Chapter 29
Conrad
Iwoke to the mattress shifting.
I groaned, rolled over, and stretched my arm out to the other side of the bed to find it empty. My eyes opened and a foot away, the sheets at her waist, Malena was checking her phone. She’d look at it, click the screen off, only to check it again seconds later.
“You alright?” I asked through a yawn, running a finger down her bare back. I folded my other arm onto the pillow, tucking my hand behind my head and watching her. We’d only slept a handful of hours, but I felt refreshed after spending the night tangled in the sheets with her.
“Yeah.” Her voice almost squeaked. She clicked her phone screen off again and placed it back on the nightstand. “I was just thinking.”
“About?”
She paused, then looked over her shoulder at me. She opened her mouth, her eyes moving along the comforter, only to close it again.
Concern rattled between my ribs. “Mal…”
“I…” She looked back ahead. Another pause. “Someone has a list of these Van Holden pieces… They’re making them and then selling them through the Modiste Gallery.”
Surprise, or confusion, or something pushed my voice up an octave. “What?”
“I’ve been turning over everything we talked about the other day. Someone is forging Van Holden paintings that were thought to be destroyed in World War II. And they’re selling them through this gallery.” Malena twisted her fingers around the sheets. “That’s the most likely scenario, right?”
My jaw slackened. She was talking about the paintings? That’s what was on her mind? Fuck, I thought she was having second thoughts about whatever this was between us. Because after last night, I was sure I didn’t want it to end.
I nodded, relieved, and curled a hand around her waist, tugging gently. As much as I liked the view of her hair cascading down her bare back, I wanted to see that smile. “Probably…”
“Then what does that have to do with the catacombs?” she continued, looking straight ahead. “Why not rent a studio in midtown Manhattan?”
“Cheaper rent?” I sat up and pushed her hair over her shoulder, hoping to get her mind back to where mine was. “Or maybe the catacombs are an incidental finding.” I slowly kissed up the nape of her neck. “A red herring.”
I snaked a hand between her thighs and splayed my other just below the swell of her breasts, my thumb running a few firm swipes over her puckered nipple.
“Con…” The firmness in her warning wavered under a tiny yip.
“Mal.” I brushed my fingers against her clit and her body jerked. “You’re naked and you expect me to focus?”
“Con,” she repeated, more serious this time. And despite how good my name sounded falling out from between her lips, I knew my trying was a lost cause.
I cleared my throat, trying to shift gears. “The student doing this needs the supplies that they’re obviously making on campus. Remember? The paint and that time you shoved me in a closet?”
She hummed and leaned back against me. Just as I was beginning to think her curiosity was sated and we could get back to other things, she pulled her legs beneath her and turned to me.
“And the paint takes a long time to dry…” she added.
My eyes wandered down the body I’d spent the last few hours touching, kissing, and fucking every inch of.
“So, they probably have to move the pieces already framed, which would definitely draw unwanted attention.” She snapped her fingers. “Hence the catacombs.”
“Makes sense.” I blinked a few times. “So they’re probably going to the clock tower to move it off campus.”
“And you said the catacombs are never used by Scroll & Ivy members? Right?”
“Only for the first party of the year, the one at the clock tower.” I nodded, remembering the night well. “You seem to be the only person who finds the catacombs interesting.”
Mal shook her head. “Having the world as your playground makes everything boring. You have a warped sense of reality.”
I chuckled.
“That narrows it down,” she went on. “It has to be someone with a history or some knowledge about Scroll & Ivy and an inside track on Van Holden. Maybe a relative or someone close to his family.” She shifted a bit in bed, pushing the covers farther to the side and throwing a leg over mine so she was straddling my lap.
“It’s a lot more than we knew before.” With a contented sigh, she put both hands on my chest. A playful smile inched up her cheeks. “Now… back to what you were doing.”
I glanced at the clock over her shoulder. The light peeking through the drawn curtains was dim and kept the ornate room draped in darkness, but it was almost noon.
“Now you’re on board?”
“What can I say? Sex is great for mental clarity.” She rolled her hips purposefully. “How about we get some more?”
“Too late.” I put a hand on either thigh and nudged her back to her side. We had to get moving.
“Are you kicking me out of bed?”
“Never.” I held her chin and pressed a kiss against her lips. For a second I paused there, negotiating how late we could be, then pulled away with a soft shake of my head. “We have plans.”
We were late.
We got distracted in the shower. Twice.
“No way.” Malena gasped as our private car pulled up to the Geroux Raceway.
My chest filled with air seeing the delight in her eyes.
Lines of fans began to file in through the main gates while we were driven to a separate entrance. It was the one closest to the Rutherford box.
“F1 fan?” I asked. “What a coincidence.”
“You just happened to want to catch a race?” She smiled ear to ear.
“James’s family has a permanent lounge at all F1 events.” I threw an arm over her shoulders as we were escorted in.
While they didn’t own an F1 team, Rutherford Motors made the engines that populated most of the grid. In addition to making jet engines, Rutherford engines were second to none in formula one racing.
Her wide eyes narrowed when she looked up at me. “Conrad. Did you…”
My heart rate picked up.
“We needed to pick a place to go. The Paris GP got rescheduled from this past summer for the Olympics,” I told her nonchalantly, even though this was entirely my idea. “Isha and Lucy come to Paris sometime before fall break every year anyway, figured it would…”
“Save jet fuel?”
“Exactly.” We entered near the end of the hall and walked into the exclusive lounge. Our seats overlooked the entire circuit but sat just above the hairpin turn. I looked for James, but he was probably at ground level in Mercury Racing’s pit, being greeted by drivers.
Malena took the glass of champagne one of the waiters offered her and we walked to the line of seats directly in front of the glass-paned safety divider. She sat down ahead of what would be a perfect, unobstructed view. “How efficient.”
I smiled as one thing became undeniably clear: I liked her. I liked seeing her smile. I liked hearing her laugh. I liked it when she was mean to me. I liked kissing her, touching her, fucking her. I liked everything about her.
And that hadn’t happened to me before.
I wasn’t sure how to proceed, and seeing as I’d never been the one to bring it up, I thought it better not to disrupt what was developing between us. For now, anyway.
“I was hoping to do a trip to Brazil before medical school, time it with the GP in Sao Paulo.” Malena took a sip of champagne and leaned forward, looking out to where the drivers would take their positions.
Isha and Lucy were buzzing around, making note of which racers they were keeping an eye on.
Most of the other members had already taken their seats in the box.
“It’s on a long list of places I want to go. ”
“Where else is on the list?”
“Everywhere.” Her voice petered off, still looking ahead but her eyes seemingly lost in thought.
“So… trips around the world,” I began. “You never did that with Sabrina?”
I knew the Alders family peripherally and that Mal lived with her at one of their many properties. So it stood to reason that she’d have been invited on the occasional trip—winters in Zermatt or Saint Moritz, summers in Newport.
“Sabrina always invites me, but I can’t go…” She paused. “Long breaks from school are usually filled with internships or studying.”
I nodded.
“Right, that résumé.” A slight commotion at the door drew my attention and I smiled. The reason I didn’t want to be too late had arrived. “Speaking of Sabrina…”
Mal looked over her shoulder and was across the room throwing her arms around her best friend before I could say another word. The next five minutes descended into a string of high-pitched squeals, and all the while, I sat back, trying to rein in my own excitement.
I’d texted Sabrina while we were on the jet to see if she’d be able to join us. I figured if she was willing to threaten my bodily safety to ensure Malena’s, then she’d probably jump at the chance to see her.
Besides, she was a member of Scroll & Ivy. This was a Scroll & Ivy event. It made sense that she be here.
And I liked seeing Mal smile.
More than that, I liked making her smile.