Chapter 9 #3
In between modeling pieces, I listen to the men talk, trying to discern their names and how they fit into Dad and Damiano’s world.
The man who is here with his mistress is called Mr. Cattaneo.
A man who’s more interested in staring at my breasts than the jewelry is Mr. Dimitriou.
He buys three necklaces and four sets of earrings for an eyewatering amount of money.
I think he’s trying to impress me, but I keep my attention averted from him as much as possible in case he gets the wrong idea.
He’s not bidding on me, he’s bidding on the jewels.
Vincenzo Vici hasn’t made one bid the entire auction, but when I finish talking the men through the amber-colored diamond earrings I’m wearing, I turn to him.
“Don Vincenzo, have you noticed that these diamonds are the same color as Adora’s eyes?
The color is very rare, and they’re known playfully as pumpkin diamonds, but I think these are closer to amber. ”
Vincenzo has been looking overwhelmed by all the talk of cuts and carats, but now he seems interested.
“Do you think my wife would like these? I want to buy her something, but I have no fucking idea what I’m doing.
” He laughs, a surprisingly good-natured laugh for such a dangerous man, and I find myself warming to him.
“I think she would love these earrings,” I tell him.
Don Vincenzo nods. A few minutes later, he makes the winning bid, and he’s the proud owner of the pumpkin diamonds.
“You know about jewels,” Mr. Cattaneo remarks.
“A little,” I say, with a modest smile.
He pats his mistress’s thigh. She’s a platinum blonde in a short skirt with very long nails. “I bought Gwynne a bracelet recently. Cost me a fortune, but I think you’ll agree that it was worth every dollar. Show it to Miss Barone, Gwynne.”
The mistress turns pale. She hesitates and then undoes the clasp on her bracelet, handing it to me with a nervous smile.
I take the piece and examine it. The bracelet has a beautiful gold setting that was made with a great deal of expense and care, but the rubies make me pause.
They’re all pinkish red instead of the classic stoplight red, and there’s not one flaw in any of them.
They’re too perfect. Type II gems like rubies often have tiny inclusions.
I cast a surreptitious glance at the mistress.
Sweat is shining on her brow, and she’s white-knuckling her hands in her lap.
From the woman’s reaction to me studying the stones, my guess is that at some point this bracelet contained authentic rubies, but someone replaced them with lab-grown stones.
Mr. Cattaneo is beaming at me, and I hate to think how his expression would change if I told him the stones are fake.
At best, he’ll dump his mistress. At worst, he might hurt her.
Ariana’s nasty warning that a woman is at a man’s mercy is ringing in my ears.
I pass the bracelet back to her with a smile. “It’s a beautiful bracelet, Mr. Cattaneo. You made an excellent purchase.”
Mr. Cattaneo looks happy, the mistress looks relieved. The mistress’s affections have no doubt been secured for a long time by the rubies she pawned.
I present the final set with extra care, speaking in detail about the marquise-cut canary diamonds haloed by round-cut clear diamonds. The set includes a necklace, earrings, ring, and bracelet. I saved the best for last.
“This set is my personal favorite,” I say, touching my fingertips to the diamonds at my throat. “Elegant, unique, and the canary diamonds are exceptional quality.”
“The lady has good taste,” Mr. Dimitriou tells me, and I give him a polite smile before looking away.
Damiano is staring at me, his mouth parted. It’s the way he looks at me when he thinks no one is watching, but right now, we’re in a room full of people. I widen my eyes at him slightly to tell him to pull himself together, but he doesn’t get the message.
“Let’s get on with it, Barone,” Cristiano prompts him when he’s been silent for several minutes. “I want to bid on these.”
Damiano looks around the room and then back at me. “There’s been a mistake. These pieces aren’t for sale.”
I frown at my brother. There was nothing in the notes about that.
“You’re kidding. Why not?” Cristiano asks.
“Because I want them for Lucy.”
Dad clears his throat. “Damiano, I told you that I want all these pieces to sell at auction tonight.”
“I know. I’ll buy them.”
I stare at my brother. Why is he doing this?
Cristiano isn’t done arguing with him. “It’s only fair to put them in the auction now we’ve seen them.”
A muscle tics in Damiano’s jaw, but he smiles at Cristiano. “Of course. The bidding starts at…?” He looks expectantly at me.
“Seventy-five thousand,” I reply.
“Thank you,” Damiano says. “I’ll make the opening bid. Two hundred thousand.”
Cristiano’s eyes flare in anger, but other than that, he’s as still as stone. The seconds tick past in silence.
Damiano glances around the room. “No other bids? Then I’ll consider myself the winner. Thank you everyone for coming tonight. I’ll have your pieces delivered to you as soon as your payments have cleared or cash has been handed over.”
I take a quick glance at Dad, wondering if he’s happy about how tonight went.
I spoke intelligently and in detail about every piece, and I was able to answer all questions.
I haven’t been keeping track of the bids, but I think we’ve made more than Damiano’s targeted three million, even without his impulsive two-hundred-thousand-dollar bid.
Dad is gripping the arms of his chair, and he looks tense and displeased, and my insides shrivel up. I know he’ll never love me like he loves Damiano, but what do I have to do to convince him I’m a valuable asset to this family? I’m starting to believe that it’s impossible.
I head back to the bedroom, and Damiano follows me.
As soon as we’re alone, like a starving man, he pulls me into his arms and presses kisses to my throat. “I’ve never seen you like that before. You had the whole room wrapped around your little finger. You were magnificent.”
I twine my arms around his neck and smile. I’m happy, and Damiano is happy, even if Dad isn’t. “I’m glad I could help, and I hope we can do it again sometime. All the time. I hate being parted from you.”
“I hate being parted from you too.”
I touch the necklace around my throat and look up at him. “Why did you buy these for me?”
Damiano presses another kiss to my throat. “Because I’ve never seen you look more beautiful. Why didn’t you tell me you’re a jewelry expert? I know you didn’t get all that information from the notes.”
“I studied gems and jewelry after high school. I thought you knew.” I play with his tie, still smiling. “I think you made Cristiano Montoni angry.”
“I don’t give a damn. I’ll go and get all those millions from our guests, and then we’ll go home.”
I pack away the jewelry and give the locked briefcase to one of Dad’s armed men, then go in search of the bathroom. It’s not until I’ve turned a corner and I’m out of sight of the living room and Damiano that I realize someone has followed me.
Mr. Dimitriou, and from the expression on his face, he’s delighted that he’s found me alone. “You know a lot about gemstones. It’s impressive.”
“Thank you, but I have to get back to—” I break off with a gasp as Mr. Dimitriou reaches for my ass and squeezes me like I’m a piece of fruit at the grocery store.
“Is jewelry a particular interest of yours?” he asks while staring at my breasts and blocking my way with his other arm.
“Get your hands off me,” I seethe, anger burning in my cheeks.
Damiano is the only man who’s ever touched me like this.
He’s the only man who’s allowed to touch me like this.
From him, it feels completely different.
Mr. Dimitriou is making me feel dirty, and I don’t know what I want to do more, cry or throw up.
Mr. Dimitriou crowds me closer to the wall. “That’s not polite when I just dropped several hundred thousand dollars on the jewels you were hawking.”
“And because you bid on the jewels, I’m supposed to let you grope me?” I pull out of his grasp and slap his face as hard as I can. “Go fuck yourself, and your money.”
Dad rounds the corner just in time to see me swear at Mr. Dimitriou and hit him.
With burning eyes, Dimitriou dabs at his lip and turns to Dad. “This bitch lacks manners. I didn’t expect to be so insulted.”
“And I didn’t expect to be groped by someone as old and ugly as you,” I snap, and his face turns red with fury.
Dad seizes me by the upper arm, marches me back to the bedroom, and forces me into a chair. “You will sit there, and you will not move. I will deal with you when everyone has gone.”
“But I—”
“Not another word, Lucy.” He leaves and slams the door behind him.
I clench the seat of my chair, fuming silently while I listen to the voices in the next room slowly fade away as everyone leaves.
Finally, I hear Damiano exclaim, “He did what to Lucy? Where’s my sister?”
Damiano bursts into the room, his curls falling into his sparking eyes. He sees me sitting in the chair, strides over to me, sinks to one knee, and takes my hand. Reaching up to cup my cheek, he asks urgently, “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
I admire Damiano’s handsome, upturned face. “Just my dignity. I can’t believe he had the nerve to grab my ass while you and Dad were here.”
His eyes darken. “That bastard touched you?” He gets to his feet and presses a kiss to my brow. “I’m so sorry. And I’ll make him even sorrier.”
I glare at Dad, who’s followed Damiano into the room. This is the proper response when someone in your family is sexually harassed. Kisses and promises of vengeance.
“Damiano, take your sister home and never bring her around the family business again. She doesn’t know how to handle herself.”
Anger pumps through my blood. I stand up and face Dad.
“I don’t know how to handle myself? I’ve been groped, but I didn’t stab that old lech in the neck.
I think that deserves a medal. Oh, that’s not the only violence I prevented tonight.
We were so close to a public humiliation for one of your guests, but I smoothed it over. ”
Dad’s eyes narrow. “What public humiliation?”
I can feel Damiano’s strong, solid presence behind me, backing me up.
“Mr. Cattaneo’s mistress’s bracelet. She was sweating like crazy when I was examining it because the rubies are fake.
Someone must have sold the real stones and replaced them with imitations.
I didn’t want Damiano to spend the rest of the night dismembering the mistress’s murdered body in the bathtub, so I pretended the rubies were authentic.
Tell me again how I can’t handle myself in your world. ”
“I see,” Dad says icily. “So it’s worse than I thought. You lied to protect a whore, slapped a guest, and provoked your brother into angering the new Montoni don. Dimitriou expects an apology from you, and you will give it to him.”
My nails dig into my palms as humiliation courses through me. Why must Dad take everyone’s side but mine?
“Lucy is apologizing to that piece of shit over my dead body,” Damiano seethes.
“Dimitriou is going to write my sister the most groveling and sincere apology a man has ever given a woman, or I’m going to cut off his fingers.
Lucy is family, and we protect family. What’s more, you should be thanking Lucy for her hard work.
We brought in four and a half million dollars tonight, which is far more than what the jeweler told us to expect. It’s all because of her.”
My chin lifts slightly as I hear how proud Damiano is of me. At least someone in this room knows my worth.
How am I going to make Dad see it too?
Dad is a businessman. The only way I’m going to get through to him is with cold, hard figures.
“Dad, I’m an asset, not a hindrance. If you’ve got more business involving gemstones, I’ll take care of it for you, unless you’d rather lose a considerable cut of a valuable enterprise to someone outside the family?
What was the jeweler going to take tonight? Twenty percent?”
“Twenty-five,” Damiano says.
“I’m not taking any cut,” I point out. “All that money is staying in the family, and I want nothing in return except to be allowed to help.” Actually, what I’d like is a thank-you and a little bit of goddamn sympathy when I get groped. But baby steps.
Dad looks at me for a long time while I hold my breath. Finally, he turns to Damiano. “Be downstairs in my study tomorrow morning.”
Without another word, he leaves the penthouse.
My hope deflates like a balloon. I really thought that I was going to get some acceptance from Dad tonight. He would be impressed with me and tell me I did a good job, but he can’t get past the fact that I’m a woman, and mafia women belong at home.
Damiano puts his arms around me and presses his lips to my forehead, surrounding me with his warmth and love. “You were amazing. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
I smile weakly. “Thank you. At least someone appreciates me.”
He takes my face in his hands and caresses my cheeks with his thumbs. “Never doubt it. Did you really slap Dimitriou and tell him to go fuck himself?”
“I did.”
He chuckles. “That’s my girl. I love to see your eyes shining like they did tonight.”
A warm feeling spreads through my belly, and my heart starts to race. We’re pressed against each other, and Damiano’s face is just inches from mine.
He takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and lowers his mouth to mine. Butterflies riot in my belly, and I pant lightly in anticipation.
For a moment, I think he’s going to kiss me. Really kiss me.
His parted lips brush over mine, the lightest of touches while our breaths mingle. Flames lick at my core, and I wait for him to pull us both into bliss and kiss me. His eyes are closed, and his lashes are dark against his cheeks, but he doesn’t capture my lips.
He’s tormenting us both. Punishing himself for what happened with Ariana. Denying us both what we promised each other.
“Let’s get you home,” he whispers, eyes still closed, lips moving over mine. “I have an apology to get in writing for you.”