Wu sighs and nods at me, a gesture of defeat.
“Sold, to Nathaniel Walsh for one million dollars,” the gallerist echoes.
In the silent room, I hear Wu say quietly, “Well done, Keller.”
“Everything sold?”Maura says, gaping.
“Everything.” The gallerist beams at her. “After the auction, buyers were like crabs in a bucket trying to crawl over each other to get their hands on the rest of your work. Of course, all the formal offers have to be approved before I can say we’re officially sold out. But yes, every piece is marked as sold.”
The party is over, the lights bright in the Whitmer for the staff sweeping up. The only non-employees remaining are my wife and I.
Maura shakes her head. “This is insane, Sydney. I never expected—I mean, it’s crazy!”
“It’s not,” I add in a low voice.
“That’s right.” Sydney smiles at me. “Listen to your husband. You have real talent, Maura. I’m glad you found yourself a man who appreciates that without being threatened by it. I see that more often than not, I’m afraid.”
Maura smiles at me while Sydney continues.
“Maura will have some commission requests coming her way, and we should decide percentages if she wants to use the Whitmer as a go-between.”
“Good,” I say at the same time Maura blurts, “Commissions?”
“It’s nothing less than I expected.” Sydney pats Maura on the arm comfortingly. “Don’t worry about it for now. Just celebrate. Everything went well, and hopefully, we can put together another show in the future.”
“Okay,” Maura says. Then, apparently on impulse, she pulls Sydney into a hug. “Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome. Now go enjoy the rest of your night while we clean up.”
Taking Maura’s hand, I lead her outside into the cool air. I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her against my side. Optics, for anyone watching. “It seems your show was a success, wife. Almost every piece sold.”
She laughs. “At ridiculous prices, too. I should have known you would skew the numbers in my favor.”
“How did I do that, exactly?”
“You probably went around to the buyers, hinting at how much you thought everything was worth. You know, using your business wiles to inflate the prices.”
“Impossible. I was regrettably late, which means I wasn’t able to use mybusiness wileson anyone.”
“You could have paid people to do it for you,” she points out. “Like you paid Nate to bid for the painting.”
I snort. “I didn’t pay Nate a dime. He’s too rich to need it.”
“You know what I mean. You know how to delegate.”
I tighten my hand around her waist, pulling her harder against me. “There’s only one piece where I interfered in the price, and that’s the one I bought. The rest was real demand.”
“Still. You didn’t have to buyWarm Front.”
I turn toward her, taking her chin in her hand. I tilt her face up and force her to meet my eyes. “That painting belongs onourwall. I wasn’t about to let anyone else have it.”
Her lips part, and something soft flashes across her expression.
I lower my head to brush my lips across hers. She softens against me, her body leaning into mine as she wraps her hands around my neck. Reluctantly, I pull away.
“Not yet,” I mutter. “I can’t do half the things I want to do here. I need my wife home and in my bed. Now.”
For the entire ride home,I didn't dare touch Maura. If I started, I’d fuck her right on the backseat of the town car, or in the elevator, under the watch of Nate’s security cameras. No, if I was going to worship Maura the way I wanted to, I had to wait. From the gallery to the car to the building lobby, I use every ounce of self-control to stay patient
