Page 74 of Conning the Billionaire
“Yeah, I guess that checks out. It is a small one.” Tony Fava’s brows furrowed. “You’re doing the art for the boss, huh?”
“Oh, yes. There’s so much forgery in the world today.”
“Yeah, fugazi is a real problem. Mr. Grande didn’t think he should take those pictures in payment because he didn’t know where they come from, and then he didn’t want to hang them in his office. I told him they were real pretty and he should hang ‘em.”
Micah beamed at Tony Fava. “That’s where we come in. Our scientific process is independent of provenance. We don’t ask how a collector came to possess a piece, and our discretion is absolute. We only authenticate the materials, but after authentication, a collector can rest easy knowing his pieces are genuine.”
“Yeah, I think the boss is gonna want to talk to you. He likes his art. I’ll go get him for ya.”
Kylie stepped forward. “I have an appointment with Mr. Grande first.”
Tony Fava looked her up and down. “You do?”
“Yes. It’s important.”
Tony shrugged. “Okay, I’ll ask the boss. Maria Pia, is the boss free?”
Kylie’s cousin Maria Pia checked her computer. “Yes, he’s free.”
Tony Fava knocked and then opened the door, leaning in. “Boss? The art authentication guy is here to talk to you, but there’s a girl here who says she has an appointment, too?” He paused and said to Kylie, “Okay, you can go in. The art guy will wait here with us for a few minutes.”
Kylie walked in the door and eased it closed behind herself.
As the door closed, she heard Tony Fava say, “So the modern art with the paint flung all over the canvas. I never really got that. Why is that good?”
Salvatore Grande was sitting behind his desk, watching her. The late afternoon sun was low in the red sky and glaring through the chicken wire-laced windowpane. “I’m not in a mood to negotiate.”
“But I have the money, and it’s in cash. I’m paying you back right now with interest, a lot of interest.” Kylie upended her purse on his desk, spilling the twelve and a half bundles of Benjamins but snatching back her wallet when it fell out. “There’s a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars right there. You only had to pay them back eighty for me, and it’s been less than two weeks. That’s fair, right? Over fifty percent interest for a loan of two weeks?”
Salvatore Grande sneered at the money and shrugged like it was something disgusting that had crawled out of the Schuylkill River and slithered up on his desk. He rolled his hand around his wrist. “And what am I going to do with this?”
“It’s a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Buy a Lambo or something. I imagine there’s quite a bit you can do with it.”
Grande shrugged again, and his nose was still crinkled with disgust. “I will take this as a down payment on what you owe me, but it won’t change our arrangement. You still owe me a year.”
Dammit. “But this is so much more than the money you had to pay the Borgata on my behalf. It’s everything I owe you and then some. You don’t have to do this to me. You can leave my sister alone. You got all your money back and a lot more.”
Grande shook his head. “No. I’ll tell the boys out there that you’ll be traveling with us this evening.”
“But that’s not fair. It’s not even math.”
Salvatore Grande pushed a button on his computer and said, “Send the art guy in here.”
Kylie continued, “I didn’t even know that you’d had to pay them until two days ago. In two days, I managed to come up with a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to pay you back. If you give me a week, I can come up with another hundred and twenty-five or more. Just give me a chance and leave Rachele alone, huh?”
Grande raised one eyebrow at her. “Yeah, that makes me worried that perhaps your contributions to the cause weren’t as much as they could’ve been.”
Dammit, dammit. This was going wrong, and those goons were in the outer office. “Can you at least tell me where Rachele is and if she’s still with our mother? I don’t want her to be out there in the world alone at fourteen.”
The door behind Kylie banged open, and Micah said in that weird British accent, “Mr. Grande! It’s such an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Micah notice the paintings behind Salvatore Grande.
The corners of Micah’s eyes widened incrementally, but he didn’t slow down as he strode across the room and reoriented his gaze on Salvatore Grande. “Thank you so much for allowing me to discuss the art authentication process with you and offer you my services. I have so much respect for your operation. My card.”
Micah placed his business card on Salvatore Grande’s desk.
Salvatore stood and buttoned his suit jacket as he extended his hand across his desk for Micah to shake. “Pleasure to meet you. Chiarina said you’re the guy to talk to about making sure these paintings of mine are what the guys said they were. How do you two know each other again?”
