Page 60 of It Starts With A No

She nodded, then swiped at her wet cheeks as he headed over to pick up the watch box.

“Pretty sturdy.” He opened the box and took out the watch, then studied it as he strode over to Clary. “Here.”

“I don’t want it.”

He put it down on the desk. “It’s for you to smash.”

She stared at the watch. “I would rather sell it and put the money into a fund for the affected customers.”

“There are more than enough watches here for a compensation fund.” Leaning back against the desk, he picked up the watch and examined the intricate gears and movements.

Only, none of the gears were moving.

“You look like you want to take it apart.”

“It isn’t working.” He turned the watch around. “I think the gears are fake.”

“Hugh was cheated into buying a fake watch?” Clary shrugged. “Sounds like something he’d do.”

Seth flipped the watch back over and weighed it in his hand. “Kind of heavy, too.” With the watch in hand, he went over to the couch. He leaned over the coffee table and turned the watch over again.

“Are you going to fix that watch?” she asked as he scanned the room. “Hugh didn’t leave any tools. I doubt he even owned any.”

“Of course not.” Eolenfelds always paid other people to solve their problems. Hugh Eolenfeld wouldn’t waste any effort on fixing things himself.

Clary joined him on the couch and leaned over to look at the watch. “He probably didn’t even know it’d stopped working.” She turned her face toward him. “What do you need?”

Her large eyes blinked, and Seth’s gaze dropped to her lips.

Just for a split second, because he closed his eyes once he realized what he was doing.

“I suggest you take it back to your lab,” she continued. “I’m sure you have better tools there.”

“You’d just let me take this?”

She laughed again. “You’re a billionaire, Seth. I’m not afraid of you stealing a watch.”

“I don’t think this is just a watch.” Seth tapped his index finger against the back of the watch. “Something about it is off.”

Her brows drew together. “Off how?”

Seth tapped on the watch’s face and brought it closer to Clary. “That looks like the back of a chip.”

“Okay. Don’t watches have chips in them?”

“Not this kind of watch. Mechanical watches use gears and so forth to make them work.”

She shrugged again. “Have a go at it.” She leaned back on the couch.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try smashing it?” He held the watch toward her. “You look like you need to vent.”

“Nah. It’s out of my system.” She tipped her head to the side, stretching her neck. “I’m sorry. It’s been a rough day.”

Seth put the watch down. “Want to talk about it?”

She closed her eyes, still kneading her neck. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Do what?”

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