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“Whatever. Same difference to me. Where were they last seen?”
“I have no clue.”
Ryland began to walk away, but she quickly continued. “No one knows. The museum has had this one since it was donated by a private collector.”
“When?”
“Oh, a really long time ago. I wasn’t even working for the museum. I wasn’t evenbornyet. It’s been a long time.”
“Can you find out who gave the piece and when?”
“What’s in it for me?” She tried to flirt with him, to tap his arm, but Ryland stepped out of her way.
What the fuck was wrong with him?Usually, he didn’t mind Arabella’s flirting half as much. Now, it just felt wrong and made him terribly angry.
It’s because you met your mate, his wolf insisted.That’s the only woman you can want now. The only woman.
He shuddered at the thought, but Arabella misunderstood. Her face fell. “Or not.”
“Look, Arabella, I’m not actually in the market for a relationship right now.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize you were with someone.”
“Me either,” he grumbled. “But can you give me that information or not?”
She gave a tight nod before unlocking the office door that had closed behind her. Ryland followed her as she went to sit at her desk and turned the computer on. He paced the floor until she pointed to the screen. “The vase was donated by Luigi Bonetti in 1962.”
“Bonetti?” Something rattled in his brain. “Why does that name sound so familiar?”
“The Bonetti family were once New York royalty. I bet if they were still around, they would be giving you Wolvertons a run for your money. His wife, Lorenza, was a lot like your mother. A lot of charitable work. A lot of balls and soirees.”
“What happened to them?”
Arabella frowned. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. You could always ask your mother. She knows everything about everyone.”
“Hmm. And what about the three other vases? The ones no one can find. Whatever happened to those?”
“It would be impossible to find them after all this time. They probably got destroyed. Fell and broke. Sank to the bottom of the ocean on a ship. There’s no way to know.”
“Thanks,” Ryland grumbled. This wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear.
Arabella stood and hesitated for a second before she said, “I can keep looking into it if you want?”
Ryland bit the inside of his cheek. He guessed that Arabella was only offering her help because she wanted to please him. It wasn’t fair to her, but he needed the information.
“If you don’t mind,” he replied in as severe a tone as he could manage.
She smiled at him, and he knew he was the world’s biggest asshole.
There was no chance for Arabella. Not now that Ryland had met his mate.
“You need to tighten security, Arabella. The vases seem to be targeted by a thief. A very dangerous thief. I’m sending some of our guards over to double-check everything. We’ll also post a few of our people around the place until this matter is resolved.”
“Oh,” she cooed. “Thanks for caring, Ryland.”
“I’m not doing it for you,” he said under his breath as he left.
The trouble was, he didn’t knowwhohe was doing it for, but his heart knew.
