Page 37 of The Prize
I folded my arms in a stance I hoped would exude reluctance.
He took another sip of tea. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m still not sure about any of this.”
Tobias pushed off away from the table. “We must focus on the prize.” He held my stare for the longest time. “Retrieving your paintings as quickly as possible and transporting them to the National Gallery in London...” He went to say something else and changed his mind.
“What?”
“This afternoon I’m going to teach you a few tricks of the trade.”
“What tricks?”
“The skills to defend yourself. You demanded your way into my world. Well, here you are. Buckle up.”
“What kind?”
“Entry without observation. Camera interference. Running the fuck away from danger happens to be my all-time fave. If you still insist on being there when I extract your paintings.”
“I should be there, right?”
“I’m working on something that would mean you don’t have to be present when the retrieval of our paintings goes down.”
“You mean involving other people in this?” Because there were so many paintings and one man couldn’t handle them all.
“Not exactly.”
“Then how else would you get them out?”
“I’ll be inventive. It’s what I do.”
A stark memory crashed into my thoughts. “How long have you had this plan?”
“What plan?”
“When we were in the Burells’ house in Arizona we were caught in Eli’s mechanism and in there was a design inspired by da Vinci. The one that descended into their safe. Eli was using it to trap us further. What are you not telling me?”
“Every self-respecting art collector has a thing for Leonardo.”
“Tobias?”
He broke my gaze.
“Why do I have this feeling you’re not telling me something?”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “I may have outbid his dad a few times at legit auctions when we both went after the same piece of art by Leonardo da Vinci.”
“Have you been riling him up for years?”
“There may have been some healthy teasing.”
“After what he did to you?”
“I was waiting for the grand finale.”
“As Icon?” I stomped my foot. “How dare you suck me into this. Getting Burell’s fingerprints was one thing—”
“Are you with me or against me, Leighton?”
