Jaya laughed disbelievingly. The arrogance! The hypocrisy! He clearly didn’t think she knew he was behind everything. “Yes, you’d think, wouldn’t you? Except you—” Ooh. Careful, Jaya. She’d been about to say, Except you went and splashed my little sister’s indiscretions in the tabloids, you big ogre. Keep your eyes on the larger goal. Don’t let this prickly boy get under your skin so easily. She tapped her pendant lightly with a fingertip, a reminder to herself of her duty. Slowly, the soft conversations of the few other students in the dining hall began to filter into her consciousness. Forcing a smile and a deep breath, Jaya said, “You’re right. How about we let all of that go? Perhaps forgiveness can start with us.” She tried not to vomit.

Grey Emerson didn’t respond. Which might’ve been because his gaze was riveted to the pendant at her throat. She was standing near his table now, close enough for him to see it clearly. “That’s… an unusual pendant.” He was studying her face now, a little too intently, though Jaya couldn’t decipher his expression.

“Thank you,” she said, even though what he’d said wasn’t quite a compliment. Laying a finger on it gently, she added, “My father bought it for me in Dubai.”

Grey fiddled with a napkin on the table, but when he saw her watching his fingers, they went still. “Did the seller tell your father anything about its origin? Where it came from or where the rubies were sourced from… anything like that?”

Jaya frowned slightly at the strained urgency curling around the edges of his words. He was clearly past the conversation of their family feud and onto something new. “Ah… no, not that I know of. I didn’t really ask him.”

Grey’s face was pinched in frustration, like he wanted to ask her more questions but didn’t know how. How incredibly odd. “I… I…” He stopped and took a breath, shaking his head as if to clear it.

Jaya studied him for a second. There was definitely something off about him and the necklace; she wasn’t imagining it. She filed the information away for later. Suddenly she remembered his comment about The House of Medici the day before. It was hard now not to see the message there. He wanted the Raos to collapse into decline and decay just like the Medicis had.

Jaya kept her expression congenial, though every facial muscle hurt with the effort. “May I join you there at your table?”

Grey shrugged. Jaya waited for a more polite invitation, but there was none forthcoming.