Page 98 of Grand Love

“I didn’t sell them,” he assures me, as if that’s what’s important.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t speak about him at the time. I didn’t think you’d want to know.”

He’s probably right. I wouldn’t have wanted to know. Things were tough after I left Mason. But now I do know, and it leaves me with so many questions.

Mason made out he was angry with me. That he didn’t want me after I ran out on him. But why would he try to buy my photos after I left if that was the case?

I stop dead in my tracks as a thought comes to me.

“How much?” I ask.

Joey drops his head, knowing how important the answer is to me.

“How much did he offer for them, Joe?”

“More than I will probably make in a lifetime off all my other photos.”

“Son of a bitch!” I seethe. “How much? I want to know.”

He rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t let him have them and he wouldn’t give up. He didn’t go in high at first, but every time I refused, he upped the offer.”

I shake my head, waiting.

“One point two.”

“One point two?” I frown, shaking my head, confused.

“Yeah.”

“One point two,” I repeat, willing my brain to function.

“Million, Nina. One point two million pounds.”

Bile rises in my throat.

Why does he have to do it? Some women would be humbled. But me? It makes me feel sick to my stomach.

“I shouldn’t have told you. I didn’t want to upset you, Nina.”

“Why didn’t you take it?”

He stares through me, thinking about it for a second.

“The pictures meant more.” He shrugs.

I nod, the irony breaking my heart in two. If only Mason could see that. He’s so desensitised to his own wealth, he doesn’t understand the value of the things money will never buy.

“I’m sorry, that he put you in that position, Joey.”

He shrugs again. “At first, I was pulling my hair out, literally. I almost gave them up at £20K.” His honesty makes me smile. “But then I felt powerful, to turn down that amount of money, especially Mason’s money.” He grins. “It felt good.”

“I can imagine. And I bet he didn’t like it much either.” I smile despite my annoyance.

“Nope. I had to tell him to leave. He probably wouldn’t have stopped at one point two.”

“He’s a damn idiot.” Hearing the colossal amount of money Mason can just throw around like pocket change makes the fire in my gut burn like a raging furnace. “You should’ve sold them.” I look up at him, knowing how much even a fraction of that money would benefit him.

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