Ha. I’d backed off because I was so shocked at what Gordon had revealed.
“All those paintings together are worth one or two million, max,” I said. “That’s a lot of money in my book—”
“And mine,” Roux added grimly.
“—but hardly enough for Gordon to call a nest egg.”
“Whereas a Monet would let him gild his entire nest in gold and diamonds,” Roux guessed.
“Exactly.Ifthat is what’s hidden behind my dad’s painting.”
We mulled it over all the way to Henrik’s, then paused outside his door. My eyes wandered to the rooftop deck, and I sighed.
“Guess two places I’d rather be right now.”
He grinned. “At home in Auberre?”
I nodded and jerked a thumb upward. “Or up there with you.” I worked up the nerve to face him. “You think we might find time to get up there again soon?”
His eyes heated, and he blew out a long breath. “No place I would rather be.”
I was just leaning in for a kiss when Mina and Marius entered the stairwell below.
I could have wailed. Roux looked ready to claw the nearest wall. He brushed a kiss over my knuckles, whispering, “Save that thought for later.”
Shortly after, everyone squeezed into Henrik’s living room. Bene, Marius, and I sat on the couch, while Mina sat on the floor, leaning against Marius’s legs. Henrik took an armchair, and Roux paced the perimeter of the room.
I started things off with the most urgent question.
“What happened? How did you lose track of the painting?”
“We followed the deliverymen as far as the Seine, where they loaded it onto a speedboat,” Mina said bitterly. “We found a place to shift and followed from overhead, but we lost them when they entered the network of covered canals.”
My stomach churned at the thought of my father’s painting being tossed around by strangers — not to mention the risk Mina and Marius had taken by shifting and flying in broad daylight.
“What about Anatole?” Roux asked Henrik.
The vampire leaned back in a plush armchair, sipping red wine.
“Anatole went directly to Alexandre Ernaux,” he reported with distaste.
If I could have mustered the energy for humor, I might have found some in the idea of a vampire spying on a vampire who worked for yet another vampire.
“How did Gordon react when you told him Alexandre Ernaux is involved?” Henrik asked.
“That caught him by surprise, but he was more concerned about the mystery buyer.”
“Well, I’m concerned too,” Mina grumbled.
I knew how she felt. Was our father’s painting lost forever?
“How did reporting to Gordon go?” Bene asked.
“Oh, you know,” I sighed. “He was his usual sweet, understanding self.”
Roux snorted but didn’t expand. He didn’t really have to. Everyone knew Gordon well enough to fill in the blanks.
“On the plus side,” he said, “Gen made a major breakthrough.”
