Diamonds & Desire: The Priceless Collection (22 page)

“Are you kidding me? Well, you can all breathe a sigh of relief because I’m doing everything except pining for Jordana.”

Neil snapped his fingers. “Overnight, your feelings just flipped? That doesn’t make any sense. Don’t tell me your pride got in the way.”

“It has nothing to do with my pride. She’s a manipulator, Caenon, and she played me for the biggest fool of the year.”

“Meaning?”

He should’ve told Neil about the pictures the day he got them. Damn it. Was there anything he could keep to himself? “A fiancé,” he bit out. “She’s got a damn fiancé.”

Neil jerked in surprise. “What? I didn’t get the memo. How the hell did you find that out?”

“My mother, believe it or not, brought this revelation to my attention. With pictures to prove it. She hired a private eye to follow Jordana.” He flinched at Neil’s lightly accusatory look. “I had nothing to do with it. Instead of trying to get to know Jordana like a rational human being, she had her followed. Then she proceeded to bring me a dozen glossy photos of Jordana and her fiancé making out on her balcony.”

Neil huffed. “Now I need a drink. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“I just found out a few days ago,” he mumbled, signaling the bartender for another.

Neil cast his gaze away, leaned against the bar. “I’ll be damned. Where are the pictures now?”

“In my shredder.”

“If all this is true, why would Jordana want to come here tonight?”

Of course Neil would seek out answers Logan couldn’t give. “I don’t know and I don’t care. It is true because I saw it with my own eyes.” Logan grabbed his drink, left a tip, and sighed with irritation. “Maybe she likes the attention of more than one man at a time. Maybe she got cold feet. Maybe her fiancé found out she’d been cheating on him and he dumped her. Who knows, who cares?”

“What did she say when you told her you knew?”

“I didn’t want to hear it.” He took a sip of his drink and turned away.

Neil put a hand on his shoulder. “You didn’t even listen to her, Savant? No wonder she’s upset. Look, obviously there’s some explanation. I can’t believe she’d intentionally deceive you, especially with something as serious as a fiancé.”

He didn’t want to believe it either, but he had no choice. Anger gurgled inside him, even though he should’ve been used to the idea by now. Seeing her tonight had thrown him into a deeper well of regret and despair. A burn traveled from his gut to his throat. Shit. He couldn’t wait to get out of the country. “Is she your friend or am I? All of a sudden you’re on her side because you spent five minutes alone with her.”

Neil shrugged. “All I’m saying is you should’ve heard her out. Now she thinks I brought her here so you could shut her down.”

“She can think whatever she wants.”

“I can’t believe you just let her leave without allowing her to explain her side. That’s not like you, Savant.”

Logan’s brows shot down. “Are you drunk? What’s there to explain? You should’ve seen the ‘uh oh, I got caught’ look when I mentioned her fiancé. Face it Neil, she’s no better than the rest of them, no better than Rebecca. No better than any other woman who thinks she can manipulate me to her liking. I’m done.” He started to stride off, then halted. “Since when did you start interfering in my personal life? Fuck, Neil. I wish you hadn’t.”

“Beginning to wish I hadn’t either,” his friend mumbled. “On the other hand, I still think you should’ve gotten the whole story from her before throwing her out of your life. You know your mother has a way of twisting things. Do your own research before you make a huge mistake.”

Logan tossed back a swallow of his drink, and ventured back in the crowd. “Thanks for the advice, but getting involved with Jordana was the huge mistake.”

Chapter Twenty-One

“I don’t get it,” declared Lucee.

Jordana sighed at her sister’s statement. It’d been over a week since the night she ran out of the museum, and although she finally got through one day without crying, she was not over the heartache. Her sister had invited her to come see Adam’s play that night, but Jordana turned her down, promising to go the following weekend. Lucee came straight over when Jordana told her what happened with Logan.

But, apparently her sister didn’t get it.

“I mean,” Lucee added, kicking off her heels. “You and Zack have been split for months and months. Didn’t you give Logan the lowdown on that whole story?”

Lounging on her love seat, Jordana rested her head in her hand as she leaned on the arm. “I never actually told him what happened between me and Zack. I was waiting for the right time, when I knew how things stood between us, before I put my past out there. I wasn’t exactly proud to say I couldn’t make my fiancé happy enough to stay in the same country as me.”

“Oh, whatever! I feel like there’s more to this situation. What’s missing here?”

She’d asked herself that a thousand times. “I don’t know. Regardless, he wouldn’t let me explain. He just…” she trailed, recalling his biting words and cold gaze. “stormed off.”

Her sister twisted her lips in thought. “What a dick. Although, it must’ve really hurt him to act like that. Isn’t he usually Mr. Cool? He must’ve really fallen for you to be so ticked off, sis.”

The words rang true. And she hadn’t thought of Logan’s pain, only her own, but Lucee had a point. If the roles had been reversed—if she’d been told he was engaged while they’d been together—she couldn’t imagine how devastated and resentful she’d be. Probably more so than he was.

She’d been concentrating on how his words had inflicted her with confusion and shame, not really regarding what he could be feeling. He had every right to think as though she played him, even though that was nowhere near the truth. If only he’d listened.

“Are you going to try and talk to him again? Clear the air and stuff?” Lucee asked.

All week she thought about reaching out to him, but couldn’t stomach the thought of another confrontation. “I’ve had enough drama for a while. Besides, if he truly thinks I’m the kind of girl who would two-time my fiancé, then he doesn’t really know me.” She shrugged, throat closing.

Her sister made a pouty face, studying Jordana for a long minute. “C’est la vie, then.” She bent over the coffee table, sorting through the magazines. “Did you get the new Vanity Fair yet?”

Jordana wished she could be as blasé about Logan as her sister was, who was still basking in her newlywed glow. “It’s somewhere in that pile.” Pushing up from her seat, she went to the kitchen to make tea.

“When was the last time you sorted through all this mail?”

“A while. Do it for me if you’re feeling so cluttered.” She took out her kettle. It was nice to have her sister there. She needed the company. Tomorrow Casey was taking her out for brunch with his latest love interest, something she didn’t yearn to do, but knew it’d be good for her to get out of the apartment.

“Hey sis,” Lucee called. “Is this letter from Triton Press important?”

Jordana froze, setting down the kettle and striding back to the living room.

Lucee handed the envelope to her, then resumed digging through the magazine subscriptions. She had no idea how Jordana’s pulse had quickened.

Her last attempt at getting her children’s book published. The envelope was thin and she’d received many just like it.

All rejection letters.

Dare she open it and receive more crushing news?

She placed the letter on the mantle and went back to the kitchen. Methodically, she set the kettle on the stove, then carefully considered which mug to use. The snowman that melted once the cup was hot? Or her smiley face mug? That one. Opening her tin box of tea bags, she debated on orange ginger or mint. “Oh, who am I kidding?”

Racing around the corner, she snatched the enveloped and shuffled to the hallway for privacy. Better to get it over with than draw out the suspense. Slicing open the envelope, she read opened the letter:

Dear Ms. Shaw,

Thank you so much for giving Triton Press the opportunity to review your children’s book submission, “Betsy’s Key to History.” I would like to offer my congratulations, as we want to extend an offer for a contract for books 1 through 3 for this series…

Jordana blinked. Did she read that right? No. She read it too fast. Read it again. Better read it again. This time, she did so out loud, her heart hammering wildly. She raised her wide-eyed gaze. It ended saying a contract would be coming later in a separate letter, and a phone call from the acquiring editor. Swiveling on her heel, stunned, her mind was a complete freeze. “Lucee!”

“What?”

Sweeping to the living room, she held up the letter. “I did it. I got it. I got a contract for the children’s book. For three of my books!”

Lucee jerked as if hit in the face with a pie. Her blue eyes rounded and she dropped her magazine on the table. “Get out! Are you serious? Are you freakin’ serious?”

Nodding furiously, Jordana read the letter out loud while the letter shook in her trembling hands. When she reached the last line, her sister sprung up from her seat, jumping up and down clapping like a wild child.

Squealing, Lucee came over and grabbed Jordana for a long hug. “I can’t even tell you how excited I am for you!” She pulled back with a dramatic gasp. “We have to celebrate. Like, right now. Get dressed, sis, we are going out!”

A dream was coming true. Her stories were going to be in print by a major publisher she thought she had little chance with.

Logan.

Other than her sister, he was the first person she wanted to share this with. Tears burned behind her eyes. No matter how much she burned to tell him, she couldn’t.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Oftentimes, Logan negotiated his best deals when other areas of his life were failing. After a week in Hong Kong, work was the only thing he could do right.

One of the best things about these clients was that he didn’t have to put on a jovial air, as he often had to with others; his stoic reserve was expected and respected.

His exchange with Jordana at the charity replayed in his mind over and over. When he attempted to catch a few hours of precious sleep, all he saw were her hazel eyes, looking up at him, bewildered, wounded. When he sat up in bed this morning, his chest was sore, as though a rock had sat on it all night.

After a long day, which included an extensive dinner meeting, he walked back to his hotel room, but wasn’t even tired.

Neil’s words kept ringing in his head about listening to Jordana’s side of the story.

Guess she had gotten to him, too. Hard to fathom Neil had gone out of his way to reunite them. His friend had never done anything like that in the past. Did Logan really project such misery others had to intervene? Apparently, yes.

Either way, Neil couldn’t be labeled the bad guy.

All his friend’s questions revolved in his mind without end. Why the deception? What was her agenda?

Logan had emphasized he didn’t care, but truth was, he cared a great deal. Maybe it was still his weakness for her, but he couldn’t shake off this tickling at the back of his mind that something wasn’t right.

He’d been so desperate to separate himself from Jordana, he hadn’t demanded any explanations. Now, he had to have them. Or never sleep through the night again.

Getting the answers straight from Jordana? Out of the question. Her mere presence rattled his rationale and he didn’t trust himself to remain objective, let alone trust her word. No, better to start from the beginning and reevaluate.

The worst thing that could happen? He’d get confirmation of what he already knew.

The best thing? Also the worst. Finding out Jordana hadn’t deceived him so grievously. That there was an explanation he could understand. Something he could forgive. Though he had no idea what she could say for him to do that.

He sauntered to the window overlooking the city. Where should he start?

I need another look at those photos.

His mother told him who she’d hired. Bart Stiner. Years ago, she’d enlisted his services to see if her husband was unfaithful. Dad had proven to be what everyone knew he was: a workaholic. Even though Stiner had done a very thorough job, Logan’s father was cleared of that accusation. He could be called many other things, but an adulterer was not one of them.

It was five a.m. at home right now, but Logan didn’t care. After tracking down Stiner’s number, he left him a voicemail to return his call.

An hour later, the private eye called him back.

“Whatcha need, son?”

“The pictures you took of Jordana Shaw. I want the copies.”

“Er…I uh don’t keep ‘em once the job is done.”

“Bullshit. You have back-ups. I’ll transfer a good chunk of change to an account right now if you email the photos in less than an hour.”

Silence on the other end. A man like Stiner was only loyal to money, no matter how good a client his mother might have been.

“Done,” the private eye replied. “I’ll text you my account number. The pics are on a thumb drive. Over three hundred of ‘em. It’ll take me less than five minutes.”

Three-hundred? Right after Logan transferred money to the account, the photos were in his email. He poured a drink and sat down at the mahogany desk, forcing emotion aside.

What he was looking for, he didn’t know. Perhaps he’d missed something the first time. From the timestamps on the photos, it seemed Stiner started photographing Jordana a few days after Grey’s party until about a week and a half after the misunderstanding in his office. The beginning photos showed a jubilant, carefree Jordana, always smiling. Was she happy because they were together or was her ex back in town? As he clicked through the evidence, none included Zack yet.

Hmm.

He kept an eye on the timestamp.

The day after she’d surprised him at the office, her disposition had changed dramatically. Her eyes were a bit puffy, evidence she’d been crying.

He’d done that to her.

Swallowing the hot regret in his throat, he moved on.

Interestingly, Bart hadn’t been around when Logan went to beg for her forgiveness. Their conversation was never photographed.

When he came to the pictures of her and Zack, he took two long sips of his whiskey and tapped the right arrow button on his keyboard with unnecessary force. Instead of scrolling past them quickly, he forced himself to study each one.

Stiner had gotten remarkably close that night, whatever camera he used was a powerful one considering he had to be across the street to capture these unseen. How the hell he did it with her on the third floor, Logan could only guess.

Jordana went into her apartment sometime after eight p.m. Then she went out on the balcony shortly thereafter. Logan leaned in, fixated on her face. He hadn’t noticed her expression before, but she appeared troubled, in distress.

Tap, tap, tap.

The next three photos showed more strain in her eyes.

Zack came out, put his arms around her. Logan remembered this scene well.

Now he realized it was Zack who had made the move, and that Jordana leaned back—not into—her ex.

Logan’s heart started to pound.

Bart must’ve taken the next photos in rapid succession because the movements between were miniscule, and Logan had to tap through them fast to see what’d unfolded.

He peered close.

Jordana pushed Zack away. Smeared his kiss from her mouth. The wretched look on Zack’s face, the disbelief in his eyes came next.

These scenes were new to Logan.

Jordana walked away from Zack, opened her door, and he’d handed her something. A key? Too small and far away to know for sure. Not a minute after this confrontation, Zack was outside hoisting travel gear on his back and anger on his face.

Logan poured more whiskey, dread erupting in his stomach like a volcano, but there were still another fifty or so photos to go through.

The ones following were exclusively of Jordana. Alone. Which more than likely meant Zack hadn’t been present in her life after that. After gazing at the final photo of her for a long time, he closed the file.

Something told him he’d been mistaken regarding Jordana and Zack’s relationship. Obviously he didn’t have the whole story, but this was enough to tear his anger, spitefulness, and resentment to shreds.

One thing was clear. His mother had only shown him a portion of the pictures. The very incriminating ones of course. If only he hadn’t been so blind with rage and quick to destroy the pictures, he might’ve given Jordana a chance to explain.

Closing his eyes, he sat back and pinched the bridge of his nose.

He called Neil. “I need a favor,” he grumbled.

“Name it.”

***

“See you tomorrow, Dr. Palecki.”

Jordana flipped the waiting room lights off and grabbed her jacket. She noticed Piper staring out the window. “What’s got you so hypnotized? Or are your eyes just glazed over after reading a thousand charts today?”

“If that hottie out there was waiting to give me a ride, I would never drive again.”

With a chiding look, Jordana dug in her purse for her keys. “You sound just like my friend Casey. Boy crazy for life.”

“Who could he be waiting for? I just want to wait here and see who the lucky girl is.” Her voice turned sardonic. “Or guy. You never know in this town.”

Jordana laughed. Coming up beside her co-worker, she suddenly frowned. It was Neil. Leaning against his sleek car, wearing sunglasses, waiting. “What’s he doing here?”

“No way. You know him?”

She twisted her mouth. “I do.”

Piper slanted her a look. “Seriously. You’ve got to tell me how you find these men. It’s like you order them from a catalog and have them shipped to the office!”

Jordana huffed with a shake of her head, and debated whether or not she should sneak out the back, even though her car was parked right there in front. How childish would it be if she ran straight to her car to avoid him? Very childish. Just see what he wants. Pushing through the door, she let Piper go first, and didn’t acknowledge Neil as she locked up.

When she turned around, Piper wiggled her fingers flirtatiously at Neil, who smiled and waved back. Putting on her best banal face, Jordana approached him.

He straightened, uncrossed his arms and took off his sunglasses. “I’m sorry to show up like this. Accosting you after work. I didn’t want to bother you at home.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve wanted to apologize for throwing the drink on you. I’m sorry. It was juvenile and uncalled for.”

He gave a half-smile. “No harm, no foul. For a moment there, I felt like I was in an episode of Real Housewives.” He chuckled, which conjured a smile from her. “I’ve got something to show you. I think it’ll help answer some questions you might have. Only if you want to, though. No pressure.”

“Does it have to do with Logan?”

He leveled his gaze. “You know it does. This time, he actually sent me.”

Hello, déjà vu. Although her guard was up, she didn’t get the impression he was here to rub salt in her wounds. She knew if she told him to take a hike, he’d leave without hesitation, but she had to know why Logan sent him. Had to. “Okay. There’s a coffee shop a few blocks from here.”

“Great. I’ll meet you there.”

When she arrived, she bought a decaf, and found an empty table near the back. Neil came in moments later, a folder in his hand. He pulled out a chair and set the file aside. Jordana’s curiosity doubled. Folding his hands, he began with, “Tell me about this Zack fella, since he’s at the center of this.”

“Don’t you already know?”

“I know he was your fiancé. That’s it.”

She took a deep breath. Oh. She assumed Logan had told him everything. “And that’s true. We were engaged until last spring, when he called it off. He wanted to move overseas for self-discovery and thought marrying me would hold him back.”

Neil drew his brows together. “That must’ve been rough.”

An understatement, but it didn’t depress her as much to think about it as it used to. “It was. But it’s over. I’m not in love with him anymore. I moved on. I thought he had too until he showed up in my apartment one night wanting to reconcile. In short, I took back my key and showed him the door. I haven’t seen or heard from him since and I hope I never will.” She sighed, warming her hands on the cup.

Neil absorbed this summary for a few quiet moments, moving his green gaze side to side, as if putting pieces together. “I see. Jordana, I need you to be brutally honest. Are you really over Zack? Or are you just punishing him for a while until you decide what to do? I won’t judge you, I promise. I just want the truth.”

She tried not to be offended, and knew Neil was just asking for clarification. “A part of me will always care about Zack, in a way, but I want nothing to do with him.”

The lawyer sat back with a sigh, pursing his lips, and drumming his fingertips on the table. He glanced at the file. “Here’s the thing,” he started. “I know you haven’t met Logan’s mother, Deidre, but you are aware of what she’s like, right?”

Logan’s mother? That was the last person she would’ve guessed Neil would mention in this conversation. “Er…I’m only aware of what Logan’s told me. From what I can discern, she’s, well, she sounds—”

“Controlling?”

“Yes. And…”

“Opinionated?”

She shrugged. “Somewhat.”

“Manipulative, judgmental, and selfish?”

Jordana gave a soft laugh. “I’ve never met her, so I can’t judge her character, Neil.”

“You will in a minute. I’ve known her for over fifteen years and she hasn’t changed. Probably never will.” Picking up the folder, he hesitated. “I don’t want you to freak out, but she’s the reason Logan was such a bastard to you that night.” He pulled out some black and white pictures and spread them out on the table.

As she looked them over, her eyes widened and a chill ran over her. They were all of her. She whipped her gaze up to Neil’s, then sifted through the photographs one by one. “Where did you get these?”

Neil didn’t respond as she looked through each of them. When she saw a picture of her and Zack on the balcony—kissing—she cringed. A picture was worth a thousand words, but this one could’ve totally been taken the wrong way. “Who took these?”

“These, believe it or not, are just a sample. Taken by a man by the name of Bart Stiner. He’s a private eye. Pretty well known with the divorcees of the upper crush, a fella with a rep for capturing cheating husbands with the tightest alibis. If a woman needed proof of infidelity, they hired Stiner. Deidre Savant was one of them. Once upon a dark time for the Savants, she had Logan’s father followed.”

“And she hired this guy to spy on me?” Hard to fathom she’d be worth all this trouble. “Why?”

“Logan thinks the mystery of you must’ve driven her crazy. Especially since he wouldn’t tell her anything, so she performed her own research. That’s our best deduction. She goes to extremes when she doesn’t get her way.”

Huh? That warranted an invasion of Jordana’s privacy? “I…I don’t what to say. Or think.”

“There’s more. Deidre brought these pictures and told Logan about Zack a few nights before the Bridges of Marin party. He came to the conclusion you were engaged this whole time. Thought maybe you got cold feet and wanted a final bang or whatever.”

She gasped, sickened. “What! That’s not true.”

“After he told me what he found out, and it was clear he was simply going to take his mother’s proof and word at face value, I told him to do his own investigation.”

Jordana blinked. “You defended me even after all he told you?”

He shrugged. “When you’re not the one invested emotionally, it’s easier to view the situation with a rational eye. Logan eventually did too, it just took him a little longer.”

She took in a shaky breath. “Why are you here on his behalf? Why didn’t he come to me himself?”