Page 67 of The Expat Affair

“Forget those stones. Those stones are history.”

“Come on, Jan. I know you know where they are.”

“I never said that I didn’t. Only that you should forget about them.”

I frown, giving a hard shake of my head. “I can’t do that. My circumstances have changed these past few days. I need those diamonds.”

It was the original deal I made with Xander: twelve lab-grown twins to twelve of my most valuable diamonds—a street value of a million euros combined—in exchange for the center stone in the bracelet, the last surviving Cullinan. For Xander, it was the deal of the century.

Only he never got that Cullinan and I never got my twelve diamonds. He was killed before we could make the exchange, before I could get the diamonds to Jan for him to make disappear. All those buyers of his, they’re not coming to him only for the mirrors. They’re coming for mirrors stuffed with diamonds then shipped off to addresses in the Middle East, Asia, South America.Diamonds that will soon be mounted on fingers and hanging from wrists, and not resurface anytime soon on the black market.

Which means Thomas will never see my twelve switched-out stones. He’ll never think to be suspicious. It’s not a foolproof plan, I am well aware, but it’s the only one I’ve got.

“I can pay.” I wriggle off my engagement ring and settle it onto the desk. “Reset it with the matching lab-grown, and the middle stone is yours. Six carats, internally flawless. Want to grab a loupe?”

Jan stares at the ring for a couple of breaths, and I know I don’t have to sell him on the cut or quality. Jan knows what this stone is worth. He knows it’ll pay for the twelve lab-growns and then some.

“Nah. I trust you,” he says finally, his gaze lifting to meet mine. “But I also like you, and as much as I want to help you out, the best way I can do that is by telling you to leave it alone. This road you’re walking down, it’s dangerous.”

“My twelve stones are dangerous?”

“Yes. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that two men are dead. Buyers are spooked, and you should be, too.”

“I’m well aware of the danger here, but I’m also desperate. My marriage... it’s not working out.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that.”

“Whoever’s got those twelve stones, I can offer them the same deal. The center stone for the lab-growns.”

He laughs, another phlegmy bark.

“At least tell me where they are so I can—”

“You want to know where these stones are?” He taps a finger to the certificate copies, still sitting between us on the table, his fingertip a direct hit on one word in particular. “Look inside your own house.”

Prins.The word isPrins. Look for Xander’s stones inside House of Prins?

I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”

“Ask yourself what could have happened to Xander’s stones, all those matches to Prins diamonds that sold for millions and millions of dollars. It’s the same thing that happened to the Cullinans.”

The Cullinans.

“What do Xander’s lab-growns have to do with the Cullinans?”

“Think about it, Willow. Ask yourself who had the most to gain.”

“The Cullinans are worth hundreds of millions of euros.” I frown, shake my head again. “Literallyeverybodyhad the most to gain.”

Jan smiles. “And at least three of them go by the name of Prins.”

Jan’s words chase me across town to Maksim.

Look inside your own house.

If I’m to believe Jan, those twelve stones that Xander grew to match twelve of mine, are in the same place as the nine missing Cullinans.

Think about who had the most to gain.

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