A Prize Beyond Jewels

‘Not that I’m aware of, no,’ he answered carefully; no doubt Dmitri Palitov would have something to say to him when the two men next met, but at this moment Dmitri hadn’t told him how he felt in regard to the night Rafe had spent with his daughter.

Pure semantics, Rafe knew, because he could easily guess how the older man felt about it; he just didn’t know for certain.

Michael nodded acceptance of his answer. ‘Did you talk to the daughter?’

Rafe’s tension increased. ‘About what?’

‘About your idea of commissioning the display cabinets for all the Archangel galleries from her, of course,’ Michael answered impatiently. ‘For God’s sake, get a grip, Rafe. It was your recommendation that we ask her!’

Yes, it was, and it was a recommendation Rafe now had reason to regret. It very much looked as if Nina was going to accept the commission, and how the hell was he supposed to work on the design of those display cabinets with Nina when he only had to look at her to want her?

‘She’s on board with the idea.’ He nodded. ‘She said she would talk to you about it at the gala exhibition tomorrow night.’ He bleakly recalled his own less than happy response to that suggestion.

A response that continued to fester and grow after Nina told him she didn’t want to continue seeing him.

‘Me?’ Michael echoed blankly.

‘Yes—you,’ Rafe confirmed with hard derision. ‘Obviously Miss Palitov considers, as you’re the senior D’Angelo brother, that you’re the one she should be talking to about this rather than your disreputable younger brother!’

‘She doesn’t realise that I’m the businessman in the family, Gabe’s the artistic one, and you’re the new ideas man for all the D’Angelo galleries?’

Rafe’s mouth twisted. ‘Does anybody?’

‘And whose fault is that?’ Michael frowned.

‘Mine,’ Rafe sighed. ‘And it’s never really bothered me before.’

‘But it does now?’

It did, yes. Because for the first time in his life Rafe wanted someone, Nina, to see him not for who he was perceived to be but who he really was—the ‘ideas man’ of the D’Angelo family, as Michael had just called him.

Just earlier this evening the two brothers had discussed another new project of Rafe’s that he had been thinking about the past few days, one in which they took Gabriel’s original idea of a competition for new artists and broadened the spectrum to include all new artistic talent, from sculpture to the design of jewellery, giving over a room each month in the three galleries for displaying that talent.

The two previous competitions in the Paris and London galleries had been a great success, and a third was due to take place here in New York later in the year. Based on these successes, Rafe couldn’t see any reason not to expand the idea.

It would mean a lot of hard work for each of the brothers, but Rafe believed the rewards, of discovering and exhibiting new artistic talent, would ultimately be well worth it. Instead of just selling or exhibiting great art, they would be discovering it.

Michael was already enthusiastic about the idea, and the two of them would discuss it with Gabriel once he was back from his honeymoon.

‘Maybe,’ Rafe conceded hardly.

‘Becoming a little tired of the playboy label?’

‘I believe I am, yes.’ Especially so if it meant that was all Nina saw him as being!

‘It’s about time!’

‘It is?’ Rafe came back dryly.

His brother nodded. ‘It was okay in your mid and late twenties, but it’s good to see that it isn’t enough for you now. You’re a brilliant ideas man, Rafe, have always read the market perfectly, known in exactly which new direction we should take Archangel. I’d like other people to appreciate that as much as Gabe and I do. And I’ll talk to Miss Palitov tomorrow evening, by all means.’ Michael shrugged. ‘But only to tell her that you’re in charge of the project. As you’re in charge of all new projects at Archangel.’

Oh, yes, Nina was going to learn that Rafe was very much ‘in charge’ when it came to anything to do with her, and anyone else, working within the realms of the Archangel galleries.

It might be sheer torture for Rafe to work with Nina, desiring her as he still did, but there was absolutely no way he was going to let her bypass him in favour of working with Michael.

Nina might not like it, but, as far as Rafe was concerned, if she was serious about wanting to design the new display cabinets for the three galleries, then she was stuck with him for the duration.

He looked across at his brother now. ‘Ni— Someone made a comment to me a couple of days ago, implying that maybe the reason you’ve always had to be the serious one is because you had two mischievous younger brothers.’