The Mistress(18)

“I’ll think about it,” she said, sounding distressed. Parting with any of his paintings felt like giving up a child to her, and losing a piece of Lorenzo again.

Much to his amazement, she called Theo back an hour later. What he had said had resonated with her, and she wanted to do what Lorenzo himself would have wanted. “If you really think this is an important milestone for him, and what he’d want, I’ll do it.” She sounded near tears as she said it. Theo knew how hard this was for her, as did Gabriel, which was why he hadn’t pushed her, but only tried to encourage her gently. And Theo had said the magic words: “You owe this to Papa. It’s what he would have wanted. It’s a tribute to his work.”

“I think you’ve made absolutely the right decision, Maman. This really is what Papa would want.” And it was a crime to turn down a price like that. They had doubled Lorenzo’s prices with a single sale, even without a bidding war at auction. Theo congratulated her on her wise decision, and urged her to call Gabriel immediately before the buyer changed his mind, or she did. And Gabriel was as surprised and impressed as Theo. And after Theo hung up with his mother, he was reminded of Vladimir Stanislas’s comment the night before, that everything had a price. He hated for him to be right, but in this case he was. And he wondered if Vladimir believed that about people too, and suspected he did, which was even worse. But if he was the buyer, he had won this time, and so had they. It was a winning situation for all.

Gabriel conveyed their acceptance to the lawyer in London, who said the buyer would be pleased. He called Gabriel back ten minutes later and said that the money would be wired into the gallery’s bank account in Paris within the hour. The buyer wanted the painting delivered to a motor yacht called Princess Marina, and a tender would be waiting for them at the dock of the H?tel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d’Antibes at five o’clock that afternoon. It confirmed Theo’s initial suspicion that the purchaser was Vladimir. Now that the negotiations had been successfully concluded, he was willing to have his identity known. Gabriel called Theo the moment he hung up and told him who the collector was.

“I knew it,” Theo said. “He looked like he wanted to tear it off the wall and leave with it under his arm last night. I hate to let him have it, but at that price, how could we refuse?”

“I’m glad you didn’t, and what you said to your mother is true. This is a major milestone for your father’s work. It will set the floor, not the ceiling, for the next sale. This is a very, very important price, for the next time you or your mother decide to sell one of his paintings, and it doubles the value of his estate. That is no small thing.” Theo suddenly realized the impact of it. The value of his entire fortune, and his mother’s, had doubled with a single sale. He didn’t like the man who had bought it, and he had a bad feeling about him, but he had done them all a service. “He wants the painting delivered to his boat at five o’clock this afternoon. I’m sorry to bother you, but could you get it there? I think it would be too emotional for your mother to do it.” And it was a large piece in a heavy frame and too cumbersome for her to carry.

“Of course,” Theo said quickly, wondering if he would see Natasha, or only Vladimir. For that kind of money, undoubtedly he would want to receive the painting himself.

“They’ll have a tender waiting for you at the dock of the Eden Roc, at H?tel du Cap. All you have to do is go onboard the yacht, and hand it to Stanislas. And you’re done. They said they’d have the money in the gallery account in an hour. I’ll wire it into your mother’s. But once we have the funds, you can deliver it.” Wire transfers usually took longer, but not for Vladimir.

“I’ll be at the dock at the hotel at five. I’ll help my mother unbolt it from the wall this afternoon.” All the paintings were heavily secured to prevent theft and to satisfy their insurance company, since the house was a public place because of the restaurant. The ones in his father’s studio were less secure, but no one went there except his mother, since she lived there, and they had installed an alarm there years before. They were never cavalier about his father’s work.

“I’ll confirm to you as soon as we get the funds in the account, but I don’t think there will be a problem. Stanislas must be made of money,” Gabriel said, still amazed at the price he had paid for Lorenzo’s work. But clearly when he wanted something, Vladimir was willing to go to any lengths to get it.

“It looks that way,” Theo said, sounding a little grim. Even the incredible sale didn’t make him like the man any better. Everything about him was distasteful to Theo. He was all about possessing what he wanted, people, industries, and things. Theo wondered how the beautiful young woman felt, being one of his possessions. He hated the thought of it, she had such gentle eyes in her lovely face, and he had liked talking to her. He would like to catch a glimpse of her on the boat when he delivered the painting, but doubted he would. And he would be treated like a delivery boy, and dismissed the moment the painting left his hands. He expected it. They had no way of knowing he was Lorenzo’s son, and he didn’t want them to. It was none of their business, and would have been out of character for Theo to introduce himself that way. He never did.

Theo was on the dock just below the Eden Roc at the H?tel du Cap, promptly at five. The painting had been carefully wrapped in art paper, then in a soft fabric, and after that in bubble wrap and a heavy plastic wrapping to protect it on the trip to the boat. Theo was holding it as the tender approached. The sailors from Princess Marina saw him immediately, carefully took the painting from him, helped him jump aboard, covered the wrapped painting with a tarp, and then they took off at high speed across the water toward the yacht. He was asked to wait in a holding area, with the painting. Then the purser came to meet him with a security guard, and led him into an elevator. They treated him respectfully, but his mission was simple and clear: to hand over the painting to a designated person, whose identity he didn’t know. And at that price, it would only be Stanislas himself, who wanted the pleasure of receiving what he now owned and had paid a fortune for.