Page 23 of Control's Undoing

Xavier thrust up from his seat, cursing.

“Er, what’s this, then?”Colum looked back and forth between them.

“Do you know what the commodification of art has done to the world?”Xavier snapped.He might have been answering Colum’s question, but he looked at Annie.“It has eroded the intrinsic value of art—real art is both priceless and worthless.But now, the first thing anyone mentions is how much something is worth.The value is what impresses people rather than the art itself.”

“Ohhhh, I see.”Annie rolled her eyes.“You’re an art snob.”She looked him up and down.“And probably come from money.”

She was right, and the fact that she was only pissed him off.“What’s your percentage off a sale?How much do you make each time you sell a piece of an artist’s soul?Do you think about the artists who don’t create what’s in their heart because they’re worried it’s not commercial enough?That an investor won’t want it?”

“Youdocome from money, don’t you?”Annie stepped out from behind the low table, toe to toe with him.“Because how dare artists want to be paid, not just for a single piece of art but for the years it took them to perfect their craft.”

“What do you do with the things that don’t sell?”Xavier purred down at Annie.“Do you burn them or just throw them away?”

“I’d be careful up there, on your high horse.Unless, of course, you’ve never, ever sold one of your paintings, or the original handwritten version of one of your poems, for money.”

She’d looked him up.

“Those were auctioned for charity,” he said through his teeth.

Annie pushed up on her toes to whisper in his ear.“And who conducted the auction,mon cheri?”

Dear God, her accent was terrible.Xavier hissed his disapproval.

“Was it someone like me?”Annie dropped back on her heels, smiling that sunny smile.

Xavier reached for her, with every intention of grabbing her and kissing that smile off her pretty face.She raised her eyebrows in challenge even as her gaze drifted to his lips, and he curled his hand into a fist, shoving it into his pocket.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Colum said from the couch.

As one, they turned to see Colum had picked up the tablet and was studying the page of text.

“Fool.Head.Marie Prescott, which means theater.”Colum looked up.“The manuscript is hidden in a Nick Bottom costume, a donkey’s head from a production ofA Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Xavier tried not to be annoyed that Colum had jumped ahead, ruining his planned dramatic reveal.Though the other man didn’t have it quite right.

“No.”Xavier dropped heavily into the armchair.“A skull, fromHamlet.”

“Poor Yorick,” Annie said, and Colum laughed.

Xavier smiled too but hid it by rubbing his lips with two fingers, before continuing.“Marie Prescott never acted inHamlet, but her theater produced it.Wilde was a great admirer of Shakespeare and considered Hamlet the epitome of melancholy.That,” Xavier nodded to the manuscript, “is full of Wilde’s famous wit but also anger and melancholy.”

Annie had her phone out and looked up.“One of the museum’s most notable pieces on display is a plaster skull from an 1885 production ofHamletat Union Square Theater.The piece is notable for being oversized, supposedly to make it easier for the audience to see the features of the skull, but it was so heavy the actor had trouble holding it up.”

Xavier had tried researching the contents of the museum yesterday to see if they had a Yorick skull but hadn’t been able to find anything—the museum website and reviews were sparse.Annie clearly had access to other information.

“Big enough to hide a manuscript in?”Colum’s words made them all look at the safely encased original.The pages weren’t large; if the rest was the same length and on the same size paper, it was possible it was rolled up and hidden inside an oversized prop skull.

“I’ll make arrangements for us to visit the museum, and we should book flights.Tomorrow morning work?”Annie stood as they nodded.“More than likely, we’ll have to buy it.”She smirked at Xavier.“You can be the wealthy investor who wants to purchase it.”

Xavier bared his teeth in a faux smile.

“I’ll go make some calls.”Annie looked at her phone.“Actually, I may go on to my hotel.This could take a while.I’ll see you both tomorrow at the airport.”She raised a hand.“And, boys?I can walk there myself.I don’t need an escort.”

Silently, they watched Annie leave, her steps light on the stairs.

When they heard the door close, the atmosphere shifted.Xavier wasn’t sure why, until he looked over and found Colum staring at him.He immediately looked away, running a hand through his hair.

Xavier rose and held out his hand.Colum looked puzzled but reached up, gripping Xavier’s wrist.

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