Her Consigliere by Carsen Taite

Author:Carsen Taite [Taite, Carsen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635559255
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2021-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Siobhan stood at the podium, staring out at all the expectant faces, wishing once again Carlo hadn’t stopped attending these events. When she was younger, he would escort her into the room, introduce her around to the socialite crowd, and ask her to wait while he made a few remarks. The crowd would politely clap in response, and then he would rejoin her for a private tour with the curator, who showed them some of the new acquisitions, as befitted a generous megadonor. On many such occasions, a docent would refer to her as Carlo’s daughter, a mistake she would quickly correct, often wondering if she hadn’t taken the step, what would Carlo have said. Last year, he’d turned the duty of making a speech over to her, but at least he’d still accompanied her for the occasion. Carlo might not be part of Dallas society’s in-crowd, but people respected him even if it was a respect laced with fear, and they’d always treated her well. But here by herself for the first time, she suspected most of these people were a bit disdainful at her lack of pedigree and the fact she was only a representative of the actual donor.

Thank God for Royal’s presence tonight. She settled her gaze on Royal, who stood in the back of the room, casually leaning against the wall with a drink in her hand. She flashed a slow smile, as if transmitting a relaxed vibe all the way across the room. They might barely know each other, but Siobhan was infused with confidence simply by being in Royal’s strong, calm presence. She took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone. “On behalf of the entire Mancuso family, I would like to extend my thanks to the museum board and all of the volunteers who make it possible to share the works of many famous and soon to be famous artists from around the world with the citizens of Dallas.”

She droned on a bit, or that’s how it sounded in her head, rattling off statistics about the effect of art on society and conveying praise for how this museum was bringing some of the finest acquisitions to the city. She was near the end of the remarks she’d prepared when she noticed Royal pull her phone out of her pocket and stare at the screen. Royal’s eyes widened and she flashed a quick look toward the podium before ducking out of the room. Siobhan had no idea what she said after that, consumed with curiosity about what had urgently diverted Royal’s attention in another direction.

“The Mancuso family thanks the museum for this honor, and in conclusion, I’d like to offer my congratulations—”

A loud siren rang through the air, drowning out the rest of the sentence. “What the hell was that?” Siobhan said, neglecting to remember she was still holding the microphone. Uniformed men burst through the back door and began fanning out into the crowd. At first Siobhan thought they were museum security, but then she recognized the familiar uniforms of the Dallas Police Department.

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