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“Buy up big,” Zane said. “Proceeds go to the Boys and Girls Clubs.”
“One of your pet charities,” Liam said.
“Yeah.” Zane’s father had left when he was seven. His mom had worked hard to support them. She was his hero. He liked to give back to charities that supported kids growing up in tough circumstances.
He’d set his mom up in a gorgeous house Upstate that she loved. And he was here for her tonight.
“Don’t bid on the Phillips-Morley necklace, though,” he added. “It’s mine.”
The necklace had a huge, rectangular sapphire pendant surrounded by diamonds. It was the real-life necklace said to have inspired the necklace in the movie,Titanic. It had been given to a young woman, Kate Florence Phillips, by her lover, Henry Samuel Morley. The two had run away together and booked passage on the Titanic.
Unfortunately for poor Kate, Henry had drowned when the ship had sunk. She’d returned to England with the necklace and a baby in her belly.
Zane’s mother had always loved the story and pored over pictures of the necklace. She’d told him the story of the lovers, over and over.
“It was a gift from a man to a woman he loved. She was a shop girl, and he owned the store, but they fell in love, even though society frowned on their love.” She sighed. “That’s true love, Zane. Devotion, loyalty, through the good times and the bad.”
Everything Carol Roth had never known.
Of course, it turned out old Henry was much older than his lover, and already married. But Zane didn’t want to ruin the fairy tale for his mom.
Now, the Phillips-Morley necklace had turned up, and was being offered at auction. And Zane was going to get it for his mom. It was her birthday in a few months.
“Hey, is your fancy, new safe ready yet?” Zane asked Mav.
His friend nodded. “You’re getting one of the first ones. I can have my team install it this week.”
“Perfect.” Mav’s new Riv3000 was the latest in high-tech safes and said to be unbreakable. “I’ll keep the necklace in it until my mom’s birthday.”
Someone called out Liam’s name. With a sigh, their friend forced a smile. “Can’t dodge this one. Simpson’s an investor in my Brooklyn project. I’ll be back.”
“Need a refill?” Zane asked Mav.
“Sure.”
Zane headed for the bar. He’d almost reached it when a manicured hand snagged his arm.
“Zane.”
He looked down at the woman and barely swallowed his groan. “Allegra. You look lovely this evening.”
She did. Allegra Montgomery’s shimmery, silver dress hugged her slender figure, and her cloud of mahogany brown hair accented her beautiful face. As the only daughter of a wealthy New York family—her father was fromtheMontgomery family and her mother was a former Miss America—Allegra was well-bred and well-educated but also, as he’d discovered, spoiled and liked getting her way.
Her dark eyes bored into him. “I’m sorry things ended badly for us the other month. I was…” Her voice lowered, and she stroked his forearm. “I miss you. I was hoping we could catch up again.”
Zane arched a brow. They’d dated for a few weeks, shared a few dinners, and some decent sex. But Allegra liked being the center of attention, complained that he worked too much, and had constantly hounded him to take her on vacation. Preferably on a private jet to Tahiti or the Maldives.
When she’d asked him if it would be too much for him to give her a credit card of her own, for monthly expenses, Zane had exited stage left.
“I don’t think so, Allegra. We aren’t…compatible.”
Her full lips turned into a pout. “I thought we wereverycompatible.”
He cleared his throat. “I heard you moved on. With Chip Huffington.”
Allegra waved a hand. “Oh, that’s nothing serious.”
And Chip was only a millionaire. Allegra would see that as a step down. In fact, Zane felt like every time she looked at him, he could almost see little dollar signs in her eyes.
