I grind my molars and want to kick his shin, but he’s sitting too far away. “I swear to God, Knox. I will punch you in your pretty face—”
Knox lifts his hands and grins. “Kidding.” He looks from me to Delaney. “But you do make a lovely couple.”
I glare at the smirking bastard, my hands fisting beneath the table. “You do realize I’ve been training with Linc, right?”
Using his fists and possibly messing up his pretty face ranks low on Knox’s ways to fight. He much prefers using his silver tongue.
“Duly noted,” Knox drawls, but he doesn’t look sorry at all.
“Why didn’t you leave?” Addie asks, eyeing Delaney closely. “Because I’ve been there. Wondering whether itwould be best if I left. Started fresh, somewhere nobody knew who I was, what I’d done. What I’d been through. I always pictured an island, too, but my coconuts were filled with rum.” Her lips tip up in a little smile.
Delaney nods. “Those are the best ones,” she agrees. Then she looks over at me. “I didn’t have a chance. He showed up at my door.”
I shift in my seat and face my friends. “Because I had a proposition for her.” Before Knox can insert an annoying comment, I continue, “You all know my parents own diamond mines, but you probably don’t know I have one, too. One that caved in and was deemed lost. They considered it worthless. Hence why they gave it to me.” I definitely have their attention now. I never talk about my parents and our estranged relationship.
“Why do I have a feeling it’s not entirely worthless?” Cole asks.
“Because it might not be. The whole reason they originally acquired it is because they’d heard a rumor that this particular mine was where the Phantom Orchid was found. And they believed it was only a small part of a much bigger stone.”
“How big?” Brighton asks in a hushed tone.
“Twenty-five thousand carats. Give or take,” I reveal.
A couple of jaws drop, and Knox whistles under his breath.
“And you said the mine collapsed?” Addie taps a finger on the tabletop.
“Yes. Since they couldn’t do anything with it, they gave it to me for a birthday present. Because forget a puppy. What twelve-year-old kid doesn’t want a worthless, caved-in tunnel over in Africa?” I ask dryly.
“Your parents sound about as selfish as my dad was,” Addie murmurs, and I don’t miss the way Cole takes her hand in his and squeezes.
“Yeah. But, hey, I’ve got the deed. And if the rumors are true, and the rest of that gem is in there somewhere, they have no claim.”
“Sweet revenge,” Brighton states.
“So, what’s our next step?” Knox asks.
I feel Delaney tense up beside me. “Instead of disappearing to some nameless tropical island, I asked Delaney to go to Africa with me.”
“And I said yes,” she confirms.
“Randomly searching a collapsed mine is dangerous. Not to mention it could take years,” Cole states matter-of-factly.
“I’m hoping you guys might be up for a little African adventure.” My team exchanges looks and smiles.
“You’re definitely going to need a team to help you pull this off,” Addie says, and I can already see the gears spinning in her head.
“So what do you say?” I ask, looking around the table. “Are you in?”
“You know we’re in,” Knox answers. And even though I’m not surprised, because they always have my back, I’m damn grateful.
“Thank you.” I give them a nod. “I think our first stop is actually South America.” Delaney’s attention swivels over to me. “As much as I dread seeing my dad and stepmom, they possess the only known map of the mine, and we need it.”
“Why do you think they’re in South America?” Addie asks.
“They have a nice place in Argentina. Once a year they host a big event down there. I saw an article online, and it’s in two nights.”
“Are your parents going to hand this map over?” Cole asks. “Or are you asking them to steal it?”
