Secret Shared

14 DAUPHINE

I SHOULD HAVE known something was off when a different driver, not Ernesto, arrived twenty minutes later than the appointed time. I sat in the lobby of the Palace Alvear Hotel, in my new side-buttoned, black brocade dress with three-quarter sleeves, the better to show off my bracelet. I had found the dress buried in a rack in a shop in San Telmo, a gorgeous, form-fitting cocktail confection that stopped just below the knee, a conservative length set off by the way it hugged my curves. Watching the way my new driver took me in while striding confidently towards me in the lobby of the hotel told me the dress was worth every penny. His own uniform, on the other hand, was a little too snug, the hat too large, the sleeves too short. He just didn’t have the physique of a man who sat behind the wheel of a limousine all day, which, in fact, was a high compliment.

“Lo siento, Señora Dauphine,” he said, apologizing for his lateness, his veined wrists peeking out from his cuffs when he extended an ungloved hand.

I felt a sizzle up my arm when I shook it. Where Ernesto had a boyish charm, this new driver was pure masculinity. But a second alarm bell went off after he settled me in the back seat.

“A donde vamos?” he asked. Where are we going?

If he had been sent by S.E.C.R.E.T., wouldn’t he know the address? Matilda had said the auction was top secret and only a few well-heeled invitees knew its location. That information had been delivered via phone call, not by invitation, in order to avoid attention from the press.

I met his smiling green eyes in the rearview mirror. He was the kind of man who knew he had a certain effect on women.

“Vamos al Teatro Colón, por supesto,” I said, directing him to the historical theatre downtown. I couldn’t help being charmed by his looks. So shallow, Dauphine, I scolded, resting back into my seat.

The next alarm when off on the slow drive to the theater, when, every block or so, he consulted a GPS, adjusting and readjusting his rearview mirror. And yet when we pulled up to the Teatro Colón, a block-long building that looked like a creamy marble wedding cake, my concerns about this man were immediately replaced by trepidations about the auction. A tuxedoed valet stood curbside to greet me. He ignored my driver as he opened the door and helped me out of the car.

“Wow,” I said, sounding like the gosh-gollyest American who ever was.

“Miss Mason, it is a privilege to meet you. And I am sorry if you had … trouble finding the Teatro Colón.” He eyed my driver. “Quíen es usted?”

“Dante,” my driver answered, as he grasped me by the upper arm.

My greeter exhaled dramatically and turned on his heel. Dante and I followed him through the throng of tourists snapping photos in front of the theater. We hurried past the marble statues in the gold foyer where other limo drivers gathered to wait, then passed the stained-glass ceiling and the signs that read, EVENTO PRIVADO. We pushed through the carved gilded doors into a darkened theater.

Teatro Colón was a mesmerizing spectacle of intricate balconies surrounding long sweeping arcs of plush red velvet seats. A dozen front rows were filled with restless bidders who’d been waiting for us. Thankfully, we weren’t the last to arrive. Just before taking my seat, a tall blonde in a tailored blue business suit scrambled down the stairs, taking the last seat at the remote agents’ table in front of a bank of telephones. Matilda had told me there’d be some buyers calling in from around the world, the phones manned by their local bankers.

Be cool, Dauphine. You’re just here to sign some papers. I nervously patted my chignon, relieved I’d chosen kitten heels with the snug dress. My designated seat on the aisle of the last row was the best vantage point from which to watch the bidding before me. I leaned back to take in the sepia-stained frescos that circled a chandelier as big as the sun.

I eyed the buyers, mostly women. Money from the sale of the painting would fund S.E.C.R.E.T.’s rather unorthodox pursuits, as Matilda had explained. She didn’t want it coming from people or groups that might pry too far into S.E.C.R.E.T.’s true mandate, or whose values didn’t dovetail with our own.

Dante stood vigil to my right, like a handsome guard dog.

“It’s … lindísima,” I said, regarding the venue.

“Yes. It’s spectacular,” he whispered, leaning towards me. “It’s been completely restored over the last few years. That dress is spectacular too, by the way.”

So he spoke English! And with an American accent—no—a Southern accent! That was the final alarm bell.

“Who are you? Where are you from?”

A sweet smile crossed his lips just as a hammer hit a gavel and a curtain rose on Red Rage, gorgeously lit and perched on a matte black stand, its modernist style in stark contrast to the lush concert hall. Oohs and ahhs filled the room, and vigorous applause seemed to be Dante’s cue to take a seat high in the empty part of the theater behind me.

The auctioneer took the stage and greeted the guests. After a brief preamble about the painting’s history, he called on the room to acknowledge a representative sent to authenticate the transfer of ownership.

“Please welcome Señorita Mason, who accompanied Red Rage all the way from New Orleans on behalf of its anonymous owner.”

I felt the blood drain out of my face. Without standing, I floated a hand in the air and quickly dropped it back down, sinking with it.

“We wish you great luck today, Señorita Mason. The auction will be in English. Headphones have been provided for translation. Let us begin.”

Whack. Bidding opened at 2.3 million dollars American. Matilda hoped to double that. The auctioneer began navigating a forest of arms from both sides of the aisle. He was responding so quickly, he looked like he was doing a breaststroke. Anonymous telephone bids were also flooding in, and the blonde who had arrived later than me sat at the end of a bank of phones, her leg bouncing nervously.

“Do I hear two point four million? Two point four? Now two point six it is. That’s two point six from the back. Three million over here. I hear three million up front …”

My head whipped back and forth to keep up with the fast climb.

“We have four million, four point two, we have four point two. Four point eight and now five, ladies and gentleman …”

At that price, a few of the bidders’ representatives hung up their phones. By six million, half the room had stilled as I sat upright, literally on the edge of my seat. At seven million, most everyone else in the theater dropped out. But two remained: a stout woman in thick glasses competing against a particularly enthusiastic phone bidder, represented by the blonde, whose arm remained in the air, her finger registering “yes” to every uptick in the price.

“Now at eight point five … eight point five, and we have nine. That is nine million over here on the phone! Nine million two …”

Holy hell! It’s going to ten million. That’ll finance a lot of fantasies. I craned my neck to look for my driver, who was no longer shadowing me. Maybe he had joined the other drivers in the lobby.

“Ten million dollars, we are at ten. Ten point four, that is ten million, four hundred thousand …”

Left, right, right, left, the two remaining bidders each spurned the other on, the blonde on the phone never losing her cool, the woman in glasses becoming increasingly agitated. My heart played along, spiking with every raised hand. This was way more exciting than sports!

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are at eleven million and one hundred thousand dollars. Do I hear eleven two? We have … eleven two,” said the auctioneer, pointing his hammer at the bespectacled woman whose arm was becoming heavier and heavier. The blonde’s remained steadily aloft.

“Eleven three? Yes, we have eleven three on the phone. Will we get eleven four?”

The pause weighed on the room. All heads now turned to face the woman in the thick black glasses. Maybe because she wasn’t some disembodied voice on the phone, I suddenly wanted her to win. But alas, the blonde’s arm spiked calmly at the last price.

“We have eleven point four from anonymous bidder number eight up front … eleven point four … do we have eleven five?”

The woman in the glasses lifted a tentative hand.

“We have eleven five—”

“Fifteen million!” boomed a familiar voice from the back of the room.

It took me a second to realize who it was, because he was no longer wearing his uniform. My driver, Dante, stood there, in a dark suit that looked freshly pressed, a white shirt neatly tucked into the slacks, and his cap, sunglasses and ill-fitting jacket gone. He looked alarmingly sexy, a hand slung in a pocket.

“Are you a registered bidder?”

He pointed to the late arrival, the nervous blonde at the phone table.

“That is my company’s representative, Isabella, from the Central Bank of Argentina. She can vouch for my funds. You can hang up now, Isabella. I am so sorry I’m late.”

Dante—or whatever his real name was—raised the temperature of the theater from simmer to boil. The auctioneer, now flustered, turned to find the bespectacled woman’s head resting in a hand, defeated.

“So then … it is fifteen million … going once … going twice … and sold to the gentleman in the dark suit. Carolina Mendoza’s Red Rage goes for fifteen million. A record, ladies and gentlemen. A smashing record!”

Applause broke out in the theater, but my hands held firm to my armrests as I watched Dante stride over to the losing bidder to shake her hand. The crowd continued to clap as Dante posed for pictures in front of the painting. The auctioneer, after a quiet word with Isabella, motioned me down the stairs to the telephone table, now cleared of everything except an elaborate certificate carefully centered on a leather blotter.

“Isabella tells me the fifteen million dollars has already been cleared. Unless you have any objections to an unregistered bidder purchasing the painting, you may sign the transfer of ownership,” said the auctioneer, handing me a fancy pen with a feather tail, and adding, “It is an enormous amount of money. Impressive.”

He also seemed unnerved by this handsome man who had infiltrated these somber, private proceedings in such a strangely dramatic way. But what do you say when someone drops fifteen million dollars, tripling what was projected? You say thank you, and you sign on the dotted line, which is what I did, with an appropriate flourish. I couldn’t wait to tell Matilda about the windfall.

I handed the auctioneer the papers.

Dante, or whoever he was, came over to the table and completed the transfer with his own undecipherable signature. Then he met my still-confused gaze.

“Nice to formally meet you, Miss Mason. I can assure you that Ms. Mendoza’s painting will be going to a very good home. I am a big fan of all her endeavors. So you can imagine how sad I was to be left off the list of bidders, and how grateful I am that you did not hold that against me.”

“Who are you?” I asked, cautiously weaving my hand through the crook of an arm he offered. “And what was all that limo subterfuge? The not speaking English? Showing up unregistered? Was that really necessary? Surely you could have—”

“Dauphine, my dear, I will explain everything in good time. But we must leave now, before curiosity overtakes the room, swallowing us both. People will begin to ask questions. About me, about you and about the … group you represent.”

“What do you know about that?”

“I know enough to ask you … if you’ll accept the Step.”

Of course! So he is one of them. He’s one of us!

As a crowd gathered to photograph Red Rage before it was packed and shipped, he ushered me up the steps to the theater’s exit. Now it was all making sense, though my heart continued pounding.

The foyer was empty, save for a half-dozen bored drivers checking their watches. Dante pulled me sharply in the opposite direction, through high glass doors covered in lace curtains. Suddenly, we were alone in a beautiful narrow hall painted ivory, lined with columns and wainscoting in the same golden hue as my bracelet. He let go of my arm, his whole body now facing me.

“So?”

“So …” I said, inching backwards until I collapsed onto an overstuffed settee beneath a bust of some famous composer. “Did you really just spend fifteen million dollars on a painting?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“To impress you. Did it work?”

I shifted over so he could sit beside me.

“Possibly.”

Clearly, this was a man for whom everything came easy. But I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to be one of those things. He leaned in, his face inches from mine. His nostrils flared like an animal’s picking up the scent of fear … and liking it.

“I’ll ask you once again: do you accept the Step?”

He lifted my hand and was about to examine my bracelet when I snatched my wrist from him, hiding it behind my back. He was sexy, and he knew about S.E.C.R.E.T., but there was a dark air about him that kept tripping me up.

“What’s your real name?” I asked. “And how come you didn’t know where the auction was if your banker was here, the blond one?”

“She was following us, having not received an invitation either. Now, I’ll be happy to answer the rest of your questions, Dauphine. But there’s really only one that matters. Do you accept the Step?”

His mouth now at my ear, he gathered a lobe between his lips, gently sucking it. A current flowed through me, my body turning to lava. Everywhere he touched me, the skin beneath melted. He was moving fast, so fast I’d soon be unable to stop him, even if I wanted to.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since I laid eyes on you at the hotel,” he whispered, parting my knees, his hand making its languid way up my thighs.

I froze at the sound of chatter coming from the lobby.

“I locked the door. No one will find us in here,” he said, my skirt now pulled almost all the way up to my hips.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him.

“Where are you from?”

He dove in again, his mouth finding my neck. He was having none of my questions. I was delirious with desire, my instincts beginning to dull because of his talented mouth.

“Dauphine, accept, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“I will accept,” I murmured, eyes closed, “if you tell me … what Step I’m on.”

His eyes searched for my bracelet again, but I’d cleverly tucked my arm behind me.

He straightened up, tugging the cuffs on his sleeves.

“It’s not a hard question,” I said. “Why don’t you check the charm, the one you brought to give me afterwards? That will tell you the answer.”

He paused for a moment, then said, “You know the rules, Dauphine. If you don’t accept, I can’t show you the charm.”

I went over the S.E.C.R.E.T. acronym in my head. He was Compelling, that’s for sure. And this would have been a Romantic, Erotic interlude. Perhaps it would have left me feeling Ecstatic and Transformed. But there was just one problem: I didn’t feel Safe. That was what it all boiled down to. If Step Five was about overcoming my fears, his refusal to answer my questions kept me from feeling that.

“You know the rules too, Dante, or whatever your name is. If I don’t accept the Step, we stop here. It’s over. I’m saying no. Who are you anyway? You sound like you’re from the South—in fact, from Louisiana.”

“Well, now,” he huffed, standing. “For someone who refuses me, you sure demand a lot.”

“It would seem so,” I said, pulling my dress down over my knees. My chignon had fallen out in our brief tussle, so I undid the barrette holding it in place, releasing my hair.

“Red Rage indeed,” he said, admiring my hair, reaching out to caress a tendril. I pulled away. “I would be happy to have my driver take you back to your hotel.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said. “I can make it back on my own.”

“Then … I shall be on my way.”

He stood and walked away, unlocked the door, and quietly shut it behind him as he left. Who in the hell was this man and what had he just tried to pull? I waited a few more seconds before heading back to the theater, where a handful of people still surrounded the painting. Was it too late to rip up the transfer of ownership? I had to try.

The auctioneer was locked in quiet conversation with the banker, Isabella.

“Excuse me,” I said, interrupting them. “Before I leave, can you tell me if it’s possible to stop the transfer? It’s just … I feel I might have made a mistake in selling the painting to an unregistered bidder.”

They looked at each other as though they had been discussing this exact thing.

“The problem is that you would now need his signature too,” said the auctioneer. “He officially owns that painting.”

“And he was a very keen buyer,” Isabella added, in clipped but perfect English. “I did not realize he was unregistered; otherwise I would not have participated on behalf of Señor Castille.”

“Señor who?”

“Castille,” she said. “Pierre Castille. I assume he is well known in your city since his family owns half of it.”

“A small part of this one too,” chuckled the auctioneer.

Pierre Castille? Of course I knew the name. But I hadn’t recognized his face out of context. There weren’t many photos of him; he was private for someone so wealthy, but if you lived in New Orleans, that name was tantamount to royalty.

Why the hell would Pierre Castille, Pierre the Heir, the Bayou Billionaire, infiltrate a private auction, drop fifteen million dollars on a painting, then try to seduce me on a settee in a theater in Buenos Aires? What had I gotten myself into?

I felt the blood rise to my face. Cassie and Matilda were going to hear about this. Perhaps it was a sign. Perhaps stopping at Step Five was appropriate. I asked for directions to the cab stand and made my defeated way outside. I’d conquered enough fears, I thought, glancing down at my bracelet. Even half complete it looked quite pretty as it caught the glare off passing cars in the nighttime.

As I sat in the cab back to the hotel, my heart was still pounding, my skin feeling seared where Pierre Castille had touched me.