Page 184 of To Catch a Sub

“So what did she steal?” Andrei asked Mateus.

“Hypothetically,” Colette added, moving her arm once she was correctly seated.

“I had a friend who was suing a rather…prominent…Austrian family,” Mateus said. “He was seeking restitution of several pieces of art that belonged to my friend’s client.”

“Austrian?” Colette said with mock casual interest.

Landon, Rolf, and Andrei were gathered around her, talking quietly and looking at her chest. She stared at the pitched roof, ignoring them. She’d meant it when she said she didn’t think she wanted to know what Rolf was going to do.

“Yes. The family came into possession of the art after WWII.”

“Of course they did.”

“My friend’s client had exhausted all other options for restitution. The Austrian family wouldn’t budge.”

“Frustrating.”

“The legal battle was going to take years. Cost more than the client could afford, but my friend was going to do his best, donate as much time as he could. They both knew that, by the time they got the art back, the client might just have to turn around and sell it to pay off the debts incurred.”

“To do all that and then not get to enjoy the art is—” Colette sucked in air as something scraped the very tip of her nipple.

Landon was feeding thin leather straps through the rings, covering her nipples. “I’m sorry, love. I know it hurts.”

“You were saying?” Mateus’s tone was headed towards irritated, clearly annoyed by her failure to finish her sentence.

Landon turned to say something to the other man, but she touched his arm and shook her head. Mateus was exactly what she needed, and she had a sneaking feeling that he was being slightly rude on purpose. Then again maybe that was just his default setting.

“Winning the case, but losing the art, would not have been justice,” she finished.

“Untrue.”

She tsked. “Truth, again?”

“Winning the case would create a legal record stating that the Austrian family did not own, nor have rights to, the art in question.”

“The Egger family—I believe you said their name was Egger, yes?” Colette taunted.

“I did not say their name.” Mateus bit off each word.

“You did.”

“I did not.”

“If you didn’t, then how would I know the name?” Colette said with mock bewilderment.

“Ms. Beaumont…”

“If your friend had won the case, the Ochs family?—”

“I never said the name of the client.”

“—would have a hollow victory. They’d have no choice but to sell the paintings. They’d get money, yes. Enough to pay their lawyers, and maybe some left over. But the art that hung in their family’s home—before that very same family was torn apart—would be lost to them.”

Colette closed her eyes as someone gripped the base of her breast, holding it still.

“They would never sit in front of that Klimt?—”

“I never said it was a Klimt painting.”.