Page 72 of Solemn Vow

There’s no point in arguing with him, so I take it and sling it around my shoulders while I hurry back to where we were standing.

I grab my phone from my clutch and turn the flashlight on, aiming it at the ground. I move some blades of grass with the toe of my shoe, my panic rolling through me as the seconds tick by.

Finally, a shimmer.

I crouch down and slide my fingers through the dry blades of grass and find the diamond. Relief slams into me as I pick it up, inspecting it in the light. The clasp is open just enough for the chain to have slid through.

It must have gotten caught on his jacket.

Dropping the necklace into my clutch, I take a big breath.

“What are you doing here? How the fuck did you even get in?” Someone’s on the other side of the wall.

I stay crouched, trying to hold still. It doesn’t sound like a conversation I should be overhearing, but if I pop out now it will be awkward.

“You think I can’t get into a little party?” I know that voice. Jimmy.

“What do you want? What couldn’t wait for a fucking phone call tomorrow?”

I shift my stance to be able to look through the evergreen bush and get a glimpse at the other man. I’ve never seen him before.

My phone silently pulses in my hand. A reminder to pick up more hairspray on the way to the wedding tomorrow.

Seeing the opportunity, I find the recorder app and turn it on.

“There’s a problem with the last car. How the hell am I supposed to find a LaFerrari Aperta?” Jimmy steps closer to the other guy. “Do you know how limited that limited edition is?”

Ferrari only made two hundred and ten of them. At a baseline price of two million dollars, no one’s going to be leaving that car just parked in some lot or on the street.

“How is that my problem?” the man demands. “You said you could do the job. So do the fucking job. Make the delivery, in full, or you’re out.”

I’ve been around enough of these sorts of exchanges to know he’s not talking about firing Jimmy. He’s talking about ending him.

“I found one, but it’s in fucking Los Angeles. I’m gonna need cash upfront if you want me to go out there to get it and bring it back.”

The man laughs, but there’s no humor in it.

“You’re a real piece of work. No wonder Agosti let you rot in the pen. I gave you a job, how you fulfill that job is your problem. And if you ever show up like this again, you’ll pay the price.” He shoves his finger into Jimmy’s chest. “Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it, Mr. Donato,” Jimmy grinds out. It’s too dark to see his face, but I can imagine the look of disdain he’s wearing.

I slow my breathing, waiting for them both to walk away. Mr. Donato’s feet fall on the pebbled walkway first, and then Jimmy’s figure disappears.

After several minutes pass, I ease out of my hiding spot and check my phone to be sure it picked up the conversation.

“How is that my problem?” Mr. Donato’s voice plays back to me, and I smile.

“Hey. Here you are!” Izzy hurries to me when I step out from behind the greenery. “The guys want to leave. Viktor’s looking for you; he said you should have been inside already.”

“He’s so impatient.” I drop my phone back into my clutch.

“He said you dropped a necklace.” She links her arm through mine. “Did you find it?”

“I did.” I grin. And so much more.

“What time isyour wedding thing tomorrow?”

We make our way up the winding staircase toward our bedroom. I won’t use that term out loud with her, for fear of her trying to run off, but in my mind and my soul that’s what it is.

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