“I think we should wait until my husband gets here.”
Jafar? My palms sweat, but I nod.
“Have a seat.”
She gestures to a barstool next to her. I sit, and she doesn’t say a word as she sips on her wine. Ten long minutes go by before the elevator doors open and Jafar enters, looking madder than hell.
“This better be good. I was about to go to a meeting.” He enters the kitchen, stopping when he sees me. “What’s this?”
Jasmine finishes her wine. “Ellie, why don’t you tell us why you’re here?”
Jafar shoots me a confused look. Glad I’m not the only one who has no idea what’s going on at the moment.
“I… I don’t know why I’m here. You said you wanted me to come over.”
She laughs, but it’s not kind. “For the love of god. Stop acting, Ellie. I know what you did.”
Jafar asks, “What did she do?”
She reaches out, grabbing my right hand, holding it up. Jafar’s padparadscha sapphire ring catches the light, and my breath hitches. I forgot to take it off last night after, well, after everything happened.
“She stole this. Dru noticed it on her finger and pointed it out after she left the store this morning.” She turns her attention to me. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”
“Jasmine, I swear this isn’t what it looks like.”
She snorts. “I’m sure it’s not. You know, I never used to believe Jafar when he said you were stealing from the hotels thatIpaid for, but I guess this proves me wrong.”
I’m torn between laughing and crying. Here I was thinking she knew what had been going on between me and Jafar. In reality, she just thinks I’m a thief.
I try again. “Jasmine, I didn’t steal the ring.”
“Then how did you get it, hmm? Jafar never takes off that ring. Hell, he won’t even let me wear it, and I’m hiswife. So tell me why it’s on your hand and not his.”
“I found it. It was in my purse, the one I brought with me to Water Mills,” I say, which, ironically, is the truth.
“I don’t buy it, Ellie. How would Jafar’s ring have fallen into your purse? And even if it did, why are you wearing it?”
I’m at a loss for words. I suppose I could tell her the truth. That he put it in there to set me up after catching me on a date with Al. That he punished me after he found me by eating me out until I literally gushed all over his lap. I meet his gaze and he gives me a lazy smile, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
But I say, “I don’t know how it got in there, but I didn’t take it. I just haven’t seen you or him to return it. And it didn’t even cross my mind at the store today.” Two lies and a truth. It’s the best I can do. I take it from my finger, laying it on the counter. “There.”
She grabs the ring, closing her fist around it. “I think you should leave.”
Jafar sighs loudly. “Jesus Christ, Jasmine. It probably slipped off my finger when I took everyone’s shit out of the back of the SUV.”
I’m surprised that he’s coming to my defense, especially since it’s his fault that I have the freaking ring.
He continues, “And I said Ellie steals things from the hotel, not shit like this. How long have you known her?”
“For a long time,” she answers.
“Has she ever taken anything from you since you’ve known her?”
“Well, no.”
“Then why in the fuck would she start now?”
Jasmine’s cheeks darken. “I guess you’re right.”