Page 301 of Double or Nothing

BRYCE

One point two five million pounds.

The number repeats in my head as the auction comes to an end.

Jack did it.

We did it.

It’s still hard to comprehend. One of the biggest successes there could be. One of the biggest successes in my life. And it had nothing whatsoever to do with Parker Capital.

I look towards the back of the room.

Jack’s leaning against the wall with his paddle hanging from one hand, every inch the casual gambler who never doubted the turn of the final card.

But that wasn’t quite the reality. I saw his face when Helena Mercer lowered her paddle and considered backing out. I saw the instant he realised he might have spent more than a million pounds on a trio of paintings we needed someone else to buy.

His composure returned super quickly from the flash of fear, but not before I caught it. I saw it in his eyes.

Around us, the room has broken into respectable chaos. Buyers are rising and gathering up their belongings, most of them retreating to the entrance bar for after drinks. Some people are hanging around and congratulating the artists. Yet Alice is still rooted in her seat.

Her hands cover her mouth. Tears spilling over her fingers while she stares at her work on the screen.

I want to reach out to her, but Christopher gets there first.

He leans close and whispers into her ear. I can’t hear the words, but I see their effect. Alice lowers her hands. Her shoulders draw in. His words clearly mean nothing, if anything they are pulling her back into Parker land.

No.

Not tonight.

I step around Christopher before he can stand.

“Alice.”

She looks up at me, and my heart blooms on the high of success.

“You did it,” I tell her. “Well done. What an incredible result for an incredible artist.”

“Over a million,” Alice whispers. “I just can’t… is this for real?”

I laugh, so happy for her.

“Yes. It’s real. You broke a million. Seven figures.”

Her smile breaks through as another tear runs down her face.

For one perfect second, Christopher, Bill and the entire room disappear. Alice looks like herself again. The woman who stood in Jack’s kitchen eating toasties, and sketching on the sofa.

Camilla Stour reaches us before I can say more.

“Alice, Helena would like to meet you.”

Helena Mercer approaches, grinning from ear to ear, elated at being the one to own Alice’s incredible pieces.

She takes Alice’s hands as Alice rises to her feet.

“Congratulations.”