Page 72 of Marked By Moonlight
“She will if Charlotte charms her socks off,” Bene countered.
“You’re on a first-name basis with the countess?” Henrik smirked.
Bene huffed, a little hurt. “Everyone is. She’s super friendly.”
“When the camera is switched on,” Marius muttered.
“What about the sheikh?” Henrik asked Bene.
“Well, hedefinitelyhas sufficient funds. He’s sponsored high-level sporting events in the Middle East and plans to move into art and tech next.”
“Artandtech, or artortech?” I asked, trying to picture what either actually meant.
Bene shrugged. “Not sure he cares, as long as it brings publicity.”
“Well, that’s who we have,” Roux concluded. “We need a short list of about three. Who can we eliminate?”
“**Everyone but the Swiss art foundation,” I said, but everyone ignored me.
“That Russian — Levitsky,” Henrik proposed. “And the sheikh.”
“Agreed.” Marius nodded.
“And the Swiss arts foundation,” Roux said.
I shook my head. “We have to give it a try.”
Roux pulled the file from me, leafed through it, and pointed to the spreadsheet detailing their net worth.
I drooped. Boy, did the world suck sometimes.
“So, no arts foundation,” Roux concluded.
“Well, then you can cut the tech guy too,” I said a little vindictively. “Anastasia will never go for him.”
Roux shook his head. “The tech guy stays in.”
“Why?” I asked.
“The tech guy stays in,” he repeated firmly. “What about eliminating the countess?”
“No way!” Bene protested.
“The client wants secrecy, right? There’s no way an influencer is going to keep a deal like this quiet,” Roux reasoned. “Plus, I doubt she can outbid the others.”
Things went on in that vein for a while, and tensions rose because the guys, as usual, couldn’t agree.
“We can’t cut the countess,” Bene insisted.
“She’s the first we should cut,” Henrik retorted.
“No, that would be the tech guy,” Marius grumbled.
“The tech guy remains.” Roux’s eyes took on the heated sheen shifters got when they were agitated.
I patted the air with my hands. “Enough. Enough already!” I shouted when they didn’t respond. “We’ve eliminated three. I say I present the remaining four to Anastasia and letherdecide. It’s her painting,” I added a little bitterly.
Roux glanced at his watch, clearly irritated that we hadn’t used our time more efficiently. We were still on schedule — just notaheadof schedule, as he preferred.
