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I wanted her to sit with me, but had to satisfy myself by sitting in the front row of the auction room in a spot where I could watch her backstage. She was buzzing around still, making sure everything was just so before we started. And then, the auctioneer was walking out to the podium, and the first book in the series was set out for display.
The crowd truly was enormous, filling every seat and the back half of the aisles. My men mingled with them. If anything happened, I would be able to give orders to them instantly, despite the crowds and noise.
It was fifteen minutes into the auction when I realized three things. One, book auctions were so sedate as to be almost boring. Two, Boris was watching me more than the crowd. And three, I probably would have been having trouble staying awake were it not for Olivia.
Every glimpse of her was like a bright spark in my mind, giving me focus despite the sleepy proceedings. Just a flutter of deep purple silk, the flash of her sweet, pale face and white shoulders, that rich spill of red hair, and I was alert again, looking her way with an eagerness that reminded me of the crushes of my youth.
It amused me to realize that I was this preoccupied with her. First, the watch I had sat outside her apartment out of fear someone would disturb her, and now straining for glimpses of her backstage like it was the only reason I was here.
I wanted her again. No, scratch that. I always wanted her, but it grew unbearable as I struggled to sit there seriously and keep an ear out for any word from my men.
I wanted to make her want me just as much. I wanted to make her beg for it again. And after that I wanted ordinary. Breakfast together. And finally, the chance to meet my son.
I would talk to her afterward, I decided, and not just for business. Unless she had to watch my boy this evening, I wanted her with me. In my arms.
I snapped myself out of it just as a first edition set of Mark Twain’s stories went on the block. I had almost kept it for myself, but realized I already had one in better condition in my library. My own book collection had grown larger than my uncle’s, thanks to the few dozen volumes of his I hadn’t owned. Sometimes, it took me a minute to keep straight what I had already collected.
I was watching the bid paddles go up as the auctioneer pointed around when Boris leaned over and murmured in my ear, “One of the guys is checking out a car that just pulled into the alley next to this place. They’re just sitting there and letting the engine run.”
I frowned and checked my earpiece. It was on. I took it out and fiddled with it, and discovered the spiraled cord that ran down into my collar had come slightly loose from the earpiece. I fixed the situation, swearing under my breath. I had been listening to dead air for almost twenty minutes while something had been brewing outside.
“Going to need to find a better design for these things,” I muttered as I switched the earpiece back on.
At once, the radio crackled with voices speaking Russian.
“I’m heading in. Got my gun drawn but I’m hiding it by my leg. Looks like there’s only two guys in the car.” The main voice was a hoarse whisper in my ear. “Might be Puerto Rican. Not sure in this shitty lighting.”
“Don’t start shit unless you have to,” I advised firmly. “Are they responding to you?”
“They’re just sitting there ignoring everything. Looks like they might be waiting for something.” Mikhail’s voice sounded low and tense, like he was expecting trouble.
I didn’t like this one bit. It felt like there was something very strange and potentially dangerous going on back there. “Get a photo of the plates,” I advised. If doing that didn’t get them some kind of negative attention, the people in the car were just oblivious bystanders.
“Yeah, doing that now.” A second later, I heard a scuffle followed by a staticky click.
“Mikhail?” I asked sharply. It sounded like his signal had just been cut off. But then I realized all of them were. The voices in my ear had completely stopped. Boris frowned and tapped his earpiece beside me.
I turned to him. “Take two of our guys and check out what’s going on back there. I think someone might be jamming us, and if they are, I’ll bet the gear is in that car.”
He gave me a startled look I couldn’t fully read, and then nodded. “I’ll do that.” Then he got up and sidled to the edge of the aisle, looming over each person as he passed them with an awkwardly apologetic smile.
I checked my connection again, then swore under my breath. If they were jamming us successfully, they had to know what frequency we used. If that was true, they were getting inside information from somewhere.
How the hell could I give orders now? Not easily. I scowled, then checked my cellphone. No signal. Not one single bar. Whoever was jamming our mics had thought of that too. I wondered how long it would be before the civilians realized their own phones were down.
The thought of that led straight to the thought of Olivia, and immediately I knew I had to protect her. If something was happening, I had a duty to keep it from slopping over and harming her.
They were after me. I’ll leave and draw them away. She could handle selling things without me watching.If I did this right, she would never even know that danger had been knocking on her door.
I set my jaw and stood, excusing myself down the row of seats until I got to the side aisle. I stepped out into the open, letting any of my men left in the crowd see me. Then I slipped out through a side door.
The service corridors surrounding the auction floor were deserted save for a few guards. They walked around, spread so thin that I easily slipped past them and headed for the side exit. But before I could quite reach it, my attention was caught by quick, light footsteps coming down the corridor, accompanied by the soft rustle of silk.
Olivia appeared, a worried look on her face as she looked around for me. I emerged from the shadows, and she jumped. “Sorry,” I murmured, but I couldn’t find my smile under the circumstances.
“That’s all right. Look, you left suddenly, and all our radios are down. Cellphones too. What’s going on?”
I opened my mouth to reassure her that I had no idea, and then decided she needed to know. “Someone’s parked a car in the side alleyway that probably has a jammer in it. I have enemies. They must have learned of the auction and decided it was a good time to try to take me out.”
