.
“McGrath, you remember this line? Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.” I chuckled, picturing him on a dance floor, though what I meant was handing power to idiots who fold the second the music changes.
“Ah, yes, Confucius. I remember that one.” McGrath’s voice rumbled with laughter. He was a lousy dancer, yet his ex-wife had taught dance classes.
I ended the call with a smile, good memories, and one good deed for Vera’s friend.
Vera and I picked up where we left off, hunger simmering between us even through the screen.
My pulse spiked the moment her camera flickered on.
There she was, sprawled naked across her bed, golden brown tresses against the sheets.
She cupped her breasts with those graceful fingers, squeezing and rolling her nipples in slow, teasing strokes.
That sly Mona Lisa smile twisted her lips.
I knew she could see how much I fucking needed this.
“Keep doing that and I’ll go blind,” I teased, wrapping my hand around my cock to match her rhythm.
She bit her lip and arched her back for me. “Why don’t you show me what I’m missing, Scotty?”
I grinned at the screen, making sure she saw every second of my pleasure. I pumped my cock, slow and hungry, never looking away. Vera let out a soft moan, slid her hand down her stomach, and parted her thighs so I could see just how wet she was.
“Wish I was there?” she whispered, voice shaky with need.
“Every damn second,” I groaned, watching her fingers circle her clit. “Touch yourself for me. I want to see you come.”
She gasped, hips rocking, her smile never fading as she built herself higher. My own control slipped. I shuffled harder, breathing quick and rough while we watched each other unravel. Our moans overlapped, bodies shuddering, the distance between us gone for a few wild moments.
We lay there in the blue glow of our screens, both of us smiling and aching for more.
Vera
Monday, May 30
Alistair Bryce Scott got under my skin. What started as a game had become deeper.
He and I weren’t a couple yet, so I wasn’t disclosing my love life to friends or family.
It was still too early. I know, I’m a master of secrets.
I survived high school, college, and work that way; nobody really knew me, but I knew them. Their feelings and secrets.
About secrets—I went to Julian’s apartment and found him curled up in bed, crying his heart out. Even the strongest men break. My brother. My protector. Sometimes he was just as fragile as the rest of us.
“Jules, get up,” I said, gently shaking his arm. I knew he wanted Saph, but she needed space. I get it. She’d just seen him with a powerful and rich woman who paid him for sex.
Julian lay on his side, catatonic and silent, while tears rolled down his ruddy, sullen face.
It reminded me how he was after Dad died from cancer.
Jules was stoic and silent at school, but he cried to sleep every night for months after the funeral.
He was eight and I was five. Back then, I didn’t know what to do, except cry with him.
Things were different now. I was stronger, tougher, and ready to help him fight his war against Saira.
“Jules, listen to me. I know someone who can help you,” I said, standing over the bed.
“My contract with Saira was meant to end,” he lamented, ignoring my words, caught up in his own turmoil.
“But she kept pulling me back, dangling funds for the archaeology department, swearing it was the last time. It’s all a lie, Vee.
She’s now threatening to destroy my career and the people I love if I don’t give her more. ”
He paused, the silence stretching before he spoke again. “Saira can wreck my university career at the university. I don’t give a damn about that. But I can’t let her destroy Saph’s life. She’s got everything. Power. Money. Influence.”
I cringed at the memory of the night Saph and I saw Julian with Saira. There was something chillingly evil about the way the ash-blonde queen stared at us with her slate-gray eyes. She reflected power and dominance, but there Alistair wielded the same influence.
“I know someone with more power,” I confided.
“Give it up, Vee. Stop fucking with me,” Jules shouted, throwing a pillow at the wall behind me.
“I’m dead serious. There’s a man who can help, and I’m sure you’ve heard of him. His name is Alistair Scott.”
“Saira’s ex-husband? He’s unattainable,” Julian scoffed. “Why would he help us? We’re nothing but dust in the world of the Scotts and Quinns.”
“For God’s sake. Will you just trust me?” I snapped, planting my hands on my hips.
Julian lifted his head and glared at me. “Can you make miracles happen?” he asked, dragging himself to the edge of the bed. His shoulders sagged, but at least he was back in the land of the living.
“I have my ways.” A crooked smile tugged at my lips. “Take the rest of the week off work. We’re flying to New York.”
“What the fuck, Vee? Is this a joke?”
“Yeah, hilarious, and I’m Bobby the Clown.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “No, Jules, it’s not a fucking joke. Get your shit together and start packing. You’re seeing Alistair at eight on Wednesday evening. We’re meeting him at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Egyptian exhibition opening.”
“And the flights? Accommodation? You think of that, genius?”
“Already handled.” I wasn’t about to mention Alistair’s private jet just yet. One step at a time.
Julian rubbed his chin, exhaling hard. “I trust you know what you’re doing.”
“You’d better. I know exactly what I’m doing.” I patted his shoulder. “Alistair wants to destroy that bitch.”
A small smile ghosted across his face, his anxiety loosening. “You’re the best sister a man could have.”
I laughed, hugging him tight. “You’ve only got one.”
Hope was waiting for us in New York.