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“You can handle a littlestress after all,” Rafe says.
I release a ragged breath.
He kisses my temple. “Don’t forget to thank your Master.”
It’s not enough that he already gets to dictate what I can or can’t do; I have to consider him my “Master” too? But I don’t want to be ungrateful for my orgasms or rile him up, so I thank him.
“Thank you, Sir.”
James wheels in lunch just as Rafe and I get out of the pool. I wrap a towel around me while Rafe gestures for us to sit at the table with a view of the vineyards. It’s such a pretty setting. I’m lucky and unlucky at the same time.
James sets the table. “Asparagus bisque, fennel salad with Densuke watermelon, and mac and cheese with truffles and Kurobuta bacon.”
“Do you eat like this every day?” I ask.
“No,” Rafe replies as James pours the wine. “The Densuke watermelon, from Japan, is grown in limited supply. I believe competition once drove the price up to six thousand per melon.”
“Dollars?!”
“Yes, or about six hundred and eighty thousand yen.”
I dig into the salad. “This is the best watermelon I’ve ever tasted. Still, if I had six thousand dollars to spare, I don’t know that I would spend it on watermelon. And I love watermelon.”
“What would you spend it on?”
“If my mom’s healthcare costs were taken care of, as well as our living expenses, I would put it toward college tuition.”
“What if college was taken care of?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never thought beyond that. I mean, it’d be like asking what I would do if I won the lottery, and the chances of me winning the lottery are slim to none, so I don’t waste my time dreaming about it.”
“Dream now. Imagine you have the Morelli and could sell it for sixteen million dollars. What would you do with the money?”
I think aloud, “Buy a house, maybe. Or get a car.”
“You don’t have a car?”
“I like living in the city, so I don’t need a car.”
“What else?”
“I’d save the money.”
“What would you splurge on? For yourself?”
“Maybe a trip. To see all of Monet’s most famous paintings.”
Rafe smiles. “Good one.”
“You said your family lost everything in the war. Did you imagine you’d end up with all of this?”
“I did. I knew I’d climb the ranks of the triad. I knew I would own an original Degas and more. There’s only one thing missing from my collection.”
“Another work by Artemisia Gentileschi?”
His eyes take on a steel-like quality. “The jade figurine of Madam Yang.”
“Ah. The one that’s going to be part of the museum exhibit?”
