Chapter 33

I smiled at the picture he painted, feeling every inch the queen that he thought I was. In the back of my mind, I wondered if he treated all of his lady friends this way. I quickly brushed the thought aside, not wanting to think of him with anyone else. "Well, then, what are we waiting for?"

Lance smiled. "Just one more thing," he said, then lifted a slender box from the counter.

"Lance, you didn't "

"Shush," he said then added, "These are for you to wear while you are here, but I'll need to place them back into the vault tonight. They are very old."

"How old?" I said, almost afraid to ask.

"Let it suffice to say that they belonged to a queen that lived long ago." He opened the box and a lovely diamond pendant encased in gold hung from a gold necklace, along with matching earrings-diamonds suspended from delicate gold chains. The necklace was comprised of tiny circular images linked together and a pendent hung in the center.