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“Yeah,”I reply, my voice growing distant as I choke out a nervous laugh. “Funny.”
* * *
It’s notdark yet when I get back to the apartment, so I decide to go up to the roof to decompress after my first day on the job. I’m exhausted, but also exhilarated, and my mood is miles away from how it was this morning. The hard work doesn’t bother me. It’s worth it to be able to do what I’ve dreamt of doing for so long. As I admire the view of London below, I can’t help but feel strangely at home here, like things are finally falling into place against all odds. Maybe this will work out for me, after all.
But my reverieis interrupted when a text comes in from Dad:Word on the street is the Sterling Gallery gave you the job. Anything to report?
I frowndown at my phone for a minute, debating holding back, but ultimately give in and type out,Someone named Eddie Sullivan bought a painting recently. Don’t know the details yet.
I hesitate,and then fire off the text just as a familiar husky voice brings me back to the present. “Taking in the view?”
Theo is fartherout on the terrace, his hands in his pockets as he gazes out over the lights and buildings and traffic.
“Sure am,”I reply. “You?”
Theo doesn’t respond right away.He approaches me slowly, his eyes scanning the cityscape as he moves closer. “It’s strange,” he says, “seeing the city like this. You’d think I’d be used to the view, but every time I come up here, it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time. I’ve spent so much time here, and yet…”
“That’swhat happens when you’ve been away,” I tell him. “You always see things differently when you come back.”
“That’s it, I think,”Theo says. He stops beside me, hands still in his pockets, and stands there in silence, watching the sun go down on the horizon. He looks beautiful in the golden light, and I long for him to come closer, to touch me, but he doesn’t move, and neither do I. “I keep thinking about the life I have. The things I’ve done...” Theo trails off, his eyes fixed on the city, his jaw tensing.
“What sorts of things?”I ask, leaning on the railing to watch him.
Theo turnsto me with an eyebrow raised. “The kinds of things you don’t share in polite company.”
I snort.“I wouldn’t exactly consider myself ‘polite company,’ Theo.”
He chucklesfrom deep in his chest, seeming to come back to himself. “Speaking of polite company,” he says, “or not-so-polite, as the case may be... How did it go with Sterling today?”
A rushof excitement goes through me as the events of the day come flooding back. “I got the job,” I exclaim. “Sterling gave me the job.”
“That’s fantastic,”Theo says, breaking into a broad grin that makes my insides melt. “They’re lucky to have you, kid.”
“I couldn’t have doneit if you hadn’t pushed me to,” I tell him earnestly. “Thank you, Theo.”
“You’re welcome,”he replies, looking like an angel in the sunlight, and for a moment I want to kiss him, and to hell with everything else.
But instead,I turn back to face the vista.
“So how wasyour first day, then?” Theo asks, and I can feel his eyes on me.
“Good,”I reply. “Intense... but good. There was this one painting that was…” I shake my head, at a loss for words. “Exquisite. A genuine Robert Schaeffer. One of his earlier pieces, I think. The kind of thing I always loved, all the way back in art school. Part of me wanted to buy it, but...” I snap my mouth shut, aware that I’m straying back into dangerous territory.
“What is it?”Theo asks, moving closer to me in the fading light.
“Someone already bought it,”I explain, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. “Does the name Eddie Sullivan ring any bells?”
Theo chuckles,but there’s something dark in it. “Yeah,” he says, running a hand through his shaggy hair. “It does. Sullivan’s one of m... one of ours.”
My heart sinks.That explains it, then. “I take it he’s a... what, a high-level operator?” I ask.
“In a manner of speaking, yeah,”Theo says. He isn’t looking at me anymore. “He’s a bit of a loose cannon. Doesn’t like answering to anyone. My dad brought him into the organization back in the nineties, and he’s never really straightened out. I think he’s just got a soft spot for him.”
“You don’t sound veryhappy about that,” I say.
“I’m not,”Theo says, and leaves it at that as his gaze sweeps over the world below. The sun has gone down, and darkness is quickly falling over the city. “The syndicate’s still suffering from a lot of the plays my father made back in the day.” His expression goes hard.
“So whywereyou away?”I ask, suddenly needing a change of subject.
