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I struggled to hear their conversation, though it was obvious what they were saying. The newcomers both peered at the painting, thenlaughed.
“That’s the problem,” a tall blonde woman advised. “You open events like this to amateurs and most buyers can’t tell thedifference. To the trained eye, this kind of trash has no place in an exhibition.”
All four tittered over their wine glasses.
Shock cut through me. I used every bit of willpower I possessed so my wave of upset didn’t show.
Riss appeared at my shoulder. “A moment, please, ma’am.”
She’d picked up on my distress. I exhaled shakily and smiled again at the people I should’ve been talking to. “If you’ll excuse me.”
They let me go, and I made a beeline for the hallway at the back of the gallery. It wasn’t the done thing for me to take a break while on the job, but the criticism of the painting I’d been so proud of hit me like I’d been punched. I couldn’t stop the feelings.
“Comfort break,” Riss explained to the team over her comms.
In the cool and empty corridor, I paused until Johnnie appeared, standard protocol to have him wait with me while Riss scoped out the bathroom. She gave the all-clear, and I slipped inside and locked myself in a stall.
Sweat pricked my brow. I sat on the closed toilet and dropped my head to my fingertips, careful not to ruin my make-up.
Imitate others? That was how all artists learned, but I thought I’d got past that and into a style of my own. I’d been delusional. Thank God I hadn’t put my real name to it, not that I’d ever truly considered doing so, considering the naked people I’d picked as my subject. The palace would not be impressed.
This kind of trash.
The dream I’d barely let myself entertain of becoming an established painter dissolved in front of me. And it hurt.
I allowed myself thirty seconds to feel the disappointment then fished out my phone from my clutch. There was only one person who would understand.
Alex: Come over tonight? I need a drink.
Dori: Shit. Yes, I need it, too, but who do I need to kill? Can I borrow Riss for the dirty work? Wouldn’t want to bloody my clothes.
He’d understood instantly. A short laugh that was almost a sob flew from my lips.
Alex: Be at my place by ten and ready for a night in.
That was code for us going out. I didn’t think my messages were monitored by security, but nearly always when I was clubbing with friends, some photographer found me, so I kept my movements out of messages.
Dori sent me a thumbs-up, and a small piece of my broken heart throbbed. All I needed now was to fix my expression and finish the job I was here to do.
Tonight, I’d dance and drink my feelings away in a dark club with my best friend. I just had to keep it all in until then.
Chapter 3
Raphael
A yawn came over my comms. “How much longer?” Will asked.
Johnnie’s voice returned, “Ten minutes.”
I hadn’t seen anything of Jared since we got in the building, nor had he emerged when the arsehole attendee had grabbed hold of Alexandra.
Internally, I bristled, trying to keep my emotion off my face.
I was a stand-in. Will had filled me in on how the fourth member of their team, Toni, had needed emergency time off because his mother was ill in a hospital in another country. He’d made a joke about it.
It all added up to an increasingly negative view I had of Princess Alexandra’s security.
From first impressions, they were sloppy as fuck. For starters, mostly absent Jared had treated me with disdain, though I made up a quarter of his protection unit. I knew nothing of their practices, how they communicated and thelanguage used to alert to situations. The team had taken over handling the incident with the attendee, but once outside, the man had been released without a word. We didn’t know his name. We didn’t have a picture or anything to tie back to this event should we encounter him again.