Deadly Little Secrets Page 0,20

handed around to Ana, Gates, and Jen, in case their clothes had been affected by the events.

Two younger staffers came to her at a gesture and one was sent to procure fresh drinks for everyone. The other she directed sotto voce, but Ana caught the mention of coffee for several people, and cabs for others.

In her guise as Shirley Bascom, Ana fluttered. “So much excitement! I know it wasn’t supposed to happen, but it sure did get a lot of cameras flashing. That’s good for the guy, isn’t it? The artist?” Jen’s date snickered a bit over her comment, but Carrie wasn’t as insouciant.

“Of course, but it’s better if the news clips focus on the art and the gallery, rather than someone getting hurt, don’t you think?” The subtle reprimand was delivered so graciously that if she’d been as dim as Shirley Bascom, she’d have never caught it.

“Oh, for sure,” she replied, forcing a puzzled look onto her face. “It must be interesting, though. It’s an amazing gallery, Ms. McCray, and the party totally rocks. Do you just love buying art?” she gushed.

To her credit, Carrie McCray was quick on her feet. Ana had hoped to catch her off guard with the serious question slipped in with the bullshit, perhaps learn something, but Carrie was all business.

“It never ceases to be interesting, Ms. Bascom. Are you an artist?”

“Oh no,” Ana-as-Shirley shook off the idea with an impatient gesture. “Just an appreciator,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at Gates, in true bimbo fashion. “Such amazing talent this young man has, the use of color, the depth of field.” She dug into her art background, tossed out the terms to keep the conversation going.

“The young man has many admirers, both personally and artistically,” Carrie said, smiling. Her smile warmed a fraction as the older man Ana had seen earlier came up to stand next to Gates.

Her feeble brain finally put two and two together as she recognized Davros Gianikopolis, who was obviously not out of town. She flicked a look at the artist, and at Gianikopolis, and put two and two together. Paul Winget was distantly related. The family matter that had taken Dav’s time was about the gallery opening. The young man at the estate who’d pissed Gates off when he came up to the car had been Paul Winget.

Gianikopolis was thinner than in his last photo. His smile and appreciative look said he was also a very magnetic personality, and he treated Jen, Carrie, and Ana to the exact same degree of courtesy and warmth. Ana dragged out dusty flirting skills and used her Shirley persona to deliver them.

“Well, hello,” she purred, holding out a hand. “I’m Shirley Bascom. This is Carrie, Carrie McCray, she owns the gallery, you know,” she offered with a fluttery smile. “Oh, and this is Gates.” She turned to Gates as if she didn’t know him, letting a frown cross her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, here we’ve been chatting on and I don’t know your last name.”

“It’s Bromley. And Shirley, this is my friend, Davros.” He stepped back, letting the billionaire move into the proverbial spotlight.

“Please, call me Dav.” Gianikopolis smiled at the three women. “Good to see you again, Jack.” He briefly shook Jack D’Onofrio’s hand, giving him a brief nod as he shook Jen’s hand as well. “How’re all your business interests on the East Coast? New York, isn’t it? Or is it New Jersey?”

The body language told a lot of tales in the interaction between Jack and Gianikopolis. Jack was tense, uncomfortable at the questions, but doing his damndest to mask it. He’d stiffened when Dav asked about the East Coast. Dav seemed indifferent to the reaction. If Dav was baiting him, it was working. Gates was taking it all in with a hint of cool amusement.

Maybe she needed to dig deeper into D’Onofrio after all, and not just because of Jen. No love lost between Dav and D’Onofrio, that was for sure.

Gates sent her a quick flick of a gaze, as if to say, Break the tension.

Following the cue Gates offered, although Shirley wouldn’t have been smart enough to see the move, Ana said, “Oh, I love New York, don’t you? So vibrant. Not that this isn’t. The City’s just such a beacon for art, you know?”

That broke the tension and redirected everyone’s attention to the art. Ana flirted lightly with Dav and kept up a bright flow of chatter. What she really wanted to do was stand over to the