He's the most dangerous man in the room and nobody notices him.
That's the point.
Marco has spent twelve years as the syndicate's invisible hand — the man who makes everything work, the one nobody sees. He is exceptionally good at being overlooked.
Until he walks into my authentication suite.
I see him in two seconds. I grew up at my uncle's table. I know exactly what he is, what the suit means, what twelve years of that particular stillness means.
He's come about a forgery. A painting worth three hundred and forty thousand pounds and a provenance chain that doesn't hold up.
It should be a business arrangement. Clean, professional, over in seventy-two hours.
He comes back on Thursday. And Thursday after that. And the one after that.
I know what his world costs — I watched my mother pay the price for twenty years. I built a hard no at seventeen and I've maintained it ever since.
The problem is Marco doesn't use the eyebrow on me. He uses actual words.
And the actual words are the most dangerous thing I've ever authenticated.
His Silent Vow is a dark Italian mafia romance featuring the syndicate's most invisible man and the art authenticator who sees through him immediately. Enemies to lovers, slow burn, a heroine who knows exactly what she's risking, and a hero who learns — in increments — to be seen. Dual POV. Guaranteed HEA. Book Four of The Syndicate Series — reads as a standalone.
That's the point.
Marco has spent twelve years as the syndicate's invisible hand — the man who makes everything work, the one nobody sees. He is exceptionally good at being overlooked.
Until he walks into my authentication suite.
I see him in two seconds. I grew up at my uncle's table. I know exactly what he is, what the suit means, what twelve years of that particular stillness means.
He's come about a forgery. A painting worth three hundred and forty thousand pounds and a provenance chain that doesn't hold up.
It should be a business arrangement. Clean, professional, over in seventy-two hours.
He comes back on Thursday. And Thursday after that. And the one after that.
I know what his world costs — I watched my mother pay the price for twenty years. I built a hard no at seventeen and I've maintained it ever since.
The problem is Marco doesn't use the eyebrow on me. He uses actual words.
And the actual words are the most dangerous thing I've ever authenticated.
His Silent Vow is a dark Italian mafia romance featuring the syndicate's most invisible man and the art authenticator who sees through him immediately. Enemies to lovers, slow burn, a heroine who knows exactly what she's risking, and a hero who learns — in increments — to be seen. Dual POV. Guaranteed HEA. Book Four of The Syndicate Series — reads as a standalone.
Used availability for Cora J Riley's His Silent Vow