Free Dog Collar Knockoff by Adrienne Giordano

distress. She perked up, plastered on a smile and faced Carlton again. “Oh, that’s too bad.”
    “Maybe I can show you something similar?”
    Ro wandered to the next painting on the wall, tilted her head this way and that, playing the role of a wannabe buyer. If she knew anything about art, it would be a surprise to Lucie, but she looked good. And in Ro’s world, that’s all that mattered.
    Total method acting.
    “Well,” she said, “I had my heart set on that one.”
    Being the able-bodied assistant, Lucie cleared her throat. “Carlton, do you know who owns the painting? Perhaps we could contact them?”
    Ro spun back, curved her lips into the I-am-beautiful-and-you-will-do-what-I-say smile. “And then I can make the owner of My Darkest Night an offer. Delilah, you are a genius.”
    “Thank you, ma’am.” She nodded at Carlton. “Of course, we would very much appreciate any help you can give on that front.”
    Hey, Keegan had said side deals happened all the time. Still, this method acting wasn’t so easy, but hopefully Carlton got the message that the disgustingly wealthy Ro would compensate him for helping make this deal happen.
    None of which would actually happen, but well, this was the life of undercover work.
    “Let me check my list,” he said.
    “Your list?”
    “Yes. The family has a private collection of Arturo’s work. Whatever they don’t have, I’m able to sell. They’ve been known to occasionally sell paintings. For charity auctions and whatnot, but they are diligent about notifying me when that happens. It helps us keep the master list of all works updated so all paintings are accounted for.”
    “How smart.”
    Carlton walked to the desk near the back wall and Ro turned her back to him. She winked at Lucie and blew a kiss. Lucie feigned a gag. Hairball . Her lunatic friend was having way too much fun on this adventure.
    Thank goodness, at least, big-mouth Joey was staying quiet. If he got on a tear, no telling what might happen. Lucie gestured to the entrance. “You could run outside and get some air if you wanted.”
    He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “I’m good right here.”
    Of course he was.
    “Well,” Carlton said, coming back toward Lucie and Ro. “I have good news and bad news.”
    Ro cocked one hip. “Carlton, you’re not going to break my heart, are you?”
    He smiled at her flirty tone and Lucie’s hairball grew.
    “I certainly hope not,” he said. “I checked my inventory and I don’t see that particular painting on the list.”
    “Is that bad?”
    “Not necessarily. The family might still have the painting in one of their homes. In which case, you might be in luck and they’d sell it.”
    Lucie didn’t like the dubious tone. “What are the chances of that? You said they usually only let the pieces from the private collection go when a charity is involved.”
    Carlton leaned closer. That was a little crazy pants considering they were the only ones in the room, but hey, maybe the place had recording devices or something. Ooh. Bad thought since they were undercover.
    Now who was crazy pants?
    Get a grip, Lucie.
    “You didn’t hear this from me,” Carlton said, “but Arturo’s youngest sister has, shall we say, financial issues.”
    “Really?”
    “Indeed. Twice the family has bailed her out. Rumor has it she’s a gambler.”
    Finding this fascinating, Lucie slid her gaze to Joey, who was hopefully listening to the tale of woe. He shook his head and topped it off with a massive eye roll. Whenever they got into a discussion about gambling and his illegal bookie business, he assured her his money was safe and grew steadily each year. Unlike the poor slobs who lost their butts in the stock market every day.
    The sick part of it was that she had no argument. Zero. Considering she was an out-of-work investment banker.
    Ro inched closer to Carlton, giving him a nice view of her cleavage. “A gambler, you say? Meaning if we contacted her and