Page 53 of The Mad Don
“I can’t tell you a lot. I need you to trust me on that.”
“Yana —”
“But I need you to do one thing. Avoid Giorgio. Whatever he says to you, however friendly he is. Don’t deal with him. Don’t get near him. Stay away.”
Max studies me for a long moment. Then he sighs.
“Okay,” he says. “Okay. I don’t like it, but okay.”
I feel a presence on my shoulder.
Giorgio has shuffled up beside me, and he leans in close, his voice is low and meant only for me, his face still doing the nervous thing for the benefit of the room.
“You seem to have a lot of people interested in you.”
A shiver goes through me before I can stop it.
I think of last night. Of what he did with his mouth between my thighs. Of the orgasm that tore through me, whether I wanted itor not. The memory arrives uninvited, and I am furious at how fast it comes.
I ignore him, and I turn back toward the room, and Max takes the hint and drifts off, and the three of us end up seated in the same row when the bidding begins. Max sits closer than he needs to.
Giorgio leans toward me.
“There,” he murmurs. He nods at a man entering from the far side, an older, well-dressed man. “He is the one. Our job tonight is to win a piece he likes. Once we have something he wants, we have a reason to approach him. From there, I secure a private consultation. He is the doctor.”
I nod.
The auction begins.
It moves quickly through the first few lots. Then a piece comes up that Max wants. I can see it in the way he leans forward, the way his hand goes up.
Giorgio wants it too.
Max turns to him with a polite smile.
“I’m afraid we’re going to have to hug this out.”
Giorgio gives a small, nervous laugh.
“I like a fair fight,” he says.
Then he bids.
He bids so high that the room goes quiet for a second. Max raises again. Giorgio doubles it without hesitating. Max sits back. He is out, and he knows it, and the piece goes to Giorgio along with two more before the night is done.
The auction ends.
Giorgio leans toward me as the room begins to break up.
“There is an after-party. I’ll give him the piece there. Go, do whatever you need to do. We leave in ten minutes.”
I excuse myself to go to the bathroom.
He goes toward the car.
I do not make it to the bathroom.
Max catches my arm in the corridor and pulls me through a side door into the back hallway near the loading area, away from the crowd.
