Page 91 of A Real Good Bad Thing

“You make me feel that way.”

This time was different as our bodies tangled together and we chased the edge. I felt closer to her, more connected, as she wrapped her arms around me, her nails digging into my skin.

Like that, we moved together till she cried out, and I followed her there.

* * *

I held her in my arms, planting kisses on her neck, her hair, her shoulders. I was sure now. I was certain. I didn’t want this affair with her to end. I was crazy for Ruby, and I wanted this thing to go on and on. Like Maris had said—we were so damn good together. Fine, Maris saidadorable, but to me that meant this—good.

Sleepy and sated, she unhooked her necklace, and set it on the nightstand. As she fell asleep in my arms, with the stars winking through the windows, this moment had the potential to be endless. I could imagine it stretching on and on, this pure connection with another person.

I wanted to savor it until I fell asleep, but something nagged at me. Two moments from tonight kept looping through my mind. One was at the restaurant, when I’d glimpsed that sharp profile at the edge of the crowd and didn’t follow my instinct to look closer. To try and place that look. But then, here at the hotel, I had followed through when Ruby had recognized Monica. Was her appearance here as coincidental as it looked? Sure, paths overlapped all the time. But they’d been overlapping a lot, and the coincidences were piling up.

I stroked Ruby’s hair, hoping that these feelings I had for her weren’t threatening my focus on work. I’d thought the danger of getting involved with a woman on a job was that she’d use our connection to double-cross me. But what if the danger was that I’d lose my edge?

As I dragged my fingers through the soft blonde strands of her hair, I promised myself, and promised Ruby, to do better tomorrow.

* * *

My focus on the case was razor sharp in the morning. Just me and the mission. No distractions.

The bell above the door at Uncut jingled as I entered the shop and looked for Montez, the man who’d helped me out a few days ago. I spotted him behind the glass display counter, showing a diamond tennis bracelet to a woman in a white skort and visor.

The customer decided against it—clearly missing how well it matched her outfit—and I ambled over as Montez returned the jewelry to the case. The man glanced up with an automatic smile that widened to genuine when he recognized me.

“Hey, you came back. You decided to get the diamond for your…sister, wasn’t it? New job?”

“Graduation.” At least, I had my fingers crossed. “Hopefully. But that’s not actually why I’m here.”

The salesman looked wary and intrigued at the same time. “Oh, really? Lay it on me, then.”

I took off my sunglasses and met his eyes. I was going out on a limb, but Montez had been a decent guy when I’d been in here. He was the only one who’d given me a tip, even though it had sent me to another shop. That was one reason I trusted him.

The other? My gut.

“A woman I know—a woman I’m close with,” I added, because it was true, “had her diamond stolen from her hotel room here on the island. One of those blue-tinted ones we talked about.”

Montez tsked and shook his head. “That makes me sad to hear. Hope your lady friend won’t hate the island now. But how can I help?”

“You could take a look at this…” I already had my phone out, opened to a photo of the guy with the snake tattoo. I’d found the snap and the guy’s name—Nigel—from the Sapphire website. He wasn’t the only candidate for Mr. Smith, but if Ruby had spotted him possibly following her, I was starting my search with the club’s manager. “Have you seen this guy? He’s also got a snake tattoo on his arm. Might have been trying to turn that blue diamond back into money.”

Montez tensed, nodded to the screen. “Yeah, I’ve seen him around. He was at a café nearby yesterday with the man who runs International Diamonds.”

Yes!First time lucky.

Glancing around the empty shop, Montez lowered his voice. “Everyone here knows International Diamonds turns the blue diamonds. If he stole your friend’s gem, he would have gone straight to them.”

“Yeah, he probably did,” I said, and this new intel placed the man with the snake tattoo at the head of the line of suspects. “Anything else you saw at the café? Did you hear anything?”

Montez shook his head, his eyes etched with worry. “No. I was just walking by on my way back from lunch. But I thought maybe he was there on behalf of Mr. Thompson, since he works for him at Sapphire.”

Shit.

I hadn’t considered that. It didn’t rule him out as the thief, but he could have been there as Eli’s middleman rather than peddling his own stolen gem.

I was right where I’d started a few minutes ago—circling suspects. “Thanks, man,” I said, and held out a hand to shake.

When I left the shop, I took a minute to recalibrate, weighing my next steps as I breathed out some of my frustrations. But I needed more information most of all, so I called Kate and gave her three names.

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