The Collector: A Novel by Daniel Silva

Author:Daniel Silva [Silva, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, Mystery
ISBN: 9780062834874
Google: mkt5zwEACAAJ
Amazon: 0062834878
Barnesnoble: 0062834878
Goodreads: 63076671
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2023-07-18T05:00:00+00:00

She tried to object, but it was no use. The indomitable Magnus Larsen wouldn’t hear of it. The deal was done, he declared. There was no going back.

“But it’s thirty-five thousand euros.”

“Would it make you feel better if I told you that I put it on my DanskOil expense account?”

“Heavens no.”

The book was balanced on Ingrid’s knees, wrapped in protective polypropylene, as they sped eastward across the Tiergarten in Magnus’s hired Mercedes limousine. When they arrived at the Congress Center, she once again attempted to take her leave, but Magnus insisted that she accompany him to the green room where he would prepare for his appearance. It took place, as scheduled, at 4:00 p.m., not in the center’s cavernous main hall but in a smaller auditorium on the second level. The audience was respectable; Magnus’s remarks were well received. Ingrid sat in the front row. Her two colleagues from LNT Consulting were not in attendance.

She waited until the signing line had ebbed before approaching the table. Magnus’s inscription was kind but not suggestive, nothing that might come back to bite him.

“Where are you off to?” he asked as he screwed the cap onto his Montblanc pen.

“Home.”

“Husband?”

“Cat.”

“Can the cat look after itself for an hour or two?”

“What did you have in mind?”

The summit’s second-night cocktail party. The venue was the futuristic new headquarters of Germany’s largest media conglomerate. They stayed for an hour.

“Hungry?” he asked as they were leaving.

“Surely you have plans.”

“I canceled them. What are you in the mood for?”

“Your choice.”

He chose Grill Royal. Perfect salads, perfect steaks, a perfect American movie starlet at the next table. Over espresso, the playful banter, the brushing of hands, the delicate negotiations.

“I couldn’t,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Half the summit attendees are staying there. They’ll think I’m sleeping with you in order to drum up a little business for my struggling startup.”

“Are you?”

“Actually, it was the thirty-five thousand you dropped on the first-edition Fitzgerald.” She drew the volume from her handbag and placed it on the table between them. “Which one are you?” she asked.

“The beautiful or the damned? Somewhere in between, I imagine.” He gazed thoughtfully into his wineglass. The businessman with the soul of a poet. “Aren’t we all?”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.