Love's Redemption (Chris and Maddie)

Chapter 823

I rolled my eyes so hard they almost got stuck. Hayden really had way too much time on his hands. Decorating an urn and stashing a data sync device in a jewelry box? Was this some kind of cosmic joke? Then again, maybe he'd done it to throw people off-make them think it was just a random trinket and not something insanely valuable.

"What the hell is this?" Cole snapped, reaching for the box.

I smacked his hand away. "Chill, Drago. What's the rush? Don't you afraid there's a scorpion inside or something?"

He gave me an annoyed side-eye. "Just open it already. Hayden's brain must be a circus to come up with this nonsense."

Ignoring him, I pulled the tiny red box from its fluffy nest of white feathers.

It was way too light. No way it held the device.

Still, I flipped it open-and, of course, my eyes nearly popped out of my head.

"A ring?" Cole said, his voice somewhere between disbelief and irritation.

the size of that rock, it could probably pay off a

high-tech matching rings, and

before I could, holding it

the jewelry box itself, poking around

was flipping the ring over, inspecting it like a jeweler on a mission. When that turned up nothing, he

replaced with a stormy

its contents onto the ground, sifting through the mess

with a growl, he kicked the urn

refused to give

Chapter 823

+25 BONUS

into jagged shards. But even broken into pieces, it revealed no hidden compartments, no secrets. Cole's fists clenched at his sides, the tension rolling

Almost.

had no choice but to accept the truth, no matter how much

me the