Touching the Billionaire - Holly Jaymes Page 0,17

else?”

“You can’t own what you steal,” I said.

“Sure you can. The Langfords do.”

I straightened and turned to look at him, my mouth agape. “You’re saying the Langfords stole one of these?”

“Not the Langfords specifically. But I would guess nearly all of these were stolen at some point.”

I frowned and looked toward the paintings.

“How long do you think it takes for stolen art to be passed as legitimate?” he pondered. “Eighty years?”

My character knew he was giving me a clue to what he was up to. As my character, I appeared to do the mental math to determine what was going on eighty years ago. World War II.

“Are you saying this was stolen back during the war? And what? Now you’re stealing it back?”

He gave me a pointed look. “If it was stolen back then, what would you do about it? Will you arrest the Langfords for having stolen property? Will you arrest the people who owned it before them? The brokers that sold it?” His brow was arched and this was where my character was supposed to begin realizing there was more to Jack Cole than the billionaire thrill-thief he was thought to be. “I wonder what you’d do if the original, rightful owners walked in and took it back? Would you arrest them too?” he finished.

“If it was stolen eighty years ago, what are the odds they’re still alive to steal it back?”

His expression showed disappointment. “So, they forfeit their right to it? They do have heirs.”

“There is a procedure for something like this.” I tried to look a little scattered by his revelations. I was a woman who was always on the side of what was right, but now was being challenged about what right was.

He laughed derisively. “Yeah, right. First, they’d have to have the paperwork that was burned or bombed during the war. Second, they’d have to have as much money and influence as museums and rich collectors to fight in court.”

“Are you saying that you steal back property for their owners?”

He straightened from the back of the couch. “I didn’t say that.” He stepped close to me, and I didn’t have to act to have the quick hitch of breath at his nearness. “I’m saying, you are helping perpetuate a wrong by going after the wrong guy.”

I tilted my head up to look at him, nerves fluttering in my belly like I had a swarm of butterflies in it as I prepared for my first on-screen kiss. A kiss from Theo Wolfe.

His gaze dipped down to my lips and then up to my eyes. My lips parted slightly.

“Cut.”

Huh?

Theo immediately stepped back. It took me a moment, but then I shook my head of the haze that filled it when Theo Wolfe was so close to me.

“It’s good, but I want to go back to the line Nicolette says about stealing art to return it. That initial reaction to Jack’s getting in your space was good, Madeline. A mixture of suspicion and yet excitement. As he talks, build up your own bravado. Remember, this is a clash of two strong people each dedicated to their causes, even as they want to get into bed together.”

Theo returned to where he leaned against the couch, and I was standing next to him. Corrine called “action”.

I repeated my line. “Are you saying that you steal back property for their owners?”

He straightened from the back of the couch. “I didn’t say that.” He stepped up close to me, and again, it was no difficult task to be affected by his nearness. “I’m saying, you are helping perpetuate a wrong by going after the wrong guy.”

I tilted my head up to look at him, and while the nerves were still there, I worked to meet his gaze. His eyes drifted down to my lips.

“Maybe you should stay on the right side of the law, Cole.”

His gaze shot back to mine. “Maybe you should try to get on the right side of history.”

I stepped a little closer too, and adjusted my expression to challenge him more. Hopefully, the camera was catching the incremental increase in tension. “Maybe you should try using all that money you have for good if you feel people have been wronged.”

He moved closer too, and now our faces were inches apart. “Maybe you should use your investigative talents to make things right for all those who were wronged.”

I didn’t know if the camera was catching the sparks, but I was certainly feeling them. He was so close. I