“I can,” Mina grumbled.
Marius and I exchanged knowing glances, and my inner tiger growled.
Poor Gen. I could relate to her sense of betrayal. But in my case, it was the military that had let me down. Well, not all of it, just commanders who didn’t like subordinates asking difficult questions about ethics, boundaries, and limits.
Idiots,my tiger snarled.
But I was an idiot too, because I’d missed my chance to tell Gordon where he could stick that €25,000 bonus he’d offered. I didn’t need a reward to protect Gen. I just needed for her to be safe.
“How much would that missing Monet be worth?” Bene asked.
Gen looked at her sister. “Millions?”
Mina nodded. “Hundreds of millions, if it’s sold publicly.”
Eyebrows shot up, and I, for one, tried to imagine how many zeroes that meant, and what number might appear in front of them.
“What about on the black market?” Marius asked.
“Maybe ‘only’ tens of millions, likeThe Tower of Blue Horses.” Mina shook her head bitterly.
Gen looked a touch jealous. I could relate, because if I had missed such a rare, once-in-ten-lifetimes opportunity to see a lost painting like that Franz Marc, I would have regretted it forever.
On the other hand, not even a long-lost masterpiece was worth the danger and intrigue we’d survived in London.
“Tens of millions would make a suitable nest egg for someone like Gordon,” Henrik observed.
I found myself speculating how much money Henrik had. A vampire his age had had centuries to amass a fortune. He’d probably lost a few fortunes along the way too, but he was smart enough to bounce back from his mistakes.
“So sad,” Mina murmured, reading about the painting.
Everyone looked up, and she explained. “Max Liebermann, the German Jewish painter, bought that Monet. When he died, his art collection passed to his wife, Martha. Not long after, the Nazis confiscated her villa and most of her property. She committed suicide on the eve of her deportation to a concentration camp.”
A somber hush fell over the room.
“The contents of her apartment in Berlin were seized, and the painting was never seen again,” Mina finished, pursing her lips.
“Did Dad ever make a trip to Berlin?” Gen asked quietly.
“I’m not sure. But the painting could have been moving through the black market for years.”
I stared off into the distance. So many tragedies tied to one artwork painted in a peaceful garden in another era. What would Monet think about all that?
“So…next steps?” Bene asked.
Claim our mate,my inner beast urged.That way, we stay with her forever and protect her.
I swallowed hard. I was all for protecting Gen. And the longer we spent together, the harder it was to deny thematepart. But right now…
Focus, dammit!I snapped at my inner tiger.Her life could depend on it.
The beast settled down, but it wouldn’t stop snarling.
“Well, we need to work out where the painting is now,” Mina said.
“And we need to figure out how all this connects to Claudette’s murder,” Gen added fiercely.
Clearly, we weren’t as dissimilar as I’d once thought when it came to principles. But I hoped to hell Gen wouldn’t pay a high price for sticking to them, as I had.
