23. Emmett

Chapter 23

Emmett

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out to find a message from Rav: Heading your way with Jenn. She spotted Noah.

“Shit.” I flashed the message to Drew and Will. “So much for keeping her in the dark.”

Will grimaced. “That complicates things.”

Another text from Rav came through: Call Scarlett re: how to handle this.

I frowned at the phone. This was my op, but he was deferring to Scarlett? He’s not deferring, Emmett. He’s looking for her best friend’s input on explaining the news and cushioning the blow.

Jenn wasn’t a mark or a target. She was a friend. One who might be in danger.

How close had she gotten to Noah? Had they spoken? How many Fenix members were in Monaco in addition to Enzo and Noah?

And how many of them were as interested in Reynolds Recoveries as those two were?

“Drop this off in my room.” I handed the bracelet box to Will as I dialed Scarlett, who answered on the first ring. “Scar? We’ve got a situation.”

After a brief discussion, we decided there was no choice but to tell Jenn a partial truth—that we’d only learned Noah was alive four months ago. It was technically accurate. As I’d learned long ago, the best lies were always rooted in truth.

Once I hung up, I said, “Scarlett’s sending over the full auction catalog they found on the dark web. The Constable painting is listed, along with our scarab.”

Right on cue, my phone buzzed with the incoming file. I opened it, and Drew and Will did the same on their own devices.

As I scrolled through the list, an item caught my eye—a golden disc from China.

Drew hummed aloud. “You were right about the location. Casino Rocher, Friday night.”

“This disc…” I tilted the phone to show them. “Enzo mentioned Massimo bidding any amount to win a golden disc at the auction. What if it’s another item on Fenix’s shopping list?”

Will said, “Everything they’ve gone after so far has been bird-related. How does a flat disc tie in?”

Drew’s brow furrowed. “If it was spherical, you could make an egg connection. Maybe the disc represents a nest? Or a bird flying toward the sun?”

If Massimo was buying the disc for Fenix, maybe we could go after it instead of the scarab. Sure, our client was paying us to retrieve the Egyptian artifact, but the chance to get one over on Fenix? After everything they’d done to us?

To me?

So tempting…

Movement on the path caught my eye. Jenn marched in our direction, her face a storm cloud. Rav trailed a few paces behind, looking wary.

I cleared my throat, casually tucking my phone away. Will mirrored me, while Drew kept his out, so we didn’t look as guilty as we were.

“What the hell is going on?” Jenn demanded when she was fifteen feet away, her blue eyes flashing with anger.

I gestured to Will, keeping my voice calm and even. “Will’s joined us for?—”

“I know Rav texted you!” She came to an abrupt halt in front of me. “I saw Noah. He’s alive!”

Rav was better than that. He should have hidden that he was texting me. As if reading my thoughts, he said, “My priority was getting her away from the marina safely.”

“You didn’t see him arrive?” I asked Rav.

He shook his head. “I would have let you know if I had.”

Jenn huffed out a breath. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on? It’s obvious this isn’t a surprise to any of you.”

I held up a hand, trying to project a calm I wasn’t sure I felt. Smoothing things over was my superpower—but with Jenn thrown into the mix? “I need you to walk me through everything first. Where exactly was he? What was happening?”

Jenn’s lips tightened, and she spoke in a rush, obviously wanting to get to the part where I told her the details. “The Wheatfield painting in the gallery is a fake. I told Dante. He took me to Massimo’s yacht to see the real one. Noah was on the yacht, and I left the second I saw him.”

“He didn’t spot you?”

Her mouth opened and closed, and she glanced at the other men. The flush in her cheeks dimmed. “I don’t think so.”

“Good.” I pulled out my phone and showed her the auction catalog. “Look at this.”

She zoomed in on the image of the Constable, her brow furrowed. Diverting her attention was the key to diffusing her anger at this moment.

“The scarab we’re after is in there, too,” I said. “The De Rosas have been hiding it this whole time.”

Jenn’s brow furrowed deeper, conflict playing out on her face. She’d been so adamant about defending Dante, but now?

Gently, I said, “The scarab was stolen, Jenn, and now they’re selling it.”

“This says the painting…” She looked up from my phone, her face hardening again. “Back up and tell me what’s going on with Noah.”

So much for the diversion.