Knight in Shining Suit (20 page)

“
No, no. This is just a
good imitation. Besides, that’s in gold. Unless they make this ring
in silver or white gold too.” I laughed nervously.

The guy shook his head.
“No, but they make in platinum.”

I stared back at him,
completely dumbfounded. Then I insisted. “Sweetheart, you don’t
understand. There is no way the guy who gave this to me can afford
a real Harry Winston. This is a fake! Probably a cubic zirconia or
a moissanite. And it can’t be platinum.”

He shrugged. “Well, the
inside should say PT 950, if it’s the real thing.”

I sighed, getting a little
irritated now. This guy was so meticulous and so nosy that I wanted
to prove him wrong now. “Alright, I’ll prove it to you,” I said,
taking off my ring and looking at the inside of the band. There was
no inscription. I turned it around and then suddenly, my heart
actually dropped to my toes, when I saw
PT
950
inscribed on it. I swallowed
hard.

“
This… this can’t be
right,” I whispered.

Dannie took the ring from
me and had a look.

“
Oh my God!” he
breathed.

We both stared at the guy
at the counter who was beaming a big
I-told-you-so
at us.

“
Would you like to have
the rest checked for its authenticity?” he asked although I think
he already knew our answer.

I nodded silently and gave
him the ring.

We waited for him
impatiently. My heart was pounding inside my ribcage, I could feel
my temperature rising.

I stared at
Dannie.

“
Well, if it’s real then
you can pawn it!” he teased.

I shook my head. “If it’s
real, I’m going to hunt Ryder Woodson down and shove it down his
throat!” I muttered.

The guy came back. I
raised a brow at him. “Well?”

He smiled at me widely.
“It’s the real thing. Harry Winston, emerald cut diamond, two
carats on a genuine platinum band.”

I swallowed
hard.

“
Doesn’t this ring cost
about twenty grand?” Dannie asked.

The guy shook his head.
“The one on the poster does. It’s twenty-two carat gold. This is
platinum. This one actually retails for more than
thirty.”

I felt my knees turn to
jelly at that instant.

“
You can trust me on this.
I heard you mention Mr. Van Woodsen? He’s been buying jewelry from
us at least once a month. I heard his mother is quite a collector
of diamonds.” He winked and something in his look made me feel like
he thought I was damn lucky to be receiving a ring from Mr. Van
Woodsen.

I shook my head, taking my
ring back from him. “No. You misheard me. I don’t know Mr. Van
Woodsen. But I do know a certain
Mr.
Woodson
who I will hunt down and kill,” I
said in such a serious tone that the guy actually stopped
smiling.

“
Thank you for your time
and your… assessment of my friend’s ring. If I can just get your
calling card, we’ll give you a call once we have some… requirements
for jewelry,” Dannie said. The guy couldn’t help smiling and
immediately handed him a calling card.

“
Thank you, Garrie,”
Dannie said reading his name out loud.

Then he dragged me out of
the place before I start hyperventilating.

“
Oh my God!” I breathed.
“I cannot believe this!”

“
Yes! You’re wearing a
thirty thousand dollar engagement ring!”

“
How? I don’t know how
Ryder could have afforded it!” I asked. Somehow things do not make
sense. “God, I hope he didn’t steal this or something.”

Dannie raised a brow.
“God, I hope not! With his looks… he’ll be a hit in
prison!”

“
Even if he did… acquire
this in illegal ways… why would he give it to me? Why not pawn it
and take the money?”

“
Only one way to find
out,” Dannie said as he headed towards his car.

Thirty minutes later, we
were at Oil Rig. I kept staring at the bar, keeping an eye out for
Ryder. John and Nicole joined us a couple of minutes
later.

“
What?” Nicole asked,
grabbing my hand and examining my ring. “I knew this couldn’t have
been a fake! It’s too beautiful!”

“
How could he afford it?”
I asked. “And why would he give it to me?”

Did he pity me because for
my first engagement I had been given a fake ring? Did he feel sorry
for me? But still… no one can be
that
sorry! Thirty grand! Maybe even
more!

What could I have done to
him that would make me deserve to keep this ring?

I snorted to myself. I did
give him my virginity. And I wanted to laugh at myself for that
until I realized…

I hope he didn’t mean this
as payment for going to bed with him. Because that would make me
a…

“
Shit!” I muttered under
my breath. I won’t rest until I find him! Until I talk to him
again.

I dialed his number. His
phone was off. I tried again. Still off. I stood up from my seat
and marched to the counter.

“
Where are you going?”
Dannie asked.

“
Ending this mystery!” I
murmured.

There was a bald bartender
who saw me approaching.

“
How can I help you,
Madam?” he asked.

“
I’m looking for a
co-worker of yours. Ryder Woodson?”

He gave me a confused look
and then he shook his head, “I don’t think I remember working with
anyone that goes by that name, Ma’am.”

I shook my head. “Maybe
you’re new. I met him here at this exact counter, a couple of
months ago.”

He smiled at me. “Sorry,
ma’am. I’ve been here since opening. I'm telling you, there is no
bartender by that name here. Never been.”

“
Maybe… maybe he was a
temp or something and you were off the night he was on duty,” I
insisted. John came up beside me.

The guy shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am. We have a strict policy here. No one temps for
us. The owner has very… distinct policies. Everybody must be
trained for months before facing a customer. So, no
temps.”

I sighed. “It… it can’t
be.”

“
I wish I could help you,
Ma’am,” he said apologetically.

I thanked him quietly. And
then I turned my back on him, still confused.

Just then, I remembered
what Garrie from the jewelry shop said. I turned back to the
bartender.

“
How about Ryder
Van
Woodsen
?” I asked him.

He stared back at me for a
while and then he said, “I’ll call the manager, Ma’am. He can help
you with that.”

I watched him walk away.
And then I stared back at John, who just raised a brow at
me.

A minute later, a tall
blond guy dressed in an expensive suit joined us.

“
Yes, Ma’am. How can I
help?”

I took a deep breath and
said, “I… I’m looking for a guy who works here. Ryder.”

“
Mr. Van Woodsen is out of
the country right now. May I ask what this is about? Maybe I can
help.”

“
Does he work here?” I
asked.

The guy shook his head.
“No, Ma’am. May I ask what this is about? Maybe I can help you
out,” he repeated.

“
If… if he doesn’t work
here, then how can you help me?” I asked a little
impatiently.

He raised a brow at me but
he didn’t say anything. I realized he wasn’t going to give me any
information.

“
Mr. Van Woodsen…” I
started. “This guy that we’re talking about…
Ryder
Van Woodsen?”

The guy nodded. “Yes,
Ma’am.”

I already felt like I was
about to hyperventilate any minute.

“
You see… I met a guy a
couple of months ago… he introduced himself as Ryder. We had a
little arrangement… I've been trying to call him today, but got his
voicemail.”

“
I see. As I said, he is
out of the country. Maybe he’s on board a flight right now,” the
guy said politely.

“
Okay.” I took a deep
breath. “But really? Ryder Van Woodsen? That’s his real name? Are
we talking about the same guy? Black hair, riveting green
eyes?”

The guy smiled. “I think
we are talking about the same guy. But really, Ma’am? How can I
help you?”

I shook my head. “I… guess
you can’t,” I said to him. “Do you know when he’s coming
back?”

The guy shook his head.
“He comes and goes. He has other branches to look after. We do not
know when he’ll be in Malibu again.”

I nodded. “Okay. When he
does come back, can you please tell him that Astrid Jacobson is
looking for him?”

The guy nodded. “I will
pass that message along.”

I nodded at him and
smiled. Then I turned my back on him and started to go, but then I
changed my mind. I turned back to him again. “And can you also tell
him that when I do find him, I intend to personally kick his
ass?”

The guy looked startled
but he quickly composed himself. “I’ll… I’ll make sure he gets the
message.”

I nodded again and then
quickly dashed back to our table.

I was quiet. My friends
were waiting for me to say something. When Nicole and Dannie
finally figured out that I might not speak for a while, they turned
to John.

John sighed. “Apparently,
a certain Ryder Woodson does not work here. Never has. No one knew
him.”

“
So, what was he doing
behind the bar then?”

“
No one knew Ryder
Woodson. However, a certain
Ryder Van
Woodsen
seems to be so important around
here, only the manager can talk to you once you mention his name,”
John replied.

“
How could it be the same
guy?” I asked in disbelief.

“
He did say that Mr. Van
Woodsen’s name is also
Ryder
. And he also has black hair
and green eyes,” John said. He chuckled. “Wow! He must have been so
taken with you to agree to pretend to be your date that night. No
wonder he didn’t take a penny from your ten grand!”

I stared at John. “It
can’t be!”

“
Ash, wasn’t he
introducing himself at that party as Ryder Van Woodsen?” Nicole
asked.

I nodded.

“
He what?” John
asked.

“
He was telling everybody
that his name was Ryder Van Woodsen. So much so, that whenever Ash
introduced him as Ryder Woodson, he corrected her every time,”
Nicole said.

“
If that guy you
introduced to us really is Ryder Van Woodsen, then he isn’t just a
bartender here, sweetheart,” John said. “He doesn’t work here.
Apparently, he owns this place.”

I knew it by
then.

It was the only
explanation for everything. From the checks that he returned to me,
to the car that he was driving, to the ease and grace that he had
when he was talking to my relatives about business and assuring
them that he could get them a table at a famous Manhattan
restaurant, to the very expensive room that he rented that night,
to the ring on my finger.

He must have thought this
was a joke! He introduced himself to everybody except me! He gave
his real name to everybody, but to me he gave a fake
name!

“
I… can’t believe
this!”

“
Wow!” Dannie breathed.
“You didn’t make up the perfect guy that night. You really had him.
He was the real deal.”

“
So, the story that you
thought was real was the actual sham? And the fake story that you
were telling your relatives that night was really the
truth?”

“
Apparently so. Except for
us. We were a sham.”

“
No you weren’t,” Nicole
said. “You said you didn’t pretend right? He said that too. Just
think that you had a one day relationship with Ryder Van
Woodsen.”

“
Yeah. And having this
ring makes me feel like a… prostitute. Like
he
paid for my company!”

“
You should only feel that
way if you went to bed with him.” Dannie muttered.

I made a big mistake after
that! I blushed to the roots of my hair so fast that I had no time
to pretend otherwise.

“
Oh my God!” Nicole
breathed.

“
Oh my God!” Dannie almost
shrieked.

John looked away and took
a gulp of his beer.

I covered my face with my
hands. “Shit! I’m going to kill him when I see him
again!”

“
Why? I thought you said…”
Nicole started.

“
I said a lot of things, I
believed a lot of things!” I muttered. “That didn’t stop Bryan and
Geena from hurting me beyond belief!”

Dannie and Nicole fell
silent.