Chapter 82 - Anonymous

It took a moment for the recognition to set in, but I knew the exact moment when it did by the widening of the man's eyes and the gaping of his mouth. I grinned back, utmost pleased with my luck, and sat down at his table not bothering to ask for permission.

"Hello there. Long time no see."

The man took so long to catch his breath that I began to fear that he was choking. In the dim lighting of the bar, I watched how his unremarkable features moved from shock, to anger, to something closest to grim acceptance.

"You. What do you want with me now?" he asked before picking a pistachio from a small dish and fiercely biting down on it.

I eyed the pistachios. They looked quite tempting. My eyes rose to Avarice's nephew. And if I wanted this negotiation to go as I'd like it to, stealing them would actually work for me. It would help me establish dominance.

"Well, for a start, I was very curious about you after finding out that Avarice has actual living relatives," I said honestly. "What's your name, by the way? I'm Diana."

The man stared at me suspiciously from underneath his brows. He didn't appear more than a little tipsy, which was just the way I liked it. "Denis. And what's so curious about someone having relatives?"

I glanced around, making sure that no one was in earshot, before continuing with a knowing grin. "You know why, Denis. Hm, Denis, that sounds so basic…" I eyed him, searching for something to base a nickname on.

In the smoke, everything about him looked even more unassuming than I remembered. Hair, so dull brown it looked colourless, eyes, so dull blue they looked grey… Medium height, medium weight.

An idea struck me. So unremarkable that he was remarkable just for that... "Right. How about I call you Anon instead?"

"Are you serious? I just gave you my name!" Anon exclaimed in indignation. While he was busy, I stole several pistachios from him. I thought he would go with red spots from anger, but just when his outrage almost reached its highest point, Anon deflated.

"Whatever. Call me what you want, steal my pistachios… You must be one of Avarice's… associates, hm?" he squinted at me as I chewed through his pistachios. "You look very normal."

"Looks can deceive. I don't think this is your case, though. I can't imagine someone like Avarice conning people on the market and being as bad at it as you were. Hah. No, Avarice would con people on a bigger scale."

Anon chuckled. "That she would."

Now it was my turn to squint at him. I recalled Avarice's face in my mind and tried to spot the similarities, but it was hard, given that I only saw Avarice's face one, and it was a month ago. "Are you really her biological nephew?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "And what about you, Diana? Are you working for her, or… Something else?"

"We have some business together, but I work for myself. You know the antiquities shop on Novocherkasskaya street?"

He frowned for a moment, then nodded. "I think I remember seeing some of Aunt's goons around."

"Well, I own it." I had to bite down my tongue to not add 'now'. Fewer details, fewer complications.

Then, I stole a few more pistachios and studied Anon as I ate, thinking. I had a lot of things to ask him, and while Anon looked inclined enough to talk, he also looked like he would shut into himself at any moment.

He raised his eyes at me with a look of realisation dawning on his face. "So this is why you knew so much about all that paintings stuff."

"Yep." I nodded, my chest puffing with pride. I had to force myself to focus on Anon and not on my desire to brag some more. "I still don't understand why would you do something like the staff I saw and heard you to do when I'm pretty sure Avarice could easily give you a warm and respectable job position."

He scoffed. "Yeah, she could, but I don't want to. You might think its easy for someone like her to achieve things, with all the gifts she got, but her competitions are creatures just like her, except worse. If I just let her settle me for life, I'd be even more worthless man than I'm now."

I raised a brow in disbelief. "I distinctly remember you asking for her help when I exposed your scheme."

Anon sighed. "Accepting her help felt better than failing again in the moment. Now I feel good that she refused."

He didn't seem like he was trying really hard to become someone great, but without knowing his full history, I didn't feel like I had a right to judge. Instead, I just hummed in understanding. In a way, I was in a similar position.

JJ had never offered me to hypnotise people into making deals with me and never used hypnosis to sell anything. After listening to his story about Christina, and after seeing the pride in his eyes, I think I knew why now. And wholeheartedly agreed.

"Yeah. What's the point in achievements when you know they don't really belong to you? It's like living a lie," I said.

A flicker of surprise appeared in Anon's eyes, quick to change with approval. "You aren't so bad when you don't ruin my schemes, Diana," he noted. "You could've ordered your own pistachios, though."

I threw a glare in the bar's direction. "Yeah, sure. They cost a fortune in a place like this one. Bars get a loooot of their profits from snacks."

Anon let out a burst of laughter. "You talk just like Aunt. Not that she is interested in any snacks."

I huffed. "My name isn't Avarice, though. I imagine her parents didn't name this way, no?"

Anon shook his head. "Of course not."

"What's her real name, then?"

"She'd kill me if I told you. Not literally, hopefully, but…"

I waved my hand at him. "I got it. She is one scary lady. I don't understand why would she call herself this way, though. It sounds cool, that's true, but kind of derogatory."

Anon hummed.. "She told me once… When I was just a kid. She actually raised me, you know?"