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She gripped his hand and he held it tight. Bids started to appear in rapid succession, many coming in over the phones and from online buyers. The numbers crept up and up, head-swimming sums.
Then – the hammer fell at three million. It was an astronomical sum, several times the reserve price. A silver-haired man in an expensive sailing jacket had been the final bidder. Her billionaire client, Pierre Lavaud.
The room emptied out around them, as the journalists rushed to get an interview with Pierre. Olivia, though, was only looking at Aaron. He looked devastated.
‘Aaron, what’s wrong? You did it. Yennin is going to be a superstar,’ she said to him.
Now, he looked down at his phone. ‘I think I have to talk to the police.’
As it turned out, for once, the social media rumours had been correct. Yennin had been involved in a fatal car accident that evening, mere minutes from the auction house. But Aaron had been inside the entire afternoon, hundreds of witnesses could testify to that. Nowhere near the site of the incident.
It couldn’t have possibly been his fault.
But as for her …
Stefan shrugged. ‘You can’t change what some trolls online think, but I know it made his life a bit difficult.’
‘You don’t think whoever it was took it further than just letters and emails, do you? That someone might have attacked him?’
‘It would be a bit of a jump from sending an anonymous tweet to following someone to the bottom of the world.’ He sank back against the cushions.
Seeing him visibly relax helped put Olivia at ease too. It didn’t seem like Stefan was worried the ‘threat’ had turned physical. Maybe she had got the strap of her life jacket caught in the door? If there was anything she’d learned about her mind this year, it was that it couldn’t be trusted. Sure, she was on a path to recovery, but she was a long way from being at full mental capacity.
‘So Aaron really isn’t here.’ Stefan rubbed at his chin, his eyes darting around the exhibition. His mood had shifted. Olivia didn’t know him well enough to understand what was happening, but it put her on edge. ‘I suppose it will be up to you to take over Aaron’s duties. The selling is really up to me, you know – so you don’t have to worry about that. But Aaron’s job was continuing to seed the excitement on board. Talk up Yennin, ofcourse. Yet, more than that, making sure the guests are having a good time, making sure they want to buy the artwork. He was going to do all the excursions available – the kayaking, sleeping on the ice, that sort of thing. Then the VIP drinks the night before the auction. Keeping clients happy. You up for that?’
Olivia nodded. ‘Absolutely.’
Stefan slapped his knees with his hands. ‘Excellent. Then I think we can make this work after all. Fancy missing the boat, after everything he’s put himself through to get the deal this far. Now if you don’t mind, I have a bit more admin to do before we reach the dreaded Drake Passage. The crew cabins are so much less comfortable than the beautiful stateroom you have.’
Olivia debated telling him that she’d moved cabins, but then realized – like Aaron – he wouldn’t understand her decision. She stood up, making her way to the door. ‘You’ll let me know if you hear from him?’
‘Of course.’ Stefan stopped her just before she left. ‘Oh, Olivia. It may not just be the clients you have to worry about keeping happy. Cutler Hughes has a lot riding on this going well. We need to demonstrate a strong, repeatable model for profit on our return – it’s a key feature of his package to the mysterious buyer of his cruise ships.’
‘You don’t know who it is?’
Stefan shrugged. ‘That’s not up to me. I’m surprisedyoudon’t know.’
Olivia felt her cheeks turning red, annoyed with herself that she’d revealed some of her ignorance. ‘I’ll make sure Cutler feels reassured. You just make sure the auction is profitable.’
‘On that, I no longer have any worries.’ He ushered her out of the door, clicking it shut behind her. He couldn’t hide the ghost of a smile on his lips.
Olivia thought he looked just a little too happy that Aaron was no longer on the ship.
11
By the time the bells chimed for dinner, they were out of the shelter of the Beagle Channel and into the Drake Passage proper, where three great oceans met. They appeared to be having an argument, the waves lashing up against their porthole window, drenching it with spray.
All the passengers ate together, in a spacious dining room on the second-to-top level. By the time Olivia arrived, it was mostly full, passengers laughing as they tried to stop their glassware from tipping over. She felt like a new girl in school, unsure of where to sit. Stefan’s words rang in her ears: she needed to keep the clients happy. She was about to approach Delilah’s table when she heard her name.
‘Olivia, over here!’ Patty waved to her, directing her to a table that was filled mostly with their group from the muster. By the looks of things, they’d come straight from drinks in the lounge. She smiled back – schmoozing could wait until the next day – and made her way over.
Patty pulled out the chair next to her and Olivia sat down gratefully.
‘Did you get hold of your auction friend?’ Patty asked.
‘Yes, thankfully – I explained the whole situation to him.’ On the plate in front of her was a menu for a three-course meal. At least she wouldn’t go hungry. After she’d given her choices to the waiter, she turned back to Patty. ‘So you said you’ve been a travel agent for thirty years?’
‘We prefer the term “travel consultant” nowadays,’ said Patty with an exaggerated wink. ‘But, yes, my husband and I, we own the branch together. Karl lives and breathes travel. He’s been to so many countries, I lost count, but never Antarctica. He so would have loved coming down here.’ Patty looked a little rosy, colour high in her cheeks, and she was already signalling the waiter to top up her glass of red wine and fill Olivia’s. The glasses seemed to have exceptionally heavy bases, and even as the ship rose and fell, not a drop was spilled. ‘Anything from your boyfriend?’