Shades of Sins (New York Sinner Series Book 2)

6| Art

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Art

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Chapter 6: Art (Dante's POV)

For the next three days, I continued to lay low. Steadily, I took my meetings beyond the four walls of my office, and the more often I showed face, the faster word spread. Apparently, the Dante Rossi was finally back. Whatever that meant. 

For the next few weeks, I had no choice but to accept invitations for every social gathering that came my way, and with people knowing I was no longer underground, they flooded into my mailbox. Tonight's, however, was a first. The launch and opening ceremony of a new art gallery on Wall Street. 

It caught me off guard when I opened the invitation and found no name or address of the host, simply an invitation, but the pool of people in this circle was too big to be counted. It could be from anybody. It hardly mattered who the host was at social gatherings like this. People who received invitations always showed up; it was just an excuse to show off yourself and your success and wealth. 

"Where do you suggest we meet then?" Mr Jameson asked. 

I held my phone to my ear as I entered my apartment. "There's an inauguration ceremony tonight. A new art gallery, it's called The Vault. Have you received an invitation?" I asked. 

"I don't think there's anybody in this city who didn't receive that invitation," he scoffed. "Who is the host?" 

"It hardly matters," I replied. "All we need is a place to meet. A place where the crowd is too immersed in their conversations to overhear ours, Mr Jameson. The Vault would be perfect." 

"But wouldn't it be too—" 

"If you decide to attend, you can find me there. It shouldn't be too hard." I hung up without waiting for a response. The man had been on my ass for the past few months, making every bargain possible to hire me for a job. 

I hated working for other people, being at someone else's mercy, doing everything at their beck and call. I'd rather have someone at my mercy instead. 

It was already late in the afternoon, and the event began at seven o'clock, so I moved up to my room and took a quick shower before taking out a suit for the night. 

I couldn't help but wonder if she'd be there tonight. Seeing Anastasia always seemed to do a number of unfathomable things to me simultaneously. I could never decide if I despised it or not. It was certain that I despised her for several reasons that got on my nerves. 

Anastasia was a woman with far too much power over me in the past, and if I hadn't gotten rid of her then, it would have destroyed me. We simply weren't good for each other. I didn't know why it was so hard for me to accept that we could never be anything. We would only ruin each other again. 

With one final spritz of cologne, I grabbed the car keys and headed out, taking out the Aston Martin Vantage for tonight and slipping into the driver's seat, heading down to the address given for the gallery. When I arrived there, the place was lit up with warm yet dim lights to create an ambiance.