Chapter 17

Davien

I sent Kian a message asking where he was, but never got a response. I took it, that not being physically present was all a part of this scheme of his.

The bidding was meant to start after the owner and some inspectors did a last minute damage control on the items saved for auction.

Since the room had gotten so crowded, the staff made rounds, checking to see who was apart of the auction, and who would get the boot.

"Will you be taking part in the auction? If so, come with me and take a number sir." Mira's high pitch drew my attention towards her.

I had no plans prior to taking part, hence I declined, "no, but could you let me stick around and see the result?"

She bit her lip, "I'm sorry, but the room is plenty full, if the manger finds out…"

"It's just one extra man little lady," my feet bridged the gap between us, until I was towering directly over her. She shrank back, an even mix of fear and uncertainty laced in her doe eyes.

"B-But…"

A groan escaped my lips, I looked behind her to see an empty seat right next to Ceaser. His men were directly behind him, but I wasn't afraid of them, what I was afraid of was drawing a crowd to myself.

But if that pup had done this, he wanted something from me, at this moment. Leaving now was simply out of the question.

Armed with that thought, I sauntered over to Fabri, and sat down beside him. I half expected his men to rub shoulders…or drag me out of the room.

But they stood perfectly still…strange.

"Don't worry that head of yours Mr Moore, they know who you are. You don't pose a threat." Ceaser's calm voice rang, with an arrogance laced lightly in his tone.

I don't pose a threat he said.

How cute.

"I didn't think you knew who I was, that certainly does make this easier."

He snorted, "you're trying to buy my land, of course I did my homework." He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out about seven photos.

He sifted through them, my eye caught sight of a headshot of Silvia, a poorly taken one at that.

"This is you, if I'm not mistaken." Ceaser said, flashing a picture of me getting out of my car.

I chuckled, "So you're a stalker?" He didn't respond and kept his eyes on the portraits being set in place. I could sense the seriousness in his eyes, his conviction was suffocating.

Relaxing into the seat, I cleared my throat, "It's good you know who I am, it saves us the time for chitchatting. You must know that I intend to buy that plot of land you're selling. But I don't want a round about way of an auction, so tell me your price, let's strike a deal."

From the photos he held, it was safe to say that I had six other competitors vying for the same thing. And with Silvia amongst them, the last thing I would want is to push my luck with an auction. I hadn't taken over the company yet, hence there were still a lot of liberties I wasn't awarded yet.

Fabri crossed a leg over the other, and without looking at me he replied, "Mr Moore, I'm very particular of auctions you see, it's exhilarating to watch people fight and struggle. But, if there's something I hate more, it's a coward. And you certainly are one." He took a pause and pulled out a can of alcohol from his breast pocket.

"Tracking my location and stalking me is not something a real man would do. And I'll be damned if I give my land away to a man like you." Unceremoniously, he dropped my picture and stepped over it with his brown shoes.

This bastard…

"Ladies and gentlemen, the bidding will commence shortly. In accordance with the rules, only the bidders and staff will remain in the room. All others may resume their museum self tour." One of the staff said, wearing the manager tag on their shirt.

"You hear that? Now leave." The latter part was said with gritted teeth, he signalled his men to escort me, perhaps to humiliate me further.

However, he had another thing coming if he thought I wasn't half as prideful as he was.

"Mira dear, come here." I signalled for the guide from earlier, she broke away from her circle and approached us, keeping her head down.

"Yes sir, how may I-"

I stood up and slapped away the invisible filth on my clothes, a sadistic grin plastered on my face.

"I'm taking part in the auction." I announced, forcing Ceaser to steal a glance at me. The indignation in his eyes was certainly worth the pettiness I intended on carrying out.

"Yes! Thank you sir! I'll go and have the preparations made." She announced, practically skipping to go share the good news with her manager.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you think taking part in the auction will make you look any better in my eyes? If that's your reason, drop out now, nothing you do will change how I see you." Ceaser told me, evidently showing his dislike.

Not that the feeling wasn't mutual.

The corners of my mouth lifted into a satisfied grin, "Don't worry…I'm just doing this to mess with you."

The doors to the room were drawn close, and all the bidders like myself, were faced with a stout red hair man well over forty, with a mic strapped to the left side of his face.

The auctioneer I assumed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today's auction! My name is Johnas Kreigh and I'll be your auctioneer for this exciting event. Thank you all for joining us today, and we have a fantastic lineup of portraits up for bidding. I can assure you it's going to be a thrilling auction, so let's get started! Before we begin, let's go over a few important details and guidelines."

After the rules were explained, the first collection was set before us, and the bidding commenced immediately.

I stole a glance at Ceaser, but he was unmoved by the display, as each portrait in the first collection went by, Ceaser sat down without making one bid.

"Sold!" The auctioneer announced, pointing to a man beside me, who had just bought a strange disfigured portrait for over fifty thousand dollars.

"Let's keep up the momentum and start bidding for the next collection!"

Immediately, the next line up of portraits were lined up, and to my notice, they had a different feel than the first. The first was made up of abstract paintings with no real figure. Whilst this one had bright and dazzling colours, illustrating beautiful goddess like women.

Now this was something I could spend good money on.

"Let's start the bidding at twenty thousand! Twenty thousand dollars! Do I hear twenty five?!"

I glanced behind me at Ceaser, but he didn't move an inch, his bidding number rested idly on his lap.

The paintings were then auctioned off one after the other, and before I knew it another collection was brought and set on display.

But just like the first two, the bastard didn't even glance at them, "Damn it, does that fucker not want to buy anything? We're already down to the last collection." I hissed, then turned my attention to it.

There were only three paintings in this collection, done by the same artist, I presumed. The first painting was set up for bidding, I relaxed into my seat, knowing all too well he wouldn't raise a hand. Not for such dull looking paintings.

The look of uncertainty plastered on the Manager's face, was enough proof he didn't have confidence in selling them off.

"Let's start at ten thousand dollars! Do I hear twelve thousand?" The auctioneer's starting price was the lowest he had called all night.

I attempted to leave for a smoke, but a man in front raised his number and called, "Twelve thousand!"

The auctioneer heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the nervous line of sweat on his forehead. "This collection was done by a single Italian artist in the year 1889, and auctioned off later in 1949." He explained, as the second portrait was set.

Getting cocky he announced, "Fifteen thousand! Fifteen thousand dollars for this work of art!"

I almost laughed, but the same man in front stepped up and replied, "Fifteen thousand dollars!"

"Fifteen thousand dollars. Going once! Going twice! And….sold!" He excitedly announced, stepping aside for the next painting to be displayed.

I pinched my jaw and looked behind me at Ceaser, he was still, too still, and he hadn't purchased a damn thing! This was the last painting, and yet he wasn't making his move.

"This last painting was the last one done by the artist Greta Calamari, before death took her in her thirties. In her dying moments she named this collection, "La Calore Rubata Dalla Madre", which means "Stolen Mother's warmth."

"Without further Ado, let's start the bidding. Can I hear twenty thousand?! Twenty thousand dollars…"

This was a waste of my time, I thought, until the same man with rolled up wine red sleeves raised his bidding card, infuriating me.

What was so special about this damned collection…

"Did he say Calamari?" My ears stood up, I quickly took out my phone and glossed through the information Gwen sent me on Ceaser.

It was towards the middle, that the familiar name struck me, and I recalled where I had heard it.

"Calamari, Ceaser you bastard." I cussed, reaching for my bidding stick, everything had become as clear as day to me.

"Twenty thousand dollars. Going once! Going twice, and…"

"Twenty five thousand dollars!" I called out, stealing all the attention in the room, the auctioneer widened his eyes in complete stun.

I could hear a heart pounding faster than the others coming from behind me, with an all knowing look on my face, I looked over my shoulder, all too certain it was him.

It was Caesar.

"I've figured you out, bastard, both you and that little pawn you've been using to fool me."

And most importantly, I had figured out why he wanted this damned collection so much….

"Kian, you really are a heartless bastard." I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, enjoying what was next to come at this auction.