Page 54 of Hush Money

“Only one?” he says, smirking.

This generates an embarrassing simper in me. “Lucien. Now you’re getting cocky.”

“Maybe, but I don’t consider your sexual pleasure to be a luxury extra.” His voice hums with that silky tone he gets whenever the subject turns to sex, the one that makes my panties wet every time. “It’s a divine right, as far as I’m concerned.”

My grin widens. “I like how you think.”

“Good. Do you want your gift or not?”

“I mean…I’ll take a look at it if you’ve gone to all this trouble.”

He laughs and opens the box with a tiny creak. Whereupon my heart slams to a stop. Inside is a collection of rainbow-colored jewels that glitters like pirates’ booty in the candlelight. I’m not kidding you. There are diamond, emerald, sapphire and ruby earrings. Assorted rings and bracelets. Bright coral necklaces. Several gold watches, including a Cartier and a Rolex with a diamond face. There are also a couple of opal things. Oh, and pearls. It’s a truly astonishing array.

“Oh my God.” I can only imagine what Mrs. Hooper would say if she saw all this. The thought of her astonishment makes me laugh as I clap my hands to the sides of my face. “Please don’t tell me you keep all this lying around the house.”

“Of course not.” He laughs again, gesturing over his shoulder. “I keep them in the safe.”

I glance over, but all I see is a stretch of blank stone wall. “There’s no safe over there.”

Without a word, he gets up and goes over to the wall in question, where he presses his thumb to a tiny panel that I hadn’t noticed before. And suddenly half the wall swings open with the kind of dramatic flourish that makes you wonder if James Bond is nearby. Lights blink on. The next thing I know, I’m looking at the well-lit interior of a safe the size of your standard walk-in closet. I can’t see everything that’s inside from this angle, but I do see several more stacked velvet boxes along with some stacks of cash, paintings and a couple of vases and statues.

“Are you kidding me?” My voice pitches higher. I’m beyond even trying to hide my tinge of hysteria. “Who lives like this?”

“We have to put our valuables somewhere,” he says, seeming very pleased with himself.

“It’s like the inner sanctum at Tiffany.”

“And my mom kept half of Tiffany in there,” he says with a wry smile as he shuts the safe door and returns to his seat at the table. “I’ll have to show you her important pieces some other time.”

“Important pieces?” I cry, nearly choking on the words. “What do you call this?”

“This is the stuff she wore every day.”

“It’s amazing.” By now, my head is spinning. I reach out to touch one of the fierier ruby rings, but I snatch my hand back at the last minute. What if I left a fingerprint on it? My father would rise from his grave to chastise my poor manners. But then I catch sight of a heavy gold ring and can’t resist reaching for it. It’s surprisingly heavy, with intricate whorls on the sides. “Oh, look. It’s the signet ring your father’s wearing in the portrait in the foyer.”

He shakes his head and pulls back a bit, eyes wide. “It is. How, ah, how do you know that?”

“Because I have eyes. Why don’t you wear it? It’s such a beautiful piece. Or did he leave it to Roman?”

“No.” He blinks and frowns down at it, seemingly recovering from his surprise. “It’s mine. I don’t know. It makes me sad to see it, I guess.”

“Yet you gave me a necklace to make me happy when I think of my father,” I say, touching the necklace in question before rolling my eyes and reaching for his right hand. “Hypocrite, much? Let’s see if it fits.” He submits, watching me as I slide it on his pinky. It makes me ridiculously happy to see it there, and I feel like it would make his father happy as well. “What do you know? A perfect fit.”

I glance up, feeling very pleased with myself, but freeze when I see that he’s not looking at the ring at all. He’s gone perfectly still, his stunned eyes locked in on my face. And I realize, way too late, that the imagery of his girlfriend slipping a ring on his finger is probably enough to give any man a mild case of the hives.

So I hastily drop his hand, clear my throat and try to ignore my burning cheeks. “I’ve never seen anything like this except in a jewelry store. Mrs. Hooper would die if she saw all this. It puts her collection to shame. Thank you for showing me.”

He recovers quickly and gives me a strange look. “Showing it to you? I’m giving you a piece. Pick something.”

Giving me a piece? The very idea makes my heart contract hard enough for me to press a hand to my chest as I shake my head. Lucien has always been extremely generous to me, but this is next level. And I can only imagine how precious these things are to him. “I can’t?—”

“You can and you will.” His expression seems trapped somewhere between amusement and aggravation, with a healthy dose of affection thrown in, but he’s put even more bass in his voice, which lets me know how serious he is. “You’re already on thin ice for making me talk about my parents. You don’t want to upset me by refusing a gift, Ms. Scott.”

“But…”

“Do not try my patience.”

“Okay.” I take a deep breath and fight back a sudden wave of emotion. Then I duck my head and hastily wipe away a tear, dazzled by my good fortune. This wonderful man loves me enough to give me a precious piece of his beloved late mother’s jewelry. What a stunning gesture. The jewelry itself only comes in a distant second in terms of importance. “What should I choose?”

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