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“I enjoy having…lots of friends. Then I like to find new friends.”
Daisy’s nose wrinkled. “Macy is daddy’s girlfriend, and I love her. I don’t want him to find a new girlfriend.”
“Not going to happen, short stuff.” Colt leaned over and kissed the top of Macy’s head.
The blonde smacked his chest. “Better not, big guy, or there’ll be trouble.”
“Your daddy and Macy are in love,” I told Daisy. “I don’t fall in love.” I ruffled her hair. “I just like to have fun. Besides, I’m too busy. I have all my businesses to look after.”
I felt my brothers watching me. I disliked the attention.
“I’m attending an art auction tomorrow. There’s a new painting up for grabs. Plus, I have a planned expansion of my winery. Renovation of my new resort. And I’ve got a big merger with a real estate company in California on the horizon.”
“Always a new deal,” Dante said.
“Yes.”
“That sounds boring,” Daisy said.
I smiled and tickled her neck. It wasn’t boring to me. I’d never again have nothing. Never again have no money, no security, no safety.
Nor would my family.
I’d always protect them the best way I knew how.
9
LONDON
Iscribbled some notes on my tablet, then checked the search I’d been running on art sales in the New Orleans area.
With a huff, I sat back in my office chair. The problem was so much was anonymous or not made public. I needed to see Brennan Auction Gallery’s sales records, and not just the tiny sample George had slipped me. Problem was, I didn’t have enough to get a warrant.
I remembered the fear leaking off George. Was someone really after him?
I shook my head, just as my computer pinged. When I looked at the screen, my spine straightened.
There was another auction tonight at Brennan. Tonight.
Excitement flickered through me. I was going to be there.
Rising, I headed out of my office. Two of my fellow agents sat in one of the conference rooms, the screen on the wall behind them filled with information. The table was littered with papers and empty coffee mugs.
I popped my head in. “Hi. How’s it going with the list?” They were trying to track what had happened to the art on the list George had given me.
“Slowly,” Toby Myers said. He was a good agent, who’d been trying to ask me out. He was cute, in a clean-cut, boy-next-door kind of way, but I didn’t date fellow agents.
“We’re working through it,” Amy said. “There are a lot of private collectors. It’s not easy to see what they did with the art they purchased. Could just be on the walls in their homes.”
“Or, shipped off to a tax haven, and sold again to launder dirty money,” Toby said.
I sighed and leaned against the door frame. “Keep on it. Prioritize anyone we know who is attending the auction tonight.”
Amy’s head shot up. “There’s an auction tonight?”
“Yes. And I’ll be attending.”
“You need me to come with you?” Toby asked.
