do you know of the Blackstone Rose diamonds?”
Dani exhaled. “How they mysteriously turned up at Howard’s lawyers a month ago and they had no choice but to send them to Hammonds.” Suddenly it all fell into place. “You found them. You sent them back.”
“I didn’t find them. I was given them. A simple authentication job.”
“Who from?”
“You’ll have to ask Matt for the details, but they’re his property, fair and square.”
“I told you, I don’t know him.” She sighed. “He came to the funeral but wouldn’t have anything to do with us.”
“You should be more picky whom you fraternise with,” Quinn said lightly. “Is there anyone in the world Howard Blackstone hasn’t rubbed up the wrong way?”
“The feud wasn’t all Howard’s doing, you know.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Everyone knows. You must know.”
“I know what the papers say.” Quinn sat down on the log and patted the space beside him. “I want to hear it from an insider.”
She sat tautly, aware of his big hot body just inches away, warming her side. A trickle of sweat crawled down his temple and she bet his back would be slick, too. Why didn’t that turn her right off, instead of accelerating her pulse to alarming levels?
She bent and picked up a handful of white sand, letting it run slowly through her fingers. Since Howard’s death, the Blackstone-Hammond feud origins had been printed and reprinted. Dani was sorry if her rendition was reminiscent of a bored teenage boy recounting his summer holiday to his class, but frankly, she was tired of the whole thing.
“Jeb, my granddad, and Howard were friends and partners after Howard married my auntie Ursula. Uncle Oliver, Mum and Ursula’s brother, was left behind in New Zealand to run the family business. Anyway, when Granddad Jeb got sick, he signed over all his mining claims to Howard. Naturally, this didn’t go down too well with Oliver.”
That was an understatement. According to her cousin Jarrod, even after a stroke five years ago, the old man still got apoplectic at the mere mention of Howard Blackstone.
“He was particularly upset when Jeb gifted the Heart of the Outback stone, his most famous find, to Auntie Ursula.” The massive pink diamond was part of Australian folklore, but as with many other exceptional diamonds, it brought its own share of bad luck with it.
“Howard had it cut and set into a fabulous necklace he called the Blackstone Rose.”
“Rubbing salt into Hammond’s wound,” Quinn murmured.
She nodded. Oliver was incensed that the name Hammond was now completely usurped of its rightful place in the history of the famous Heart of the Outback.
“But after James, Howard’s firstborn, was abducted, Auntie Ursula became depressed. To cheer her up, Howard threw a huge thirtieth birthday party. Everyone was there, even the prime minister.” Dani smiled, remembering her mother’s awestruck tone as she’d described the finery, the dresses, the beautiful decorations. “But it all ended in tears.”
“The night the necklace was stolen,” Quinn murmured.
Everyone had their theories. Some thought it was a failed ransom attempt. No doubt Quinn thought Howard had hidden the necklace to collect the insurance money. “Howard accused Oliver and things got pretty heated,” Dani continued. “Oliver denounced his sisters and said they were dead to him….” She turned to him, lowering the depth of her voice and adding some volume, “‘So long as you have anything to do with a Blackstone!’” She wagged her index finger at him.
He smiled at her. Really smiled, and her insides melted.
“You missed a bit,” Quinn admonished.
“What? Oh well, you obviously know about poor old Auntie Ursula toppling into the pool….”
“After drinking too much.”
She put her finger to her lips. “We don’t talk about it,” she whispered dramatically. “In the melee, Howard accused Oliver of engineering the kidnapping of wee James, as well.” That fact was probably not as well known as the rest.
Unfortunately, that accusation was the one thing Oliver could never forgive. He and his wife, Katherine, could not have children of their own. Jarrod and Matt were adopted.
“Nice bloke,” Quinn said, an edge to his voice.
“You have to remember that he’d lost a son,” Dani countered. “And whatever rumours you’ve heard about his womanising, Mum says he really loved Auntie Ursula. It can’t have been much fun watching her struggle with depression.”
Quinn didn’t look impressed or moved. Whatever had gone down with him and Howard must have been spectacular. She sighed. “I don’t get it, Quinn. Matt has a legitimate right to be angry, especially after the past few months. But your little spat was years ago. I wonder, why do you hate his guts still, even after his death?”
“Curiosity killed the cat.” His tone was cool.
It had to be more than just the diamond-association vote, Dani reasoned. Quinn was a very successful broker, one of the most prominent in the world. She refused to believe that he still held a grudge because Howard had made life a little difficult for him years ago. “You know, your dislike of Howard borders on obsession.”
He cocked a cynical brow. “That so?”
“It’s too personal. What did he do? Take a woman from you?”
His bark of laughter rang out, startling her.
“Professional jealousy?” she guessed.
Or maybe she was needling, trying to pick a fight. Trying to find some external conflict to justify the internal conflict of wanting him. “He beat you to the deal of a lifetime?”
Quinn’s brows knitted together. “Howard Blackstone never beat me at anything.”
“Or maybe you’ve heard the stories and decided that you are the missing Blackstone heir.” She was joking, of course, even knowing it was a terrible thing to joke about.
Howard alone always had faith that his firstborn, James, would walk through the door one day. He’d never closed the investigation and must have had a strong lead just before he died, because he changed his will. The new will effectively cut Kimberley out, favouring instead his oldest son, James should he be found within six months of Howard’s death.
Naturally the press enjoyed this extra twist to the ever-changing, always-enthralling saga of the Blackstone family. Several candidates had been discussed and discarded over the past months, including Jarrod Hammond, Matt’s brother. You had to hand it to Howard, she thought with a spark of admiration. He sure knew how to keep the paparazzi guessing.
Just like Quinn kept her guessing, mostly about how long it would be before she gave in to an unusually severe case of the hots … Reining in her errant thoughts,
