Chapter 18
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
QUIN
It nearly killed me to leave Dimitri standing in the auction room, but we all had our parts to play, and I was supposed to be schmoozing Dasselaar’s guests in the ballroom, pretending the painting hanging in the gallery meant nothing to me.
The big bear shifter bodyguard with the heavy scar on his face gave me a menacing look as I slipped from the auction room. He touched his ear and said something I couldn’t hear over the din in the hallway as the door closed behind me.
“I don’t like that guy.” Felix was back in my ear, the comm fully functional again.
“Me neither.” I plucked a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and waded back into the fray. The wealthiest from the upper echelons of shifter society were in attendance, and I recognized a number of faces from the profiles Felix and Julius had put together. A man I’d done business with before was tucked into a group of people across the room, and I was about to make my way that direction when a tug on my sleeve grabbed my attention.
“Mr. Hunter?” It was a female voice, and I turned to find an elegantly dressed older woman in a Valentino dress I recognized from this year’s runway collection.
“That voice is familiar. Who is that?” Cal asked over the comms.
“Azzura Scivolo.” Felix’s response echoed in my ear.
“What is she doing there? Was she on the list?” Cal sounded confused.
Felix responded as I reached out a hand.
“Yes, I’m Quin Hunter. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You are?”
She took my hand in a confident shake. “Azzura Scivolo.” She glanced over my shoulder, and her eyes narrowed. “Do you dance, Mr. Hunter?”
Something was up. I got the feeling she knew something I didn’t, so I inclined my head. “I do, Ms. Scivolo. Would you care to join me?” I offered my arm and she took it and let me lead her out to the dance floor.
Once we were safely ensconced in the crowd, she leaned in close. “Where is your brother?”
“My brother?”
“Yes. Cal. I met him almost two weeks ago in Venice. He was looking for The Evolution of Man .”
“He’s not here tonight.”
She smirked. “He’s not here as in present in this room, but he is here.”
“Ask her about her great-granddaughter,” Cal said in my ear.
“How is your new great-granddaughter?”
The question made Scivolo light up. “She is well. Healthy and happy. Tell your brother I appreciate him asking.”
I nodded, acknowledging the request. “Was there something you needed, Ms. Scivolo?”
She scanned the crowd again, then pushed me into a slow turn. “Be careful, Mr. Hunter. There are sharks in the water, and they smell blood.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I used to know your grandmother well, and I know what The Evolution of Man meant to her career as an art thief. I met your brother in Venice and now here you are. I can only assume your other brothers are here as well, and if that is the case, then I know what you are planning to do.”
“I’m here on my own merit, networking with potential new clients.”
She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You and I both know better than that.” She turned us again, so I was looking at a vaguely familiar face I couldn’t quite place. “I am merely providing a word of caution. There is more afoot than you think tonight. Be careful, and tell Cal and Jack to proceed with caution as well. If I know Juno, she trained you to rely on stealth and cunning, making you gentlemen thieves, but there are others who will not hesitate to engage at gunpoint.”
Scivolo’s warning made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as the song drew to a close and I led her off the dance floor. “I will relay the message.”
“And I will help you to keep up appearances. Come with me.” With her hand still tucked into the bend of my elbow, she led me across the room to a wolf shifter. He was older, probably in his mid to late sixties, and had a rugged face with prominent features and thick gray hair. He was lean and rangy, the standard build for wolf shifters, and his dark eyes were sharp and assessing as we approached. He leaned down to kiss Scivolo on both cheeks before she directed his attention to me.
“Vlk Mazal, I would like to introduce you to Quin Hunter, one of Juno’s grandsons.”
The wolf shifter laughed, drawing the attention of several people gathered around us. “Another one? I should have known.” His accent was thicker than Scivolo’s gentle Italian lilt. “Certainly you are not still looking for the painting. It is just in the other room.” The genial smile faded from his face a moment later, and his eyes narrowed. “Ah, I see. Now that the painting has been found, you plan to recover it.”
Scivolo cut in. “Mr. Hunter here is just attempting to make some new contacts.”
“Is that so?”
I nodded. “It is.”
The wolf shifter gave me a sly smile. “Well, in this room, there are plenty of opportunities. That is part of the reason I am here myself. And to lay eyes on the painting.”
“Eyes not hands?” Scivolo gave Mazal a skeptical look.
“Only my eyes. Just like you. Stealing it now would paint too big a target on my back. Besides, the problem with that piece has always been that once you acquire it, it is impossible to move. That is not something I am interested in. I’ve moved on to more lucrative pursuits.”
“He’s running guns.” Cal filled in the blank through the comm.
“That’s not half as bad as some of the people in that room.” Felix’s words were punctuated by the sound of his fingers flying across the keyboard. “Warlords, cartel members, weapons manufacturers, both legit and not so much. Mazal is just helping them move their merch.”
I tuned out the conversation in my ear and refocused on Scivolo and Mazal.
“I understand we are in similar businesses, Mr. Mazal. I, too, specialize in moving certain things outside the normal logistics channels.”
He scrutinized me from under his thick brows. “Then let me introduce you to some of the men I know. Maybe you can help them get into new markets.”
Scivolo nodded, then patted my arm again and moved away from us.
“Did your grandmother send you?” Mazal asked when she walked away, then he shook his head. “No, don’t tell me.” He gestured toward a group of men standing in the open doorway leading out to a veranda. “I respect Juno, which is why I didn’t kill your brother and his mate when they paid me a visit in Czechia, and it’s why I will help you tonight. I have several men on standby outside. If you have need of them, they are at your service.”
“I appreciate that, but like I told Ms. Scivolo, I’m just here to network.”
Mazal nodded like he didn’t believe me. “Fine. Then I shall help you with that too. Perhaps you and your brothers will remember this should I need your assistance in the future.”
“We will.”
Mazal nodded and held out his hand, sealing the deal with a handshake. I hoped he never had cause to call in the favor.
He took me around the room, introducing me to a host of his acquaintances and colleagues as Felix ticked off their crimes in my ear. Mazal and I parted ways, and I stopped to look at the time and grab another glass of champagne to keep my hands busy and to look like I was simply enjoying the party.
I really wanted to go back to the auction room to find Dimitri, but while I’d been working my way around the room with Mazal, I hadn’t spotted our host anywhere, which meant he was still entertaining his guests in the auction room. My mind was firmly on Dimitri and mentally running through the plan to get him out of the estate, so I didn’t notice that someone had come to stand by me until he cleared his throat.
“Where is Juno?”
It wasn’t the first time someone had asked about my grandmother that evening. Her reputation preceded her, and apparently her grandsons were one of the worst-kept secrets in the art world.
I was still trying to place the older gentleman’s face. He seemed so familiar.
“I’m sorry?”
“Did she send you in her place?”
Something about this man raised my hackles. He was too direct, and there was something cold in his tone. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m here as Mr. Dasselaar’s guest.”
“You mean to tell me that The Evolution of Man resurfaces after two decades, and Juno Hunter isn’t interested enough to make the trip to Amsterdam to see it? She had us traipsing all over the globe hunting for that painting.”
The stranger’s identity snapped into focus then. Age had weathered Constantine Yang’s face, but the panda shifter was still handsome. He’d been part of my grandmother’s crew for a long time until he broke out on his own. It had been more than a decade and a half since I’d seen him at our house in Seattle before their last job.
“She’s retired, Con.”
The older man’s eyes almost hit his hairline before his expression resettled. “So am I, but I’m still here.”
“What can I say? Juno had a conflicting engagement.”
Con scoffed, the sound almost cruel. “I find that hard to believe.”
Before I could respond or make an excuse to extricate myself from the uncomfortable conversation, Dasselaar waltzed into the room and into the middle of the dance floor.
“Attention, everyone.” He waited a beat until the room quieted. “Final bidding for the auction begins now. We will be closing the lots in fifteen minutes.”
Con moved with the crowd toward the ballroom door, but I hung back, letting traffic flow around me like I was a rock in a river.
This was it.
It was time to save my mate.