“Where is it?” I asked.
“In a safe place.”
“I think you’re wrong about the curse.”
“Perhaps,” she murmured. “However, the last man to hold it, died a horrific death.”
“Pia didn’t die. She held it. I didn’t die either, and I certainly should have—more than once.”
“How does it feel, knowing you carried the Medici diamond—something worth several hundred million dollars—around in your pocket?”
I laughed. “Is that really what it is?”
“Sì, according to the research your colleague did last night.”
“What’s crazier is that Pia sent it to me in the mail.”
The countess’ eyes opened wide.
“The first letter she sent me.”
“She loved you, then.”
I nodded. “And I, her.”
When the countess looked behind me, I knew Pia was there and had heard.
I turned around and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Pia.”
She stepped forward into my arms. “I love you, Mylos.”
“I should be on my way,” said the countess at the same time we heard a knock at the door.
“Buongiorno,” said Rile when I opened it.
“Come in,” I said when he was already halfway through it.
“Has the countess shared the news with you?” he asked once we joined Pia and her mum in the kitchen.
“What news is that?” Pia asked.
“Decker was able to find quite a bit of information on the Medici diamond. Although before your illustrious family renamed it, it was known as the Heart of Eternity.”
“But it’s red,” said Pia.
Rile nodded. “The rarest color diamond in the world.”
“What else did Decker find out about it?” I asked.
He handed me a piece of paper, which I declined to take, so he handed it to Pia.
She skimmed it and then looked up at me and smiled.
“It says.” She cleared her throat. “The blood within the stone grows cold with hate. With love, it warms.”
“Is that all?”
She shook her head. “The man filled with hate, shall die of it. The man filled with love, shall live of it.”