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Bryce avoided Kira most of Saturday morning, and now it was time to get ready for the auction. The nearness of the last twenty-four hours had gotten the best of him.
Kira deserved someone who would love her without making her be something she wasn’t. And now was not the time to explore how much he wanted to be that person. He needed to get his head in the mission. Tonight was going to be a big night. He’d distracted himself by spending the day scouring the internet for information on the Amber Room. The theories, the myths, the legends.
Lost in research, he hadn’t realized it was almost time to leave for the art auction, and he hurried to shower and dress. He donned one of his finer suits and headed downstairs to wait in the living room for Kira.
This isn’t a date. This isn’t a date.
The mantra beat a steady rhythm through his mind.
He stood in front of the picture window in the living room and watched the rain drizzle. He swiped his hands across his suit pants. If this wasn’t a date, then why was he so nervous around Kira?
The illegal auction would take place at the same time as the advertised event. Art connoisseurs, billionaires, aristocrats, and diplomats would converge to bid on the priceless works of art, acting like they belonged in the legitimate auction. They might even drop a few bids to keep up the ruse.
And he’d be there—right in the middle of the action. This was their big break.
Footsteps turned his attention to the stairs. Kira glided down and he forgot to breathe. This stunning woman didn’t resemble the Kira he’d first met—the one with the leather jacket and a chip on her shoulder. This version of the same woman held a different kind of confidence.
Her long silky black dress flowed with each step. From the black heels to the dangling sparkly pendant that graced her neck, Kira appeared like a socialite who would blend in nicely with the art patrons. And he couldn’t rip his eyes from her.
She hit the landing at the bottom of the stairs and twirled. “What do you think? Adequate?”
Heat rushed up his neck and he willed the color to dissipate. “Way more than adequate.” The word exquisite popped into his mind and he clamped his mouth shut. “More than adequate, Katrina Beckett.” He shot her a wink, and a knock at the door broke their eye contact. Bryce headed to open it. “I hope you don’t mind. I hired a limo for the evening.”
She clicked her tongue. “You spare no expense, especially on someone else’s dime.”
He offered his arm to her and escorted her out to the waiting limo driver, who was also an undercover agent. Several agents would be strategically stationed outside the gallery in case things went sideways.
Their chauffeur held the door open and ushered Kira into the back seat, then went around to the other side to assist Bryce. They settled into the expansive seat of the limo. The driver looked through the partition separating the front from the back. “I’ll close this so you can have some privacy, but I’ve swept this entire vehicle for listening devices and you’re good. We have a car that will follow us in case there are any signs of trouble.”
Bryce nodded his appreciation. He studied the fascinating woman beside him. Tonight, she was all business. Last night, he’d broken through her armor, uncovering the real Kira, only to have her walls rebuilt and reinforced today.
She got down to business, laser focused on being the version of herself that the situation called for. “Who do you think we’ll be bidding against in the auction?”
“I’ve spent the better part of the day reviewing the high rollers of the art world. Alex will most likely be bidding on the piece on behalf of his supposed client.”
“Unless Sophia and Alex are behind this secret society. Maybe there isn’t a client. It might be a ruse to get in the country on a work visa.”
Bryce tapped on his phone to pull up the notes he’d taken. “Good point. There are other art benefactors that may make an appearance.”
Kira pulled out her phone and placed it between them on the seat, as if they needed some invisible buffer between the two of them. His suit made him hot, but the heat had more to do with the woman sitting next to him than the ambient temperature inside the car.
This is not a date.
“Let’s call Everly,” Kira said. “I asked her to research a few of the big art collectors and track flights and travel arrangements to see if any of them are in town. They may want to bid on Zaika, especially if it’s connected to a bigger treasure.”
She hit a button and Everly picked up on the first ring.
“Everly, we’re in a fancy limo on our way to the art auction, and I wanted to see if you found a copy of the invitation list.”
A few clicks of a keyboard and Everly spoke. “I was able to get a master invitation list from the gallery, and we can assume some of the attendees will cross over into the backdoor auction.” She cleared her throat. “We have several international dignitaries flying in for this event. The legitimate auction has a lot of expensive and rare pieces being sold. Based on what you told me about the code, I think Bryce is right, and when the auctioneer announces the eighth item, that’s the signal for those attending the underground auction to make haste.”
Bryce sank back into the plush leather seat as she continued. “Now, you asked about the attendee list. We can’t confirm that these people received invitations to the second auction, but I would suspect you might find a few of these people in attendance.”
Bryce opened his notes app to jot down the info as Everly read the list. “We have Chen Liwei, a private billionaire collector from China. Some startup tech company owner. Rumored to own an original van Gogh. Next is a prince from Saudi Arabia named Samir Al-Fulan. He backs some up-and-coming artist with work for sale in the auction. But that might just be the cover Samir needs to get in.”
Everly read a few more names. Most were from Italy, Spain, and some Middle Eastern countries. A few were American collectors who Bryce hadn’t encountered before.
“Julianne Bishop is an American collector from New York,” Everly said. “Steer clear of her, because she has the biggest potential to blow your cover. According to the information I found, she knows everyone in the art world. But it’s rumored on the dark web that she’s got millions of dollars of stolen art in her collection.”
