Page 77 of The Diamond in the Rough

But I did want to see him, even though I also didn’t want to see him at the same time because I still felt incredibly guilty. I wasn’t going to say any of that to Hart, though.

I wondered if he knew. What explanation Raj had offered—if any—for why he hadn’t come along this time. I wasn’t going to ask.

I sat across the coffee table from Hart, who opened up the baggie and slid the box onto the table’s surface. “I need to knowwhenshe got it, if you can tell me that,” the elf told me.

I blew out a breath. “I’ll try.”

Before I touched it, I tried to remind myself to dive through, not in or under. To think about trying to keep my head above water as much as I could.

For all the good it was likely to do.

She ranher hands over the soft red velvet…

No.Earlier. The first moment she’d touched it.

She picked up the box,a black satin ribbon tied around it, pulled through the hole in a heavy cream-colored business card that read ‘Capital City Jewelers,’ the typed message ‘With love’just below. She’d rather have Simon home, but at least the gift was a reminder that he was thinking of her.

It had been almost three weeks since she’d last seen him—when he left to go back to D.C.

“When didSenator Adams last leave Richmond for D.C.?” I asked Hart.

“What?” he jumped a little.

I blinked a few times, coming back into focus. “She received the box three weeks after Senator Adams last left for D.C.” I paused. “No,almostthree weeks after,” I corrected myself.

It had comewhile she was at yoga. The staff always opened packages. In fact, she wasn’t even allowed to, so she wasn’t surprised to find it unboxed on the table.

“The package arrivedwhile she was at yoga,” I told him.

Hart sat up. “You’re sure?”

I nodded. “Yes. She does it regularly, I think. It felt like something habitual.”

“You can tell if something feelshabitual?” he asked.

“Yes.” I refocused on his fine features. “People think differently about things they do all the time versus things they only do occasionally or things they’ve only done once.”

“Huh,” came the response. “So it came during yoga, just under three weeks after Adams left for D.C.” He made a note on his tablet. “That’s… extremely helpful.”

Then he looked up at me, his expression hesitant.

“What else do you need?” I asked him. What I’d alreadydone had drained a lot of energy, but I was willing to do more if he wanted me to.

“The killer,” he replied, an expression of guilt on his face.

“What about him?” I asked, already steeling myself. I didn’t like his thoughts. As much as I wasn’t a fan of anyone else’s memories, some people’s were definitely worse than others.

“Well,” Hart hedged, shifting a little. “And the enchanter.”

“You want to know if the box came to the killer with the necklace.” It wasn’t a question, but I wanted him to confirm it.

“Yeah, if you can.”

I drew in a deep breath, then let it out. “I can,” I replied, trying to keep the exhaustion and distaste from my voice. Ward made a point of never letting clients see if he’d been worn out by summoning spirits or didn’t like one of their dead relatives. I figured the same general policy should apply to me.

He closed the lid,smoothing one hand over it before tying the black satin ribbon…

No.Earlier.