I shook my head. “I don’t...”
“Okay, shoot the fucker.” Eli turned and flicked the order to kill Tobias.
“Wait!” Blood roared in my ears. “I can get a message to him.”
Eli calmly waved his hand. “Hold off.” He turned back to me. “Who is he?”
I shook my head. “I can contact him. I will.”
“Well, that’s fantastic. This is what I want. Get Icon to steal me that Mona Lisa in there.” He pointed in the direction of The Rose Club. “Tell him to deliver her to my room at 7:00 a.m. We’ll have breakfast and chat about all things art related. By the end of tomorrow Icon will be working for me.”
I threw a glance at Tobias. “Please, let him go.”
Eli looked fierce. “If Icon fails to turn up with that painting, Wilder dies.”
“No!”
Eli smirked. “Wanna see your boyfriend again? Alive? It’s best we throw that detail in.”
“I can get you money.”
“I thought you were a researcher, Zara? Have you no idea who you’re dealing with? We are the wealthiest family in America.” Eli turned to his men. “Can you make sure he doesn’t make a scene?”
They went for Tobias and attacked him, knocking him out cold. I bolted toward him but my head jolted painfully when Eli grabbed my hair and dragged me back. He slammed me against the wall and my legs buckled beneath me as I leaned on it with panic-drenched breaths causing waves of dizziness.
“Everyone out.” Eli barked the order.
“No, you can’t,” I screeched.
Tobias was dragged out with his feet trailing behind him and I ran to stop them but two of Eli’s men blocked my path.
I was alone with Eli.
He slammed me against the wall and a jolt of pain reverberated through my skull. “I know where you live, Zara. Where you work. I know your weakness is Wilder.”
I turned away. “I’ll do anything. Please, don’t hurt him.”
He pulled my focus to his dark gaze and his eyes were as cold and black as a shark’s. “If you tell the FBI about this, Wilder dies. If you tell your friends at Huntly Pierre, he dies. If Icon fails to bring me the Mona Lisa...you get the gist.” He tipped up my chin. “I look forward to spending more time with you, Zara Leighton.”
He took a sideways step and left.
I flew after him, scooping my purse from the floor and following him into the hallway—one of Eli’s men blocked my way.
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t think straight, all I saw was that brutal image of Tobias with a gun in his mouth. I tried to sidestep around the man. He shoved me backward knocking me to the floor and I dropped my purse and the catch flew open. I grabbed it and hugged it to my chest, staring up at him.
“7:00 a.m., have Icon come to The Marlborough Suite with the painting,” he said. “Don’t fuck it up.”
He headed off down the hallway and I clambered up before anyone saw me. In a daze, I headed back to my room, no longer caring about that claustrophobic box I had to endure to get there. All I could think of was Eli’s threat and if I told anyone...
Digging my fingernails into my palms to focus, I should have listened to Tobias, should have realized Eli would do anything to own the rarest of paintings. He’d never have risked losing a bid in an auction room.
The chill from the air-conditioning hit me when I reached my hotel room. I dropped my purse and key card to the floor, ran to the bathroom and dry heaved into the sink. I was being asked to achieve the impossible to save him. Tobias had arranged the presentation. My name wasn’t on the paperwork. I couldn’t imagine what had to be done to get to that painting in The Rose Club. The security I’d have to get past was going to be impossible.
I dabbed my face with a napkin and caught my reflection in the mirror—pure terror etched so deep it would never leave.
I’m coming for you, Tobias, I sent a silent message to him. Hold on.
Stay alive.
Exhaling a shaky breath, I headed out of the bathroom—
Abby was in the drawing room. “You okay?”
I coughed past the taste of bitterness and my brain ran through every scenario; every word, every physical signal had to be carefully mundane so as not to arouse suspicion.
“I heard you,” she said.
Panic fluttered in my chest. “Oh?”
“Throwing up.” She came toward me and rested her palm on my forehead. “How are you doing?”
“Fine.”
“You took off your wire?”
I glanced at my open purse with the wires sticking out. “I’m in for the night.”
She knelt and scooped my purse off the floor, pulled out the wire and placed it on the coffee table. She opened my purse farther and peered in. She pulled out Tobias’s gold penthouse key card.
“For the gym.” I headed over to the minibar and found a bottle of water in there and offered it to her, trying to suppress this trembling. “Want one?”
“No, thanks.” She flipped over the key card.
“I’m going to have an early night.” I twisted the lid off. “Did you enjoy tonight?”
Her gaze rose to meet mine. “Yeah. Wish I could afford one of those paintings. Maybe I’ll end up with a print instead. If they make them.” She frowned as she contemplated and it was the kind of rumination of someone putting the pieces together. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“He broke your heart, didn’t he?” She gave a look of sympathy. “That’s why you’re feeling sick?”
I set the bottle down. “I have a lot to think about.”
I am ruined from what I’ve done and the risks I’ve taken.
This is all my fault.
She handed me the key card. “I’m here when you want to talk.”
I clutched it in my palm, stepped forward and hugged her, suppressing my need to beg Abby for help.
I couldn’t risk it.
The rigidity left her body as she hugged me. “I’ve been there.”
I have to put everything right...
Abby headed toward the dividing door to her room. “I’m going to leave this open in case you need me.”
“I appreciate that,” I lied.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WITH MY FACE buried in my palms I willed myself to think straight.
I knew what facing great odds meant because I’d grown up surrounded by heroes painted on canvases who appeared all too real with their all too authentic pain reaching beyond the centuries. These old souls conveyed they’d found a way.
I could do this.
I would find a way to save Tobias.
Elliot Burell may have tried to steal that hope from me when he’d stolen my paintings or when he’d attempted to burn down my family home or when he’d sent my father to an early grave, but the memory of those paintings taught me what the human soul could endure.
Though I was on my own this time to face off with this deadly adversary who threatened everything I held dear, I had to move forward.
I had to get the other Mona Lisa to Eli.
Sitting on the edge of my hotel bed staring at the wall, I waited until I hoped Abby had fallen asleep, and then set off for The Rose Club, bringing my purse with me. My brain processed every possible scenario of getting the painting out of there without any hassle from security.
The ride down in the lift was nothing compared to how terror-struck I felt. Within minutes I was entering the place where an hour ago Tobias was meant to have met with Eli in a cordial fashion.
Within The Rose Club a few well-dressed hotel guests sat chatting on the leather furniture with the extra privacy of the lights having been dimmed for the evening. From around me came clinking glasses and vibrant conversation. Following the natural curve of the sitting room I came to a hallway. At the end
a young man in a smart suit guarded a door. This had to be it. What other reason would there be for a room to be protected from anyone entering? Tobias had hired this private space for the exchange and even though he knew he was dealing with the devil, even he hadn’t anticipated the extent of his cruelty.
Maybe this entire time Eli was just trying to get to me. Persuade me, bully me to give up the search for my paintings and all the while I’d led Tobias into danger. The thought of having to face Eli alone in the morning chilled my flesh. I could always ask Abby to accompany me, but then I’d be putting her in danger and threatening Tobias’s life.
Making my way down the hallway, I mulled over the best approach that would get me in that room.
With my head held high I greeted him. “I work for Mr. Wilder.”
The guard looked me up and down. “Hello, ma’am, are you here for the viewing?”
“Yes, Mr. Wilder wanted me to inform you there won’t be any exhibit this evening. There’s been a change of plan.”
“I was wondering why no one turned up.” He seemed to suppress a frown, though he gave a nod as he opened the door for me and I felt a rush of adrenaline that I’d made it in. That wasn’t how I’d expected it to go. Once inside my heart jackhammered against my ribs—
The glass case atop a thin marble podium was empty and my legs almost gave way.
Where the hell was the painting? Another guard checked his cell phone at the back of the room and quickly shoved it into his pocket. “Ma’am, can I help you?”
I threw him a friendly wave. “Just checking in.” I pointed to the glass case. “Making sure everything is in order.”
“I’m waiting on the guests.” He didn’t sound too sure. “Do you know how long they’ll be? I was told this would end at eleven. That’s half an hour ago.”
“It was canceled, I’m afraid.”
He looked astonished. “I’ve been paid to guard nothing?”
I hoped Eli hadn’t stormed in here and taken it away.
“Has anyone been in this room other than me?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Mr. Wilder.”
My blood pressure spiked. “When?”
“Around eight.”
Those hours since seeing him dragged violently away felt like decades.
“Did he say anything?”
“Paid us.”
“Okay, good. That’s taken care of.” My brow was spotted in perspiration. “Nothing was brought into this room or removed?”
“No, ma’am.”
“And you’ve been in here all evening?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Mr. Wilder sends his apologies.” I backed up toward the door. “Sorry for any inconvenience.” I gave a nod of thanks to the guard outside and hurried back into the lounge of The Rose Club, making my way to the elevators. Once inside, I opened my purse and pulled out the key card Tobias had given me earlier and with trembling hands shoved it into the panel to give me access to the highest floor. All the way to where Tobias was meant to be staying in the penthouse.
To my relief, the key card worked and I was in his room and searching for that damn painting, my hands shaking and my spine locked in dread. The vast suite was a luxurious haven of the best of everything this hotel had to offer—though now the gold-and-burgundy-themed room felt nauseatingly with its over-the-top luxury, the colors burning my eyes with the glare of opulence, and the amount of space was nothing but an impossible challenge.
I ran into the bedroom.
One of Tobias’s white shirts hung over the back of a chair and I raised it to my nose and breathed him in, that heady mixture of power and passion, and I buried my face in the softness of the material connecting me to him.
Give me the strength to find this.
I had to think like Icon.
I threw my purse on the bed and looked around. Tobias favored neatness, and with that in mind I knew his suitcase and the holder for the painting would be tucked away. I found a few clothes in the wardrobe and there came a stark terror he may never wear them again. I should never have left his side. We’d used the wrong strategy with Eli. He liked to win. Period. There was never going to be any negotiating, no reasoning, because in his twisted mind it was acceptable to exchange a life for a painting.
There was a large chrome case in the wardrobe and I dragged it out and lifted it onto the bed. Each side had four silver locks that would need a combination to open. I needed to crack the code, needed into this case.
Think.
I entered the year of my birth on the left and his on the right. I swapped this over when it didn’t work. Several attempts of another idea failed too. I paced while dragging my panicked thoughts back from what Eli might be doing to Tobias.
What if the painting wasn’t even in here? What if Tobias was having Coops deliver it and I had no way of getting in touch with him. Unless... Tobias had programmed his number into my burner phone? No, Tobias had told me he didn’t want to implicate Coops or Marshall, and their roles were designed to protect them as well as him.
A flash of inspiration hit me. Entering my name on the left of the catch and his on the other side but this time abbreviating his to Toby. When that failed too, I stubbornly tried swapping them out—
The case clicked open and there came a jolt of victory. After throwing the lid back, I was staring at Mona Lisa’s portrait adorned within a wooden gold frame. I froze in awe at the realness of Italian beauty Lisa Gherardini staring back at me.
Wow—
Mona Lisa was before me and her authentic appearance threw me for a second as I tried to grasp that she’d been created so fast. If I wanted proof no man would have been able to pull this off, all I had to do was remember she’d been created by a computer. Tobias’s hand was behind the technology, but this was an act of science, a natural philosophy that stretched the boundaries of what I’d believed possible.
This could work. No, it had to.
I carefully slid the painting into a pillowcase and with my mouth dry with nervousness, I left the penthouse and returned to my room. I hid the painting beneath my bedcovers in case Abby came to check on me.
The night would come and go but there’d be no sleep for me, merely pacing, my thoughts consumed with Tobias. All I could think of was how he was coping, what he was thinking and if he was going to be okay.
In a flash of panic my hand rested on the hotel phone as guilt possessed me for not contacting the police. This dread of making the right decision was tugging at every cell in my body until fatigue sent pain into my bones.
A compromise was needed; finding the hotel notepad, I wrote to Abby and left the message on the coffee table next to the wire she’d made me wear.
I’ll be in The Marlborough Suite. If anything happens to me, I went to meet with Eli Burell.
By 6:45 a.m. I was heading to Eli’s suite.
The painting was heavy despite her size and even if this had been the real Mona Lisa that I’d shoved inside a pillowcase, I felt no guilt for exchanging her for Tobias. Seeing him safe was all I cared about and the need for reassurance that he’d not been hurt owned every thought. I willed myself not to show fear. More than anything, I’d come to terms with giving up on those precious paintings. He was worth my life and nothing was going to come between us.
My knock brought the sound of footsteps and the unlatching of a lock. The door shot open and I stared up at a burly man who I recognized as one of Eli’s guards. He’d been one of the thugs who’d beaten Tobias last night. My jaw tightened with a need to reciprocate the same kind of violence for what he’d done to my lover. I peered past his bulky frame into the suite.
“In,” he snapped.
Clutching the pillowcase to my chest, I made my way down the short hallway and entered the luxurious space and my gaze darted around for Tobias.
“Well, hello, Zara.”
It was Eli appearing from a hallway and I’d never seen him casually dressed before, those jeans and that sweater disarming. That overly privileged fop of hair, a reminder of his cruel arrogance, caused bile to rise in my throat.
He looked astonished at the pillowcase. “No way.”
I stepped forward. “Where’s Mr. Wilder?”
“Well this is unexpected.”
Doubt circled my gut. “I need to see him first.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” He snatched the painting.
“It’s the Mona Lisa,” I said. “I kept my end of the bargain.”
He reached inside and slid out the painting and dropped the pillowcase. As his gaze swept over the canvas, awe flashed over his face, morphing into cruel amusement. “She’s so small.”
“Tobias!” I called out. “I’m here.”
Eli set the painting on the table behind him. “I was expecting someone else.”
“I did the best I could.”
He smirked. “How did you pull this off?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Where’s Icon?”
I gave a confident nod. “I stole her.”
He glanced over at his burly bodyguard. “Do you believe her?”
I sucked in a nervous breath. “Where is he, please?”
“Have breakfast with me.” He gestured to the hallway. “I had invited Icon but as he stood me up it will have to be you.”
“I did what you asked.”
“What I asked for was for you to inform Icon he was expected here.” He stomped a foot and yelled, “Now.”
“I’m sorry, I did the best I could.” I pointed to the painting. “I brought you that. Doesn’t she count for something? She’s priceless.”
“Let’s talk about Arizona.” He smirked. “What did you make of my mousetrap?”
Terrifying.
“You handled it magnificently.” He came closer. “A true inspiration. Though just before you became my guest in my art piece, Wilder placed a GPS tracker on the frame of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.” He glanced at the Mona Lisa’s frame.
The Prize Page 22
