"What?" said Jordan.
Marcus nodded and led a woman in a fitted suit into the office. She was Nina, the jewelry authenticator.
"Nina? What happened? Is that true?"
Nina's confident eyes met his. She was short—barely five feet—but confidence radiated from her. She was good at her job, and she knew it.
"It is, sir. I checked several times. This wasn't the jewelry we tested in the UK. This isn't diamond, sir. Whoever made it went through a lot of trouble, but it's not the real thing."
Jordan felt his brain go into reboot. For a moment, he just stared. Then he dragged his hand through his hair, fighting the urge to punch something.
"Alright. You can go, Nina."
Nina nodded. "I won't tell Vera yet, so you can do what's necessary before she finds out."
Jordan nodded again. The moment she left, he turned to Marcus.
"Shit! Marcus, did you notice anything unusual?"
"No, sir. Everything looked fine. Also, I don't believe this happened on the way. K&K Securities did their part, and so did our team. I believe the swap was made at our UK branch."
Jordan frowned. "Our branch? Is that even possible? Who would sabotage something like this?"
"Well, not necessarily your team," Marcus replied. "It could be external sabotage."
Jordan considered it. "Either way, K&K needs to be in the loop."
He called Kiara immediately.
"Hi Jordan. Sorry, I meant to call—"
"That's not important," he cut her off. "I have news."
Kiara immediately sensed something was wrong. "What happened?"
"The necklace was swapped. The one here is a fake."
Her line went silent for a second. "Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't call if I wasn't. Can you do something—maybe investigate?"
"I'm on it."
"What if you don't find it? For all we know, it might still be in the UK."
Kiara paused. "Do you remember that I work for a company that deals with things like that?"
"Yeah?"
"We have a similar necklace."
Jordan exhaled in relief. Then came the practical side of him. "Are you sure? Is it also diamond?"
"Yeah, it is. Probably not the exact one, but close enough."
"Okay. How do we go about it?"
"Well," she said, "you'll have to buy it from us. It's for sale, not for borrowing."
Jordan hesitated. The necklace was insanely expensive—but their situation was dire.
"Can I call you back?"
"Definitely."
He turned to ask Brian's opinion when Vera stormed in.
"What the hell am I hearing?" she snapped, her voice high and sharp.
Jordan tried to remain calm; losing his temper now wouldn't help. "I'm already investigating it."
"Investigating?" she repeated incredulously. "What the hell are you investigating? You'd better find my necklace, Jordan!"
"We can arrange a replacement," he said cautiously.
Vera's eyes narrowed. "A replacement? Are you kidding me? I paid for that necklace. You can't just replace what I bought!"
"It's similar. It'll be fine for the party."
"Shut up, Jordan! I don't want a replacement. I want my f**king necklace!"
"Be reasonable," Jordan said quietly. He glanced at Brian, but his friend was suddenly fascinated by his phone. "This is just one event. We'll still find your original."
"No! You'll hear from my lawyers!"
Jordan couldn't let her walk out. He caught her by the wrist and turned her to face him.
"Vera, you're not being reasonable. The event is tomorrow. How are your lawyers going to replace it overnight, huh? You can call them after the event, but right now we need a solution. The replacement will do—for now."
Vera muttered curses under her breath until tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Shit, Jordan."
He moved closer and hugged her. She sobbed quietly for a minute, then wiped her tears and straightened up.
"Fine. But this isn't over. We'll talk after the event."
She turned for the door. "Hi Brian. I'm sorry."
Brian flashed his signature grin. "It's okay, Vera. I understand. Sorry about the necklace."
She nodded and left. Marcus exchanged a glance with Jordan before following.
"Betrayer," Jordan muttered.
Brian laughed. "C'mon, I didn't do anything."
"That's the point. Aren't friends supposed to provide backup?"
"Backup with an angry Vera? That's a death wish, man. You dated her, remember? Look how hard it was for you to calm her down. How could I help?"
Jordan ignored him and sank onto the white sofa.
"You mad at me?"
He didn't reply. Instead, he called Kiara back and accepted her offer.
"Jordan?"
"Get out, man. I've got work."
Brian chuckled. "Didn't you just say I was always busy? You wanted us to hang out."
"Don't worry. You can go. I just remembered I have work to do."
Brian grinned and threw a cushion at him. Jordan ignored it—until the second one hit. Then the third.
He couldn't keep pretending. He laughed and tossed them back.
They joked for a few more minutes before a young woman walked in.
"Hi, Brian."
He grunted a reply and stood up. "Bye, Jordan. We'll talk later."
Jordan knew why his friend left so fast. Lara sauntered in right after he did, perching on the sofa beside him.
"Hey, you. How are you? I heard about Vera's necklace."
Jordan clenched his jaw. How the hell had that spread so fast? Though he doubted Nina or Marcus had leaked it.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"It's probably that security company you hired," Lara said, feigning concern. "They're so incompetent. How could this happen right under their nose?"
"This had nothing to do with them. They did their part," he said evenly, forcing patience.
"Oh, Jay, you're too kind. Is there anything we can do?" She reached up and began stroking his hair.
"No. We don't have anything in place yet."
"Sorry, dear," she murmured, letting her other hand slide down his chest.
Jordan made a low sound in his throat. Lara purred with satisfaction.
A knock interrupted them, and Lara quickly fixed her hair.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, ma'am," said a young assistant at the door. "We need you, ma'am."
"I'm coming," Lara said, clearly annoyed. She turned back to Jordan, whispering, "Why don't we continue this later?"
Jordan only smiled as she brushed a light kiss on his lips before leaving.
He leaned back on the sofa. He didn't mind —
but there was only one woman on his mind.