“Here,” Nathan instructs, pulling a small leather case from his pocket and unzipping it.
Carlo passes the offending watch to Nathan, who opens the case to display a mini tool set, yet another example of there being more to the doctor than meets the eye.
While he works, Kayden angles toward me, and me to him. “I’m not going to tell you this is a scare tactic,” he says for my ears only. “Though it may well be.”
“It’s a promise,” I say. “It’s him being bold enough to say he’s coming, and then do it.”
“We won’t leave this room without an aggressive plan to deal with him, which was already my intent.”
“You mean kill him? Because that’s the only way to stop him.”
“Yes,” he promises. “I mean kill him.”
“No bug,” Nathan announces.
The room seems to sigh in unison, only to have Matteo throw us all another punch. “But we have another problem,” he warns, looking up from his MacBook Air as all eyes fall on him.
“The client no longer exists,” Kayden supplies. “He’s been wiped away as easily as Ella was.”
“That’s exactly right,” Matteo confirms.
“Can you find an internet signature of who, where, and when?” Kayden asks.
“I’m trying, but unsuccessfully. Whoever did this was good. Really damn good.”
“This from a man who claims to be one of the best hackers on the planet,” I say, not secure with his claim that our security system can’t be broken into anymore.
“I am one of the best hackers on the planet,” Matteo snaps back sharply. “But you don’t go head-to-head with someone like me, unless you’re someone who can keep up.”
“What the hell is going on?” Carlo demands. “And how was I used to make it happen?”
Kayden’s response is to look at me in a silent question. Do I want to tell my story or let him? “Me,” I reply, as if he’s spoken. “I’ll tell them.” I inhale and glance around the table, then get right to the point. “Some of you know pieces of this. Matteo for sure, because he’s been helping look into my past. Adriel, because we just told him.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Carlo demands. “And how many times do I have to ask that question?”
“You really are charming, Carlo,” Sasha says. “A prince, in fact.”
“I’m your lead to finding the necklace,” I say. “That’s why Niccolo was looking for me. I wasn’t just some random person who was at the wrong place at the wrong time, as we initially thought.”
“Your identity being wiped out completely was a pretty good sign that something didn’t add up,” Matteo says.
“Obviously Niccolo believes you don’t remember where it is,” Sasha says, “or you’d be under lock and key.”
“She’s protected under Evil Eye,” Carlo reminds her.
“He’s fully aware that I have amnesia,” I say, “and, unfortunately, he’s using me to try to get Kayden to work for him.”
Kayden is quick to weigh in on that. “He lost that leverage when Alessandro led the private eye hired by Ella’s friend right to her.”
“But the PI did help jolt some of my memories,” I say, “which I hope will help me remember where the necklace is.”
Sasha asks, “Are you saying you actually had it, or just a lead on it?”
“I had it,” I say. “I’ll start at the beginning and tell the entire story, which is somewhat convoluted with chunks of my memory still missing.” I begin with David, the engagement gift, everything I told Adriel, and finally David dying in the alleyway and me calling Garner Neuville.
“You were staying with Garner Neuville?” Sasha asks.
“Yes. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that he wasn’t what he seemed, and that I’d been set up. I was his possession in his eyes, set up for the murder of my fiancée if I went to the police, my complete identity erased. I figured out he was after the necklace, but to my knowledge I never knew why or what it was worth. I just know that I hid it.”
“And that no one has found it,” Kayden adds. “They’re all still looking for it.”
Carlo narrows his gaze on me. “How did you get here, and why was Niccolo looking for you?”
“He claims I promised him the necklace in exchange for protection from Neuville,” I say. “There’s no way I’d have promised him that necklace. I’d have had a plan to avoid giving it to him.”
“In other words,” Carlo says, “he believes you have the necklace.”
“He’s aware of my amnesia,” I say. “But yes, he believes I’m the key to finding it and he’s right. I had it the night I called Neuville for help, and I remember the night I overheard Neuville talking to his bodyguard about me having it. My thought was—it’s hidden; you’ll never find it. But I didn’t remember that until two days ago.”