My chin rose. “I agree. Only there is no such trauma now.” Pressing close to Elder, more for my benefit than for his, I added, “Elder is the reason I no longer endure that word.” Feeling far too studied and stripped bare, I turned ever more defensive. Jethro’s question repeated in my mind. The fact he’d asked if I struggled in crowds too, meant he had issues himself.
He might be the master of this castle, but I wouldn’t let anyone unsettle me again. “Why do you not enjoy crowds, Mr. Hawk? If you prefer smaller company, why invite so many guests tonight?”
Mr. Hawk kept his face indifferent. “It’s not that I don’t enjoy crowds. It’s that they provide too many opportunities like this one.” He waved his hand as his wife cleared her throat. Shooting her a glance, he said, “Anyway, that is another subject for another time. To answer your question simply, I prefer the company of those I trust far more than those I don’t.”
His wife stepped forward, taking the limelight and her husband’s hand. Her laugh was bright after so much dark. “We all have secrets and histories, don’t we? If everyone spoke the truth, I’m sure we’d never leave the comfort of homes for fear of what could happen.”
Elder chuckled under his breath, accepting her end to this strange corridor conversation. “You are right, Mrs Hawk. The world is infinitely dangerous.”
The awkward tension faded as Jethro smiled easier and less complicated this time. “I almost forgot.” Untangling his fingers from his wife with a loving glance, he moved to an elaborate sideboard with hundreds of little drawers and scrollwork. Sitting on top was a brass candelabra holding at least thirty flickering candles.
Pulling a key from his pocket, Jethro inserted it into one of the drawers and pulled it open. Palming whatever it was, he relocked the cupboard and turned to face Elder. “This is yours, I believe.”
Elder cocked his head but accepted the long, narrow box. The deep blue velvet held a silver stitched diamond on the top—the logo of the Black Diamonds. Now I’d seen it, I recognised it from posters in jewellery shops around London. I’d even seen it advertised in train stations with dripping diamonds billboards and their simple but powerful logo in the corner.
My eyes strayed to Mrs Hawk’s choker; memories flooded me.
I’d seen that necklace before—or at least a replica of it on a billboard in the Pimlico subway station. A magazine had released an article about some fantastical rumour that an heiress to a family fortune in textiles had been kidnapped and held captive to serve debts to her kidnapper’s family.
Was that what people were hinting at in the ballroom? Trying to pry into this couple’s private world? No wonder they weren’t at ease in crowds if they’d been plagued by such gossip.
“Thank you, Mr. Hawk.” Elder tucked the box inside his tux breast pocket. “I appreciate the fast turnaround.”
“Please, as I said, call me Jethro. And you’re welcome.” Glancing at me, he smiled sharply. “I see why you wanted it made so quickly.”
Elder frowned. “Yes...well.” He searched for a change of subject. “We’ve taken up enough of your time as it is.” Cupping my elbow, he tilted his head. “We’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your party.”
“Before you go—” Jethro extended his hand down the corridor. “I wouldn’t mind discussing a few things about potentially purchasing a yacht from you. Do you mind? I believe Sullivan Sinclair wanted to meet you, too.”
Elder looked at me reluctantly.
My eyes strayed to the box now hidden in his tux jacket. I wanted to ask what the hell it was, but I held my tongue. Things had happened in the space of a few moments that successfully made me wonder where I stood with him and what it all meant.
Elder’s forehead furrowed, his eyes darkening with frustration. He’d accepted this invitation for business. And business was calling him away. “Will you be okay if I leave you alone for a little while?”
I beamed, doing my hardest to seem like a normal woman who didn’t care in the slightest at being left alone with total strangers. Just because I hadn’t seen evil in this resplendent manor or peered into the faces of masked guests with suspicion didn’t mean I was strong enough to be left surrounded by people I didn’t know.
But I’d already been a terrible person tonight. I wouldn’t add more shame by guilting him into staying with me. Eventually, I had to face circumstances such as these, and tonight was as good as any. “Yes, of course.” Already I itched at the thought of being vulnerable to another attack, another strangling, another selling.
That won’t happen.
Because as much as I’d patched up holes with my mother, I wasn’t as na?ve as I once was. I would listen to my instincts over her tutelage. I would kill before I willingly danced with another murderer.
And besides, this was Elder’s business.
Under no circumstance would I mess that up or be a weak invalid ruining his successes.
“Go. Honestly, I’ll listen to the band until you come back.”
Wrong. I’ll hide in a corner somewhere where my back and sides are protected, and I can see anyone who comes near me.
Jethro shot me a curious glance, his nostrils flaring as if he could taste my lie.
Elder pulled me close, whispering in my ear, “I know you’re lying, but I won’t diminish you by dragging you with me or calling for Selix to guard you. Instead, I’ll give you a task to keep your mind busy and idle hands occupied.”
I gasped as his breath turned hot with command. “Steal me something, little mouse. We’re in the hall of diamonds, after all.”
I jerked back, studying his black gaze. “You can’t be serious.”
“Deadly.”
Last time I stole, I ended up arrested.
And that was from an aborted attempt on a wallet. What the hell was the penalty for stealing an expensive diamond from the very family who mined them? Maybe they’d cut off my hand if the rumours were true that they favoured medieval punishments for crimes?
I didn’t know why but the thought made me laugh nervously, anxiety threading through me. I went to shake my head, to tell him there was no way in hell I would do what he asked. But Jethro cleared his throat, ending our staring war. “If you will, Mr. Prest.”
Elder released me, a sly smile on his lips. “Do what I ask, Pim, and the item Mr. Hawk just gave me is yours.” He tapped his tux pocket. “You do want to know what’s inside that pretty box, don’t you?”
Damn him.
Before I could argue and reach into his pocket myself, he and Jethro turned on their heel and left.
The moment the men disappeared around the corner, Mrs Hawk sighed sweetly. “I have to make sure my children aren’t up to something they shouldn’t be. Will you be okay? Feel free to explore wherever the doors are open.”
I nodded, swallowing hard at the thought of being left alone in a giant place with so many nooks and crannies for crime and pockets of darkness for horror. “Thank you, Mrs Hawk.”
She patted my hand on her way past. “Please, call me Nila.” Smiling with a touch of conspiring charm, she added, “By the way, you look exactly as I hoped someone as pretty as you would in that gown.”