Page 68 of Marked By Moonlight

Easy to resist Mina?

Ha. Just try,my dragon growled.

Chapter Fifteen

MINA

“All right. Everyone ready? It’s time to get started,” Roux began bright and early the next morning.

Well, not all that bright, but very early — barely dawn in London. We’d arrived on the last train from Paris the previous evening and fallen directly into bed.

Bene let his teeth extend, then slowly retract in a massive lion yawn. “Whose idea was a six o’clock meeting? And what about breakfast?”

“Room service is on the way, so you can eat while you work. And it’s already seven in France,” Roux pointed out.

We were gathered in the living room area of our hotel suite. Yes, a suite — a single, unlockable space I now shared with Marius, Roux, Bene, and Henrik.

God, did I hate Celeste. Couldn’t she have put Henrik on a separate floor?

At least I trusted Roux and Bene to stay in the room they shared. I also trusted Marius. I just didn’t trustmyselfaround him.

But I didn’t trust Henrik farther than I could throw a silk-lined coffin, no matter how ruddy and sated he seemed after his recent visit to Delphine.

It pained me to imagine that. How could poor, deluded Delphine love any vampire, let alone one as unsociable as Henrik?

Then again, I could be called deluded for loving Marius. For aching for him, morning, noon, and night, and even imagining a future together. Who was I to judge Delphine?

Henrik, on the other hand, was fair game, and my judgment of him was harsh and final. I hated the vampire, and I wanted him gone.

But he wasn’t gone. He was bunked out in the room adjoining mine. Both rooms opened onto the living area, where Marius had slept on the couch.

We’ll see how long that lasts,Roux had sighed the previous night.

Not long, I hoped, but Marius hadn’t tiptoed into my room, no matter how hard I wished for him to.

But, no — no nocturnal visit from Marius. No visit from Henrik either, but I still hadn’t slept well. No one had, judging by the bleary expressions of the others.

Roux checked his watch. “Mina is scheduled to meet Madame Petrova at ten. That gives us a few hours to look through Gordon’s list of potential buyers and eliminate anyone who seems fishy. We’re looking for candidates the client is likely to approve of who also have sufficient funds.”

I frowned. “Definesufficient.”

“More than anyone else,” Henrik said bluntly.

“Are you saying we want a bidding war?”

Henrik shrugged. “It’s in the client’s interest to get the highest amount possible.”

“But Anastasia said she wants to sell it to the right person,” I countered.

The vampire snorted. “Money always talks in the end.”

“It’s also in Gordon’s interest to get the highest amount possible,” Marius added a little more gently.

Gently, maybe, but it pounded yet another nail into the coffin of my innocence.

Gordon was earning a commission, I realized. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Surprised and disappointed in Gordon — and in myself. I would get another chance to see a rare masterpiece, but at what price?

“Let’s say two bidders offer a similar sum,” Bene asked. “Who would Anastasia choose in the end?”