My heart glows. “I’ve missed you too.”
He presses the accelerator, and the car speeds forward, and he smirks at the road ahead. “And because I’m Damiano fucking Barone. I’m the chosen one.”
I roll my eyes. “Your arrogance is off the charts.”
He presses another hungry kiss to my palm. “You love it.”
As we enter the Corinthian, Damiano is greeted with a deferential, “Mr. Barone,” from a man I presume is the manager. I’m introduced as his sister, and the manager shows us up to the penthouse in the private elevator. I feel a tingle of anticipation asDamiano secretly strokes my waist behind the man’s back. Just what does my brother have planned for us in a penthouse hotel room at night?
“I will send your guests up as soon as they arrive, Mr. Barone,” he’s told, and then the man leaves us.
I turn to Damiano. “Our guests?”
With a mysterious smile, Damiano carries the briefcase into the master bedroom and beckons for me to follow him. He puts it on the bed, unlocks it, and reveals the contents. They sparkle like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s jewelry. Dozens of pieces of fine jewelry. Necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, all stunning and of high quality, and perfectly cut and mounted.
“These are beautiful,” I breathe.
“Almost as beautiful as you.”
I raise my eyes to his. “Are they stolen?”
Damiano rubs his slightly stubbled jaw, lips curving in a smile. “By the Barones? No. By the previous owner, or the one before that? Possibly. Probably. They were given to Dad by various people to pay off loans and discharge favors. Now, they can only be sold privately.”
He lifts a platinum necklace with both emerald and round-cut diamonds and fastens it around my throat. Fine jewelry. This side of the Barone crime family business is perfect for me, and Damiano has no idea how much. I didn’t just take up shooting and kickboxing as my hobbies. I wanted to go to college, but Mom refused, saying that most degrees would be a silly waste of time for me, and I should learn to cook or keep accounts. I loathe cooking, and spreadsheets make me cross-eyed, but I researched other courses. History. Literature. Art. My attention was snagged by a course in gemology and jewelry design, which needed both technical and artistic skills. I thought I could do well at it, and it seemed like something our family might value. Mom is always dripping in jewels, and because learningabout jewelry seemed harmless to her, she agreed. I don’t think Damiano ever noticed what I was studying.
I move over to a mirror and stroke the diamonds around my throat as I examine them closely. They look like VVS1 or VVS2 quality. Maybe even FL. Flawless. “Beautiful. This necklace must be worth close to two hundred thousand dollars.”
Damiano checks the notes from the briefcase, and his eyebrows lift in surprise. “That’s exactly what it’s valued at, one hundred and ninety thousand. How did you know that?”
I smile and shrug one shoulder. I’m not ready to admit how easy this is going to be for me. “A lucky guess.”
He puts the notes aside. “A dozen very rich and dangerous men will soon be arriving to bid on these jewels, but maybe tonight will be too tame for you. No exploding warehouses. No shoot-outs.”
I turn back to the case and examine the jewelry, pretending to be only mildly interested in them. “It’s fine. I presume you want me to model the jewels for these rich and dangerous men?”
“Yes. They’ll fetch an excellent price on their own, but with you modeling them, we can make the price skyrocket. If you find that insulting, I’ll understand.”
“I’m not insulted in the slightest. This is the perfect first night on the job for me.”
He smiles. “Wonderful. Be sure to stay on your guard. This is an auction, but you never know how things are going to go down.”
I step closer to my brother, put my hand inside his jacket, and feel the gun holstered under his arm. “Can I have a gun?”
He smiles down at me. “A gun doesn’t go with that outfit, my love. Some Barone soldiers will be arriving soon. We’ll protect you.”
After the warehouse explosion, I know he means it.
I can be so much more than a living jewelry stand tonight, but this is an important first step for us. I return his smile as a thrill of excitement goes through me. “Then let’s make some money.”
“The jeweler will be arriving soon, and then we can set up.”
But the jeweler doesn’t arrive, and Damiano paces up and down while he tries to reach the man on the phone. Finally, he puts his phone away with a muttered curse. “What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”
“We have the jeweler’s notes. I’ll introduce the pieces and point out what makes them special, and you can run the auction.”
Damiano thumbs through the paperwork. “I don’t know, Lucy. Some of this stuff looks complicated.”
“I can handle it,” I assure him, suppressing a smile. “Tell me in which order I should model the pieces, and I’ll remember the carats and reserve prices.”
