The gallery has rarely, if ever, been this empty, but it's for good reason. Every one of the guests who paid to come tonight did so in order to see only one item: the 1903 Royal Danish Egg, missing for almost one hundred and twenty years.
It's astonishingly beautiful, ornate and ostentatious in the same way as her penthouse upstairs, all white and gold and blue enamel. It sits in pride of place in the dead center of the gallery floor, perfectly lit, surrounded by a shatterproof glass case, and wired up with more security measures than anything else in the whole building, herself included.
It's why the big boys have come out to play. The auction for this piece will hit a fever pitch; the bidding will start at $30 million and she expects it to at least double.
But first she needs to prove it's the real thing, so she wanders the small crowd, chatting with her guests and providing the provenance whenever asked.
"It really is magnificent," says someone behind her, and she turns to see Mateo Esparza, the Snowy Owl, gesturing towards the egg with a glass of champagne. He smiles at her, all warmth and charm. "Almost as magnificent as you, my dear."
"Mateo," she says, just as warmly, and allows him to press a kiss to the back of her hand. "I almost thought you weren't going to make it."
"And miss this gathering of our peers?" he asks, glancing around the room. "I wouldn't dare."
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It's astonishingly beautiful, ornate and ostentatious in the same way as her penthouse upstairs, all white and gold and blue enamel. It sits in pride of place in the dead center of the gallery floor, perfectly lit, surrounded by a shatterproof glass case, and wired up with more security measures than anything else in the whole building, herself included.
It's why the big boys have come out to play. The auction for this piece will hit a fever pitch; the bidding will start at $30 million and she expects it to at least double.
But first she needs to prove it's the real thing, so she wanders the small crowd, chatting with her guests and providing the provenance whenever asked.
"It really is magnificent," says someone behind her, and she turns to see Mateo Esparza, the Snowy Owl, gesturing towards the egg with a glass of champagne. He smiles at her, all warmth and charm. "Almost as magnificent as you, my dear."
"Mateo," she says, just as warmly, and allows him to press a kiss to the back of her hand. "I almost thought you weren't going to make it."
"And miss this gathering of our peers?" he asks, glancing around the room. "I wouldn't dare."