Chapter 1179 - Friends And Traitors (7)

Christopher reluctantly opened the box in front of him and found… a remote controller with 'increase' and 'decrease' buttons. He clicked the 'decrease' one, but nothing happened. Next, he tried the 'increase' one and realized that it controls lights in the room.

Christopher's lips twitched. Is this some kind of a joke? Everyone got something good, well maybe not Bradley, but… he got a remote control for lights?!

"What should I do with this?", Christopher asked Jeff as calmly as he could muster.

"Increase all the way. Who knows what will be revealed?", Jeff hid his smirk behind the glass of water he sipped from. Jeff would usually drink something stronger when in the company of his five buddies, but since JoAnna is pregnant he is supporting her by staying away from alcohol.

Christopher frowned and increased lights all the way. The room was illuminated, revealing that they are in the space which looks like an art gallery. Paintings are hanged all over the walls. Those paintings are 'decorations for setting the right mood' (how Sarah and Aiden called it).

Christopher is into art and he wondered if this is a see-only treat, or will he actually get to keep some of the paintings? He wondered, what paintings are those? His face turned into disbelief as he started recognizing them: 'Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois' by Picasso, 'Poppy Flowers' by Van Gogh, 'The Storm on the Sea of Galilea' by Rembrandt, 'The Concert' by Vermeer, 'Reading Girl in White and Yellow' by Matisse, 'White Duck' by Oudry… And the list goes on and on. Those paintings are worth hundreds of millions! And for many of these there is no value attached because they are priceless!

But what came to Christopher as the biggest shock is when he clearly recognized the paintings which Marcus promised to him if he works against Jeff.

Christopher felt that he is about to hyperventilate. He told himself to calm down because these must be just reproductions, but… when was Jeffrey White involved in business which involves copies?

"What is all this?", Christopher asked Jeff under his breath.

Jeff's eyebrow arched. "I am glad you approve of my location choice for this dinner. I selected it with you on my mind. My friend owns this gallery, and after three months of displaying these pieces, he is about to return them to two fervent art collectors who were kind enough to put some of their most valuable pieces here on a display. As you can guess, they are collecting them over many years. I hope you like it, because not everyone can get inside here."

How Jeff sees it, he lied only about two things, and both are duration: how long the paintings are displayed (it's few hours instead of three months) and how long Sarah and Aiden (aka fervent art collectors) are in the business of collecting artwork (it's less than six months and not many years how much Jeff suggested). Everything else in his statement is true.

Christopher had trouble inhaling. "Three months?!"

Jeff confirmed. "I am not sure why, but my friend asked me not to take photos while inside, and if possible not to spread around what we saw here. It seems that some of these are worth a lot and the gallery owner wants to avoid unnecessary attention."

"They are worth a lot?", Vincent asked while looking around casually. "Does that mean that these the originals?"

Jeff shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Christopher can help answer that question since he is the expert in arts."

Everyone looked at Christopher and after some silence, Russel asked: "Can you check if these are originals?"

Russel was curious as well.

Christopher stood up and approached one painting slowly while pulling a magnifying glass out of his inner jacket pocket.

"Look at him, ready with the tools. A true professional…", Jasper said while Christopher carefully inspected the painting on the wall.

During all this time, Bradley was spacing out. His mind was in turmoil.

Bradley was drifting from wishing to rip Paige and Cooper into pieces to denying that those photos are real. And there is no way that Jeff is onto him. If Jeff knows that Bradley is working with Marcus, Jeff would not be so calm. After all, Jeff's style is to silently take care of the problem. And if Jeff knows that Bradley IS the problem, he would punish him, and not treat him to a dinner.

"Lies!", Bradley shoot up from his seat and screamed while pointing at the box in front of him. He glared at Jeff. "You made this up!"

Jeff raised his eyebrows up slowly. "Why would I do that?"

Vincent and Russel shrunk in their seats. By now they also stole glances at the photos in front of Bradley and they saw that the photos show that Paige is cheating on him.

"Because… because…", Bradley could not come up with anything other than Jeff found out that he is working with Marcus. But this is not the place to say that. Jeff's men are all around them.

"Do you think that I covet your woman? Or I have a different agenda to fake something like that? Here…", Jeff reached into his pocket and threw a USB stick inside the box with photos. "This is a bonus."

"What is that?", Bradley asked.

"Videos which go with photos. Some are from video surveillance and others are from their phones. You should be able to check Paige's cloud storage even if she deleted them from her phone, right?"

Bradley was shaking from anger. Or maybe from fear because he can't dismiss the possibility that Jeff found out that he is working against him. Probably both. He grabbed the box, put the lid on and stormed outside.

Jeff's men blocked Bradley's path.

"Let him go.", Jeff said.

Bradley rushed out without looking back.

"Eh, he left without finishing his food.", Jasper said while glancing at Bradley's plate.

Vincent snorted. "If I've seen photos of my Ashley with another man like that, I would not have much of an appetite either."

"Ashley? You are still with her? Tell us about her.", Jasper demanded.

Vincent was happy to tell Jeff, Russel and Jasper about his burning love for Ashley Mitchell while Christopher moved from one painting to another, carefully inching the magnifying glass just above the canvas, making sure not to touch it.

Christopher returned to his seat after some time, with an indescribable expression. He inspected number of paintings and focused on few which Marcus promised to him as a payment.

"And?", Vincent probed Christopher. "Are they copies or treasures?"

"Based on what I can see, they are genuine.", Christopher admitted.

Vincent and Russel made 'Oooo' faces, but they don't really know what it means if the paintings are genuine or not. Probably they are worth more, but how much more, they don't know.

Christopher knows that many of these are missing for years, it's believed that they are stolen. But here, they all appeared under one roof as part of a collection from two mysterious art enthusiasts. Christopher saw that Jeff is looking at him and he paused. Is it possible that the collectors Jeff mentioned are a cover for Jeff himself? That would make sense… The paintings belong to Jeff, and Marcus knows that when he gets his hands on everything Jeff has, that will include these paintings also. But that does not change the fact that Marcus promised something he does not have (yet).

Christopher's mind was a mess.

Regardless if Marcus lied about having the paintings or is counting to hand them over after he deals with Jeff, the problem right now is with the fact that Jeff went out of this way to organize this dinner in an art gallery.

Christopher found that the room is running out of oxygen at the thought that this gallery, paintings, a present which clearly indicates that Jeff wanted Christopher to be aware of the paintings… it all points to one thing: Jeff is knows that Christopher is working with Marcus. Why else would he show him paintings which Marcus promised?

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