24. Jenn

Chapter 24

Jenn

Emmett sighed, running his nails over his short beard. His eyes, usually warm and inviting like melted chocolate, held a wariness that made me want to shake him. “We found out in April. He showed up out of the blue while we were overseas.”

“And why did no one tell me?” I demanded, anger burning in my gut. “I’m supposed to be Scarlett’s best friend.”

Rav put a hand on my back and dipped his head. “Nothing that happens here changes how much she cares about you.”

He was always so freaking calm and reasonable. I wanted to be mad! But no one else was rising to the occasion.

“Scarlett was in shock,” Emmett explained, his voice irritatingly soft. “She was devastated and lost. And you know how she gets when she’s upset.”

I scoffed, crossing my arms. “I’d say she normally clams up because I think that’s what you’re going for, but she hasn’t acted like anything was wrong. In April, she…” The anger in my stomach settled into a slow roll. “April is when Malcolm showed up. He knows, too, doesn’t he? A man she only just met knows that her formerly dead fiancé is actually alive, months before I do?”

Emmett nodded slowly.

“And…” I flung a hand toward Drew. “The newbie? He knew?”

Everyone looked at Emmett, who said nothing more than “Yes.”

I shrugged away from Rav’s attempt at comfort and took a few steps to the garden’s edge, where the wall overlooked the yacht club. The sun glinting across the Mediterranean seemed garish and fake, like my relationship with my apparent best friend. Everything felt wrong, like I’d entered some bizarre alternate reality.

Scarlett went through that without me. I leaned against the short wall, watching small boats motor in and out of the port. Am I such a terrible friend she couldn’t confide in me?

Emmett came up next to me. He touched my arm, and I sidestepped away from him.

“I was there when Scarlett buried Noah’s ashes.” The memory of that day, the grief and finality of it all, flashed through my mind. Scarlett did get quiet when things went wrong, but I’d thought it was because she’d lost him. “Whose ashes were they?”

“It was just ash. Not a person.” Emmett folded his arms and turned to face me, one hip resting against the wall. His words were barely audible over the distant sounds of the marina—the creaking of boats, the clink of rigging, the muffled voices.

“I was by her side every day after he died.” Or didn’t die? “I don’t understand.”

“We haven’t been able to piece everything together.” He took a deep breath, glancing at his team, who’d given us space, then back at me. “But the truth is, Noah was in a car alone while we were working overseas. He was driving too fast and went off the road into a river. It was a long way down from a high bridge. So when we couldn’t find the car, and there was no trace of him, through police or hospitals, we all assumed he was dead.”

I shook my head. None of this made sense. “So why concoct the whole story? Why didn’t Scarlett tell me what happened? Why bring ashes home and bury them?”

“We’ll have to talk to Scarlett about why she made the decisions she did,” Emmett said. “Maybe she wanted to pretend there was no chance, rather than spending a lifetime hoping she might see him again someday. And if everyone around her believed the same thing, I think that made it easier for her.”

“Easier? She kept all his clothes.” How many times had I told her to pack them up, instead of wearing his shirts when she was alone? “Why’s he on Massimo’s yacht? And why didn’t he come home with Scarlett in April?”

She’d brought Malcolm home instead.

Emmett’s jaw tightened. “He’s working with an organization called the Fenix Group. Thieves who steal antiquities from around the world.”

“And Noah…” I looked down at my hands, flexing them against the rough stone. How was any of this true? “You think Dante’s involved. That’s why you didn’t want me going near him.”

They should have been questions. But everything was clicking into place now.

At the same time, nothing made any sense in my world.

Emmett pulled out his phone and showed me another auction listing. A small red jewel. “This is the scarab we’re here for. We came based on a tip that it was in Massimo’s possession. Jean-Philippe wouldn’t confess to having it, likely because it’s stolen and they’re dumping it on the black market.”

My stomach churned even more. I’d been spending all this time with Dante and in the gallery. I’d gone out to dinner with him, laughed with him, started to trust him. He’d acted like a friend. “You knew Dante was working with Fenix, didn’t you?”

“I suspected.” He placed a hand on my back, and I didn’t shy away this time. “All I knew was that Massimo had the scarab somewhere. At first, I’d wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt because it’s common enough for people to be duped when buying antiquities and art.”

“What changed your mind?” I stood still, craving his touch and fearing I’d collapse if I moved.

If Dante was such a horrible person—a liar and a thief—why would he have encouraged me to find out Emmett’s true feelings? Could I trust any of it?

Of course, I couldn’t.

Emmett had turned me down last night, hadn’t he? He rubbed my back, small circles that should have soothed me. “I didn’t want you to find out any of this.”

I pulled back to look at him, searching his eyes for the truth. “You wanted my best friend to continue lying to me for the rest of my life?”

He didn’t shake his head, disagree, or tell me the question was silly. No, he just said, “You should probably talk to her.”

I nodded slowly, tears pricking at my eyes. No crying in front of him. Not again. I pulled my phone from my purse, ready to hit Scarlett’s number, but Emmett put his hand over mine.

“Use my phone,” he said. “It’s a secure line.”

Secure line? What did that matter? And why was his phone secure?

Emmett hit the speed dial and put the phone to his ear. After a moment, he said, “I’ve got Jenn here. I told her about Noah’s body vanishing in the river, that you were too distraught to talk about searching for the body, and that he’s working with the Fenix Group now. She wants to talk to you.”

My hands shook as I accepted the phone. I couldn’t find my breath, and all I could do was stare at the phone. She’d been lying about this for two years.

Emmett and the team backed away to give me privacy.

Bringing the phone to my ear, I whispered, “Hi.”

“I’m so sorry,” Scarlett whispered back.

“What am I supposed to say?” My voice trembled, and I swallowed hard. I had to push through this. “Am I supposed to say I’m sorry you didn’t think you could tell me the truth? Or I’m sorry I couldn’t tell something was going on? Or sorry I?—”

“You don’t need to apologize for anything,” Scarlett said in a rush. “It was all me. It was grief. A whole lot of denial.”

“They honestly never found his body? You would have had police scouring every inch of the water for miles.”

“Oh, Jenn.” She let out a slow breath. “I should have told you.”

The sick churning in my stomach and the tears in my eyes faded, replaced by a fire in my belly. “You’re right, you should have. And then, when you found out he was alive, you should have told me that, too.”

“He’s not who we thought he was.”

I scoffed, bitter laughter bubbling up. “Heather always had him pegged. She always thought he was a passive-aggressive jerk.”

Scarlett gave a quiet chuckle. “Well, she was right.”

“So what now?” I dropped my head, exhaustion overwhelming me. “I’m in Monaco, supposed to be working on the job of a lifetime, hired by some rich Italian to clean a painting, and now it turns out it’s a fake. And Noah’s alive. And they’re working together.”

And your brother turned me down last night, Scar, but he slept in my bed.

“Well, it’s an adventure, isn’t it?” Scarlett said, a lightness in her tone.

The absurdity of it all hit me suddenly, and I couldn’t help but smile. “I wish you’d trusted me.”

“It was never about trust, Jenn.” She was quiet for a beat, and I straightened, looking out toward Massimo’s yacht.

He was out there. Noah.

And Scarlett was five thousand miles away, not answering my questions.

“Why did you lie about it?” What I really didn’t understand, though, was how she could have left him behind. Scarlett was a strong, intelligent woman. Her company found things—that’s what they did. Why couldn’t she find him?

“Listen…” Her voice turned serious. “I need you to trust me until you come home. When we’re in the same room, I’ll tell you everything.”

What other choice did I have?

I turned toward Emmett. He’d kept the secret, too. All of them had.

“For now,” said Scarlett, “do whatever you feel is right. Except, don’t go anywhere near Noah. You can’t trust him.”

My stomach roiled. Did I still trust Scarlett and Emmett? They’d both lied to me about something so big for two years. I’d been defending Scarlett to my father since we first became friends.

And now?

My father was right. Both Scarlett and Emmett were more like their father than either of them thought.

Don’t think that way. She’ll explain when you get home.

Their father had sold secrets to the Russians. Hiding something—even something like this whole cover-up with Noah’s death—wasn’t the same thing. But still, Dad had been right about them, at least a bit.

“I’ll keep this secret from Heather and Kelley,” I said, barely believing my own words. “But when I’m home again?—”

“We’ll talk, I promise,” Scarlett said. “Can you pass the phone to Emmett?”

“Yeah.” I held out the phone, and Emmett approached, accepting it.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “It’s a lot to absorb.”

I held up a hand, cutting him off. The last thing I wanted was another Reynolds apologizing to me. “She wants to talk to you now.”

He nodded, stepping away to take the call.

Everything had changed in a few short hours. My best friend’s dead fiancé was alive and working with criminals. The painting I’d been working on was a fake. And the man I’d wanted for half my life?—

What was I supposed to think about Emmett now?

The sun felt too hot. The breeze too strong. “I’m going back to the hotel. I have more work to do on the painting. It only needs to be reframed tomorrow, but?—”

Rav held out a hand to stop me. “Wait until Emmett’s done with Scarlett. We’ll need to make some decisions.”