Page 33 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

That’s what spurs me on.

I walk in, and a young, artsy-looking girl is standing at the front desk, directing two men carrying a box. She notices me and ushers the men away before she walks up to me with her hand out. “Leanne, how are you?”

“Asher, I’m fine and you?” I shake her head.

“They said you were starting today. I’m glad we finally have a new curator.” She claps her hands together. “Our curator assistant is going to be happy, too.”

“Curator? I thought I was the assistant.” I look at her, surprised.

“No, no, you are definitely the curator. Come, let me take you around. The gallery is two stories, the ground floor and the first floor. The more modern living artists are housed on the first floor, where there is also a dance hall for when we have events. On the ground floor are classic pieces for sale to only the highest bidder. We just bought a huge shipment of authentic Picassos, and there’s one Da Vinci.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” I say, a little dumb-struck.

“So there are four rooms on the bottom floor that the public have access to.” She leads me past them down a hallway that runs from the front entrance. “One on the left and three on the right. Now, when you reach this back door, this is where the offices, the store room, and everything else is kept. Let me take you to your office.”

She opens the door and I follow her in. I’m a little lost for words. I suddenly feel like a small fish in a big pond.

Various doors branch from the corridor, and we go into each one. I’m introduced to the staff members working there.

“This is our restoration room,” Leanne says as she opens the door and steps in. Two people are in here, and one gets up and approaches me.

“Hi, I’m Harry, this is David.” He motions behind himself. “It’s nice to have you on board.”

“Thanks. I’m looking forward to getting settled and tackling everything,” I say. “This place is much bigger than I initially thought it was.”

“Yeah, the last curator got deported back to France, so they needed to fill the position quickly and needed someone good. Lucky they found you.” I blush slightly at her words.

“Well, I hope I can prove myself worthy,” I respond.

We leave the restoration room and head down to the very back, which opens into a sizeable factory-like store room area. It has a high ceiling, with many labeled boxes throughout the area.

“This is the storage room. We don’t keep things up for more than two weeks, even though they will go up again in a month or so, depending on what the curator, which is you, decides.” Leanne smiles. “Let me show you to your office, then I’ll leave you to wander around. I think Shaylen got some cake to welcome you to the team.”

“That’s awfully sweet of her,” I say as we walk back to the one door we didn’t enter. It has the word CURATOR written on it.

She opens the door and I walk in. There are files along one side of the wall, and on the other, there are books and what looks like little sculptures. There is a laptop on the desk, and I see they’ve written the login details on a Post-it note and left it on the table's desktop calendar.

“Right, I’ll leave you to it.” Leanne smiles and leaves the office, shutting the door behind her.

Curator.

That’s the job I’ve always wanted, but it always seemed unattainable. Now I’m here, and just from my own interview.

I mean, yes, Danil got me the interview, but I was hired on my merits. I believe him when he says that. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to fall for the idiot.

I spend the day familiarizing myself with the computer, the books, and the files. It is a lot to take in, and I’m grateful when, just before five, I get a text from Penny.

Meet at Zeek’s for a drink?

Pen x

I smile and reply.

Of course. Five thirty. Be there or be square.

Ash x

Now that I have something to look forward to, the time drags by slowly. I decide to explore the art gallery more and find that upstairs has some notable collections displayed. The dance hall that Leanne referred to is absolutely stunning. Very old-fashioned, though, if you ask me: having a little ball at an event.

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