Page 127 of The Scarab's Game

Jenn pulled her hands free to cover her face as she sobbed. “She’s a thief!”

Every member of the team was chattering over my earpiece. Rav’s confused “MI6?” Brie’s shocked “Framed?” And Scarlett’s disbelieving “Enzo?”

I gently dragged Jenn’s hands away from her face, trying to focus on her despite the conversations in my ear. “Enzo framed my dad?”

Jenn’s mouth gaped open in disbelief. “That’s the only thing you can say? So all the rest of it’s true?”

Scarlett’s voice cut through all the others. “Tell her it’s all a lie. She can’t believe Noah.”

I stared at Jenn, my mind a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions. “After everything Noah did to you, how can you?—”

“Because I can see it in your face,” Jenn interrupted, her voice trembling. “Scarlett’s listening in, isn’t she? Noah said you have earpieces to communicate during a heist. If it’s a lie, show me there’s nothing in your ear. Or in Rav’s.”

“Shit,” whispered Scarlett.

“I can explain,” I began, but Jenn turned away from me.

“No, you can’t.” She hiccupped a sob and huddled at the boat’s edge, staring out across the water. “Just take me back to the hotel.”

As much as I wanted to, this wasn’t the time to press her. I stood and joined Rav at the stern. We watched in silence as Massimo’s yacht moved, leaving Monaco behind.

Chapter 47

Jenn

The next morning,I lay in bed, staring out the open balcony door. The warm breeze wafted in, the calm view nothing but a reminder of my shitty reality. How had this dream trip turned out like this?

A knock at the door startled me.

“We have an hour and a half until the helicopter picks us up,” Emmett called from the hallway. It should have been a statement, but it sounded more like a question—or as though “Are you coming with us?” was meant to follow.

You should get up. Shower. Pack. Do something.

I couldn’t summon the energy. All I’d managed to do this morning was open the balcony door. Some part of my brain thought the sounds and smells would carry me back to my first night in Monaco. Back to when my world was semi-normal, and my biggest worry was Simon cheating on me.

The morning sun glinted off the stupid gold bracelet. Love. Screw that. For the fifth time, I tried wrestling it over my wrist, but it wouldn’t budge. I should have searched for something to fill in for the screwdriver, so I could take the damn thing off.

Emmett knocked again. “Jenn?”

I closed my eyes, memories of last night flooding back. The tense, silent ride to the hotel. Requesting a separate room from the front desk, only to be told nothing was available at three in the morning. The way I’d followed Emmett upstairs without a word, locking myself in this room the moment we arrived.

Scarlett had called several times, but I’d let every call go to voicemail. I wasn’t ready for either of them yet.

“I’ll be back in fifteen,” Emmett said.

I lay still, listening to the world outside my room. Cars honked on the street below. Tourists laughed as they passed by. Birds chirped in the palm trees, and gulls soared overhead.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips as I thought about Dante. The guy with the stolen painting was the only one who hadn’t lied to me. My cheating ex, my lying lover next door, my best friend, all of my other supposed friends in town, Massimo, and even Noah—I was a pawn in everyone else’s games.

“Recovery agents,” I whispered to myself, rolling my eyes. “Right.”

My father’s warnings about the Reynolds family replayed in my mind. But if Joseph had been framed, were any of those warnings justified? Unless Enzo was lying about that part, too. But why would he? It’s not like he had anything to gain by bringing it up.

Movement on the balcony caught my eye, and I startled, shooting up to sit. Emmett stood there, wearing worn jeans and a light gray golf shirt. His hands were up, as if trying to calm a spooked animal.

“I had a feeling you weren’t coming out.” He stopped just outside the open door. His whole body seemed tense, uncertainty written across his face. “So I climbed around the divider between our balconies.”

On my first night in this suite, I’d walked out onto that balcony, wishing Emmett would follow me. Wishing he wouldhave joined me to stare down at the city, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me. The memory felt like it belonged to someone else now.

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