CHAPTER TEN
TIFFANY
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I would like my diamonds back. I haven’t said that to anyone, because, you know, poor me and all that.
But they’re sentimental. Dad gave them to me on my eighteenth birthday.
They would look amazing with this black Prada dress, but tonight I’m contracted to wear a set of Maison diamonds. It’s part of our broader agreement.
If I’m wearing diamonds, I’m wearing theirs.
Of course, the police advised me to stop wearing anything blingy, but they don’t understand the business end of things and what’s at stake. I’d be in breach of my agreement, and because they agreed to stay in partnership with me, I’m not doing anything to jeopardize that.
Still, mine would have looked amazing and a pang of sadness washes over me.
I always received comments when I’d wear them. Nadia especially loved them. After a video announcing the new Diamond Luxe line, she showed up on my doorstep.
“I have to see them. Tell me they are real.” She gushed.
“Of course they are.” I laughed. “Follow me. They are my pride and joy. Until I have kids...and maybe even then.”
We’d giggled while I’d unlocked the safe and tugged out the black velvet box.
“They’re stunning,” she sighed, gently touching them.
“Try it on if you’d like,” I offered.
She was my neighbor and friend, after all.
“Can I?” Her big eyes lifted to mine.
“Here, let me put it on you.” I lifted the heavy diamond necklace and nudged her over to the mirror, then put it on her.
“Oh my. I need to take a selfie. It never hurts to show your man some inspiration.” She winked.
She’s referring to Alexei.
Both she and Alexei immigrated from Russia a year ago and moved in next door. He’s the typical tall, large, and broody type. I think his English is limited.
Nadia does a lot of the talking.
I’ve always thought they came here for her career. She has a social media following of over twenty million. Nadia is a dancer and has a range of merchandise as well as partnerships around the world.
Whether Alexei can afford to buy her diamonds, I don’t know, but she sent him a hint that day, and so far I haven’t seen her with one.
One thing Nadia is not is private.
She is a little chatterbox.
It’s how we became friends. That and when she moved in, she was knocking on my door almost every week with gifts, baked goods, and invites to parties she was hosting.
My schedule was crammed full for the entire year, and when I had a gap, I loved my alone time. Whipping up a smoothie and opening my e-reader to read the latest romcom was my idea of fun.
But her persistence paid off, and soon enough I was giving her my gate code so on Wednesday morning she could come through, without me needing to open the gate, for our weekly morning tea.
Alexei often walked her over, kissed her firmly and then, in broken English, said. “Have a nice day.”
That was it.
Then he’d leave us to it.
Weird that they hadn’t been over the past week. I hope Jayden hadn’t scared them off.
Perhaps Alexei was concerned he’d have to make chit-chat. I should speak to Nadia. I’m sure his English is limited. In fact, have a nice day was the only English I’ve heard him speak.
The day Nadia introduced us, she translated.
“Nice to meet you Alexei, I’m Tiffany.” I shook his big, strong, crushing hand.
“Zdravstvuyte, priyatno poznakomit'sya, no nam pora idti, Nadia.” He replied, his voice was deep, authoritative.
Nadia clearly adored him if her smile was anything to go by. “He said hello, but we have to go.”
Oh.
It was abrupt and seemed rude, but I smiled and waved them off that day, watching them slip through the gate.
Alexei glanced back briefly and studied me for a long moment. Culturally, I knew they weren’t smiley people—like me—but his protectiveness gave me pause.
It was sort of sexy.
Mom might be right that I’d like a protective man. Then again, I was still recovering from being Steven Stallone's daughter.
Dating was hard for me when I was younger. Boys wanted to know about my father, more than getting under my sweater. Mostly. To them, he was a real-life action hero.
I could never be sure if they were interested in me, him or an acting career.
The actors, whom I dated from time to time, turned me off with their we could be a power couple, proposals.
No, thank you.
To this day, I can say I’ve never been in love. Not really. I thought I had been once or twice, but in hindsight, I wasn’t.
Right now, I wasn’t interested in meeting someone. I wanted to get the Diamond Luxe collection launched and repay Dad.
That...it was just important to me.
Then I could stand proudly and say I was a financially independent woman. Not a trust fund baby. Hopefully, I’d meet a man who respected that and liked me for me...not my father and all he stood for.
Standing in front of the mirror, I call my best friend Rebecca, who now lives in London. We grew up together, and I consider her my only true friend.
“Hey...oh my God you look amazing.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. Look at these things.” I touch the diamonds, which are a lot bigger than the ones that were stolen.
A lot.
“Should you be wearing them? Don’t get angry, but perhaps the cops are right.”
I pout at her.
“They aren’t. Now, when are you coming home?”
She sighs.
Rebecca had been dating an Englishman whom she was deeply in love with. It had been on and off. I knew she didn’t tell me everything because she was ashamed. I’d visited a few times, but life was so busy here that I had been almost a year since we’d hugged.
“Henry won’t commit to a date. I might have to come over alone. That will stir up a hornet’s nest.”
I zipped my lips.
Being controlled like that was a complete turnoff for me. I don’t know how she could stand it. I would understand if she were traveling every month or something crazy like that, but it had been a year.
“Well, I think you should. If not, I will try to come over during the holidays.”
Her face lit up. “Really?”
Pushing back my annoyance, I nodded. Rebecca was a trust fund baby. Her mother, a famous, not retired, actress. Unlike me, she had no problem living off the credit cards given to her. If Henry weren’t a stock trader earning millions himself, I’d say he was only with her for one reason.
Perhaps they really did love each other, but it was...broken.
But who am I to judge?
But she had a lot of freedom of time because she didn’t work. In fact, I often thought having a career might free her from Henry’s hold.
He seemed to be her everything.
Fuck that.
When we hung up, my mind flashed back to earlier in the day when I went downstairs to speak to Jayden.
A thought had occurred to me as I stared at my pile of fan mail, procrastinating on dealing with it.
I’d found him leaning against the kitchen bench, sipping a mug of coffee. He lifted his face and the phone he’d been reading on, lowered. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I walked to the sink and poured a glass of water.
“You sure, because you have blue jeans and a white T-shirt on. Where is the splash of blinding color you usually pair it with?”
Rude.
“Excuse me? Do you wear any other color except black?”
“Air Force colors.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let me reword my question: anything brighter than mud?”
He snorted, and I liked it more than I wanted to admit. “Wait, my sister bought me a Hawaiian shirt once, but it was olive green and cream.”
I cringed.
“What’s her name?”
“The shirt?”
I rolled my eyes again. “Are you always this dry?”
Jayden took a sip of coffee, and I’m sure it was to hide his smirk.
I tossed back my water and rinsed the glass.
“Her name is Jessie. She just got engaged to my best friend Liam,” Jayden dropped his mug on the bench. “They’ve been in love since the day they met.”
“That’s so sweet.”
“She was five.”
“Oh.” I blinked, unsure how to react.
“Think I knew, even back then.” Jayden seemed to disappear into his childhood. His face softened, but little lines around his eyes appeared.
“You didn’t want them to be together?” I asked, coming around the bench.
His eyes lifted to mine. “It was my job to protect her as her big brother. I recruited Liam to help.”
Oh.
That was...cute.
I pressed my lips tightly together to stop my smile.
“You think it’s funny?” Jayden looked surprised, but there was a playfulness to his response.
I started chuckling. “That poor girl, having two big, buff, protective boys to contend with.”
“Buff?” Jayden took a step closer.
Oh boy.
He crossed his arms and lifted a brow as if waiting for an explanation. With one little move I could loop my fingers around those thick forearms and tiptoe up to kiss him.
I could have.
But I didn’t.
“She lived. Got the guy. And is now wearing his ring.” Jayden watched my mouth. “Now, Ms. Stallone, I know you came out here to say something, so let’s hear it.”
He’d broken the spell, and I knew it was on purpose. We couldn’t cross the line between the roles we played in life. I hired BHS to do a job, and he worked for them.
He’d said as much in the swimming pool.
That didn’t mean the attraction between us wasn’t real and growing by the day.
“Are you psychic?”
“Trained. Ask the question,” he rasped, and my body reacted, a shiver running down my arms. When I rubbed them, Jayden let out a soft curse, dropped his arms, and moved away.
“What do you need, Tiffany?” he asked from several feet away.
Or, as I like to call it, the safety zone.
“Do you think there’s a chance my thief could be one of my stalker-fans?”
His face darkened. “You have a stalker?”
“I mean...officially, no.”
“Show me.”