Page 61 of Blown

“Non!” Hélène shouted, moving forward. “Do not touch that! Everything on this shelf is mine, my work.”

“I remember making this,” Rafe told her. “I remember every bit of it, including the flaw on the back that happened when Jake took it out of the annealer.”

Jake’s heart raced. He strode over to join Rafe and Hélène at the shelf, grabbing his phone along the way. He immediately stopped the vocal-only recording and switched to taking a video, not trying to hide what he was doing.

Hélène was too busy trying to grab the plate from Rafe to notice. “Give that back,” she said. “That is mine. I made it.”

“Really?” Rafe asked. “Then tell me where the flaw is.”

“It is…you cannot…there is no flaw,” she said, her breathing shallow and panicky.

Rafe turned to Jake and presented the plate to the camera. “It’s right here,” he said, pointing to the work as Jake recorded.

Suddenly, Hélène realized what was going on. “Give me that!” she said, trying to reach for Jake’s phone. “I do not allow photographic equipment in my studio.”

Plenty of artists didn’t allow their work to be photographed, but that definitely wasn’t Hélène’s reason for trying to snatch Jake’s phone.

“How much of this is stolen work?” Jake asked, turning his phone to the shelves and getting as close as he could with Hélène trying to snatch at him so that he could record as much of the work as possible. “Who here recognizes this work?” he asked as if he were doing a live video. “Does anyone else see work that Hélène Rénard stole from them?”

“No, please, no!” Hélène shouted, bursting into tears.

They had her. Jake knew the moment she started crying. Whether it was real or fake, they’d managed to corner Hélène exactly as they needed to.

“Please,” she said, hiding her face in her hands. “I will remove the post about your work. I will say it was a mistake, that I photographed the wrong things, posted the wrong photo. I will post another saying that the work belongs to the two of you. Please.”

Jake could have jumped up and down in triumph. They had her. Not only would she admit the work wasn’t hers, she would be cornered into launching him and Rafe into the upper circles of the art world.

“You’ll do all those things,” Rafe said, gesturing for Jake to turn off the recording.

Puzzled and a little wary of cutting off the recording right when they could have convinced Hélène to confess to a lot more, Jake did what Rafe asked and lowered his phone. He nodded so Rafe would know it wasn’t recording anymore.

“You’ll do all those things,” Rafe repeated to the still-crying Hélène, though her tears seemed more for show, like she was trying to soften their hearts, “and you’ll do something else for Jake.”

Both Jake and Hélène glanced at him in confusion. Rafe sent Jake a look that begged for his trust, then turned back to Hélène.

“Jake wants to move to the UK,” he said. “He wants to set up permanent residency there and apply for a British passport as soon as he’s able. The best way for him to do that is through a Global Talent visa.”

Jake’s eyebrows shot up. The best way for him to do that was through a fiancé, then a spouse visa.

“But in order to apply for the Global Talent visa he needs three letters of recommendation from leaders in his field,” Rafe went on.

“Yes, yes,” Hélène said, eyes bright. “I will write him a recommendation. I will be passionate and convince them to grant the visa.”

“He needs at least two of those letters to be from British artists,” Rafe went on. “I know you have contacts in high places.”

“I do,” Hélène said, frantic with the hope that she could save herself. “I know…I know Liam Reeves, Graham Muir, Angela Jarman, and more. I will contact them immediately to recommend you. They, too, will write glowing letters for you. Please.” The last plea was directed toward Rafe.

Rafe glanced at Jake. “You’ll have everything you’ve wanted and you won’t have to marry me to get it.”

Instead of being thrilled and relieved, Jake’s heart dropped. If Hélène remained true to her word, which was still anyone’s guess, since liars rarely followed through on their promises, he’d be able to secure a much safer visa than his original plan. On top of that, Rafe wouldn’t have to put himself in danger.

Maybe Rafe didn’t really want to marry him after all. It was entirely possible that he’d hatched this plan for Hélène to be the key to him getting a Global Talent visa from the start. Not only would Rafe get the worldwide recognition he deserved for his art, he could remain a free man. Steve could come back into the picture along with as many other men as Rafe was interested in.

It didn’t feel like Jake was getting what he wanted at all, even though he was.

“Well?” he asked Hélène, pushing his hurt to the back of his mind and focusing on the important things in front of them. “Will you do it? Will you post saying you made a mistake and giving Rafe credit for the English countryside glass, and will you help me with my visa?”

“Yes, yes!” Hélène shouted. “Delete the video and I will help.”

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