Chapter 689
The car skirted a fountain pool and pulled up next to a two-story building with gray walls and blue glass, simple, generous, and with a hint of art.
Luke and Lilith stepped out of the car, and the pink Rolls-Royce made a half-circle around the fountain and left through another intersection.
In Luke’s impression, painting exhibitions were opened in the busy part of the city center, or even worse, the suburbs with convenient transportation, so that it would be convenient for the guests to visit the exhibition.
And here is the more private manor, Luke did not even see any other vehicles now, asked, “How many people can there be in this painting exhibition?”
“That depends on how many people have been invited by the person organizing the painting exhibition, but it shouldn’t be too many.”
Luke and Lilith walked to the entrance of the exhibition hall, and a receptionist in a suit bowed slightly, “Miss Finn and this honorable gentleman, welcome to the painting exhibition, there are still a few minutes before the exhibition officially starts. I can first take you to the rest area for a cup of coffee.”
“I’ll just go by myself.”
The man in the suit made a gesture of invitation, “When you enter the hall, just go to the right.”
The two entered the hall and went to the right, there were several rows of sofas and a few round tables in front of them, with fruits, desserts and various drinks on the tables.
Luke asked, “Does that receptionist at the door know you?”
Lilith shook her head, “This is the first time I’ve seen him. He’s probably seen my picture.”
Luke scanned the first floor showroom, there were about two dozen people, some were looking at the paintings on one side, while others were sitting on the sofas in the lounge area and chatting.
Luke asked, “Want something to eat?”
“No need. I’m going to go say hello to someone I know, do you want to join me?” Lilith asked.
“In a bit, I’ll grab a bite to eat first.” Luke spun around and asked for a double shot of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The ice cream had a mellow flavor and was very tasty.
Luke ate while observing the people around him, Lilith’s dress belonged to the more casual ones in this group, there were quite a few female guests who could be considered to be in full dress, one of them was wearing a skirt, revealing her white thighs, and Luke got cold looking at it.
A few minutes later, a white man with a hawkish nose walked to a makeshift podium in the middle of the exhibition hall and said a few words of welcome, Luke realized that he was the organizer of this private painting exhibition.
Turning to Lilith, who was off to the side, Luke asked, “What does he do?”
“His name is Manny Hartung, his family is involved in finance and art collection, and the paintings in this exhibition are all from his collection.”
“What is his purpose in organizing the exhibition of paintings?”
“There could be many different purposes, instead of bothering with this, why don’t you see if there are any pieces you like that I’ll give you as a spring gift.”
“Are all the paintings here for sale?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t I see a price labeled?”
“You can ask the attendant next to you which painting you have your eye on, and they will tell you the price of the painting.”
Luke slipped around the exhibition, the paintings on display were basically oil paintings, and a third of the paintings were from the same painter, however, Luke had not heard of the painter’s name, as for the paintings themselves …… Luke felt that it was just that.
Of course, it may also be that Luke is still in the stage of profiteering, and the aesthetic level has not been raised.
Luke picked a still quite eye-catching idyllic style oil painting, asked about the price, actually want half a million dollars.
With Luke’s current wealth is affordable, but he always felt that the water here is a little deep, not yet able to understand.
Lilith came over and said, “You like this painting, I’ll give it to you.”
Luke shook his head, “Actually, my own painting level is not bad, do you remember?”
Lilith laughed, “That’s right, it’s my sister’s favorite style.”
Luke teased, “If you like it, I can paint one for you too.”
“You’d be better off drawing criminal sketches.” Lilith hummed and asked, “I just met some friends who want to invite us to lunch at noon, do you want to go?”
“Go, I just want to experience your life, why don’t I go?”
It was nearing noon.
Luke and Lilith rushed to Barlow’s Restaurant in a slutty pink Rolls Royce. Along with them were several of Lilith’s friends, each driving a luxury car, forming a luxury fleet that was very eye-catching on the highway.
While waiting for a red light at an intersection, Luke suddenly saw a familiar figure on the side of the road – Will. In the morning, Little Fatty also said that he would come out to play with Will, but at this moment, Luke only saw the figure of Will alone, and did not see Little Fatty.
Luke took out his cell phone and dialed Will’s number: “Will, this is Luke.”
“Brother, what’s the matter with you?”
“Is Jack with you?”
“Yeah, we’re together, just getting ready to go to dinner.”
“I’m getting ready to go to dinner too, where are you guys eating?”
“Uh …… we’re near Bett Street, getting ready to get a pizza, where are you?”
“That’s a bit far away, you guys eat.”
“Okay, it’s a little messy with all the people on my side, hang up first.” Will said, hanging up his cell phone.
Luke looked at him again, and yes, it was Will’s silhouette, but there was no sign of the chubby little man, and this wasn’t Bett Street.
So why was the kid lying?
Luke tried to call Fatty, but didn’t finish pressing the number and put his cell phone away again. Through the simple communication with Will, Luke probably guessed that the two people were 80% colluding, it’s useless to call, let’s talk about it at home.
Lilith looked at Luke a little lost in thought and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, saw a friend.”
“I almost forgot, you grew up in New York.”
In the middle of the small talk, the car drove to Witney Street, in front of Barlow’s Restaurant.
Luke got out of the car, looked at the gorgeous restaurant, and asked, “Who’s buying today?”
Lilith pointed to the man with blonde hair in front of her and said, “His name is Audro Meyers, the owner of the restaurant.”
The group arrived at the restaurant’s second-floor terrace, where there was a glass conservatory where they could dine with a good view of the outside landscape and better privacy.
The group was seated at an oval table, seven people in total with Luke.
Audro Meyers looked at Luke and said, “Lilith, what is this friend’s name? We must be meeting for the first time.”
Lilith said, “It’s better to let him introduce himself.”
Luke said, “My name is Luke Lee, I live in Los Angeles and am a police officer.”
The curly haired girl sitting across from Luke, asked, “Are you really a cop?”
“Yes.”
The curly haired girl questioned, “Then how did you become friends with Lilith?”
Luke laughed, “I was patrolling the streets one day and saw a car speeding, so I stopped the car.
There was a blonde sitting in the car and she very sincerely admitted her mistake and begged me to let her go.
I told her to either accept the ticket or buy me a drink …… and then we met.”
Lilith cried a little, what a load of nonsense.
The curly haired girl shook her glass of red wine, “It’s a good thing you met Lilith and not me, otherwise, you might have been suspended.”
Luke spread his hands, “Why?”
“My dad wouldn’t have allowed me to date a cop. Besides, he knows a lot of the top brass in the LAPD, all it takes is a phone call ……” The curly haired girl had a you-know-what look on her face.
Luke turned his head slightly sideways and whispered into Lilith’s ear, “Does this woman have a grudge against you? It feels like she kind of owes it.”
Lilith laughed softly, “She’s not against you, she just has a brain problem.” She was also a bit helpless, although most of the rich second generation were well-educated and well-mannered, there were always some unthinking guys who liked to gain a certain sense of superiority by belittling others.
Luke smiled back, “That makes sense.”
The curly haired girl seemed a bit displeased with the two whispering, “Are you discussing me?”
Lilith lifted her chin slightly, “Rosie Pell, Luke is my invited guest, and your tone just now was rude. You should apologize to him.”
Audro Meyers also looked at Rosie Pell, “That’s right, Luke is also my guest.”
Rosie Pell bristled, “I was just joking, no offense. Besides, my dad does know a lot of the top brass of the LAPD. If there is a chance, I can introduce you and my father to each other, it might be very helpful to your future work.”
Luke asked back, “Is your father well acquainted with the LAPD?”
“Of course.”
“Then your father should know me as well.”
“Do you know who my father is?”
“No.”
The curly-haired girl was a little disdainful, “Then what makes you think that my father should know you?”
“There’s no one more famous than me in the entire LAPD, except for Chief Regan.” Luke didn’t care if her father knew the top brass of the LAPD. He wasn’t lacking in backstage, or credit, or fame right now, all that was missing was seniority.
The curly-haired girl questioned, “Wait, aren’t you a patrolman? What gives you the right to be so loud.”
Audro Meyers interrupted, “Don’t be silly. How can Lilith’s friend be just an ordinary patrolman, people are just joking, are you taking it seriously?”
A man with dreadlocks on the opposite side of the diagonal looked at Luke and frowned slightly, “I watched the Los Angeles news the other day and saw that the head of a mob family was killed by the police, and that commander looked a bit like you, was it you?”
Luke said, “The Denara family.”
“That’s right, it really was you.” The man with dreadlocks was a bit excited and curious, “I heard that the mob’s entire convoy was beaten to death, not a single survivor, is that true?”
Luke did not answer positively, “They were the ones who shot first.”
The man with dreadlocks marveled, “Oh my god, I’ve seen a picture of the scene, it was insane! Did you give the order then?”
“It was me.” Luke didn’t hide it.
The gazes of the people present at the scene changed as they looked at Luke, realizing that this was a ruthless character, and no one dared to ruffle his feathers anymore.
Luke didn’t care too much, any organization has a certain degree of exclusivity, he just wanted to experience the life of the “high society”.
Now it seems like a game of monsters and upgrades. It’s just a different scene, facing different monsters.