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“Are you?”
“No, but that’s not the point.”
“Then it’s settled. I will have you collected from your apartment at seven. I will courier over an outfit for you to wear. Write your measurements on here.” I slide a pad over to her. “Be sure to include bust size and shoe size.”
“Why on earth do you need to know my bust size?”
“I need you to look good. It is an important event in my calendar. The outfit must fit right. No second chances. Get writing.”
She looks down at the pad and then up at me. “Why should I?”
I lean forward, letting her see a little of the darkness that I’m currently hiding behind my eyes. “You could do it because you will be doing me a favor I will not soon forget. You could do it because it ensures your friend has a leg up with her business. But mostly, I think you will do it because you don’t want to disappoint me.” I fix her in my stare and don’t look away. “Or bad things might happen.”
She gulps hard, her eyes bulging as she surrenders to my gaze. “All right,” she says in a quiet voice, writing fast on the notepad.
I smile to myself. Dominating her is going to be so satisfying. “How’s the book coming along?” I ask as I close the notepad and place it in my top drawer next to the Glock 17.
I think of the last man I killed using that gun, the begging for mercy, the screaming as he bled out on the warehouse floor. I close the drawer and the memory vanishes.
“It’s going all right. I noticed you had two of her works in the corridor. Woman in Bath and Expectations Remain.”
“Woman in Bath is my favorite. I could look at it for hours.”
“Yet it’s in the corridor and not in here.”
“I like to share.”
“It’s worth millions.”
“Thirteen point two was my winning bid if I recall correctly.”
“Aren’t you worried it might get stolen?”
I stifle a chuckle. “I’d like to meet the man who would dare attempt to steal from me. What is it you like so much about Miss Benn?”
Her face lights up. “Don’t ask me a question like that. You’ll be here all day.”
I motion for her to continue and she beams at me like she’s never had anyone to talk to about art. “I love how she started out with nothing and became like a Goddess in the art world. I love how she sees inside people and draws out their characteristics. Like in Woman in Bath.
“You can see the erotic desire in the woman’s face and in the way the water flows around her. The fading light outside represents her fading appeal to the opposite sex. Hell, I could talk about the symbolism of that piece all day but you actually own it. I can’t believe you own it. Why’d you buy it”
“I like the fact there’s a naked woman in it.”
She looks at me with her mouth open but then she points. “You almost had me there. You’re good at dead pan, you know that. I almost fell for it.”
“Ever thought about posing for her?”
She laughs. “Posing for her? I’ve never even met her. You know she only picks like two models a year. I’ve as much chance of that as I have of winning the lottery.”
“Someone has to win the lottery or it wouldn’t keep running all these years.”
She frowns at me. “Never going to happen.”
“Never say never. Be optimistic. You don’t know what fate has around the corner. Take those men who were in here before you. They came in here looking to get information from me that might get me locked up. If I said the wrong thing, I’d have ended up in handcuffs. If I had been pessimistic and believed their nonsense about the strength of their case, I might be in the back of their car right now but I’m here talking to you and you know why?”
“You bribed them?”
This time I do laugh out loud. “That’s good. I like that.”
