THE STERLING INHERITANCE

**POV: Dominic**

The champagne was cold against my chest, soaking through my shirt in a way that would have been almost refreshing if it weren't for the fact that this suit had cost six thousand dollars and was now completely ruined.

I stared down at the spreading stain, at the way the liquid had splashed across the charcoal fabric in an almost artistic pattern. My Tom Ford suit-custom tailored, picked up from the atelier just last week-was destroyed.

And the woman who'd destroyed it was just standing there.

Staring at me.

Not apologizing. Not scrambling for napkins. Not doing any of the things people normally did when they crashed into someone and dumped an entire glass of alcohol on them.

Just... staring.

I looked up from my ruined jacket, ready to unleash the kind of controlled fury that made boardrooms go silent, the kind of cold professionalism that reminded people exactly who they were dealing with.

The words died in my throat.

She was younger than I'd first thought-late twenties maybe, with auburn hair that fell in deliberate waves around her shoulders, clearly styled to look effortlessly messy. Green eyes that were wide with what might have been shock or recognition or something else entirely. A vintage dress that looked expensive in that particular way vintage clothing did when someone had taste and knowledge instead of just money.

And she was still just staring at me like I was a museum exhibit instead of a person she'd just assaulted with champagne.

"Well?" I said, my voice coming out sharper than I'd intended. "Are you going to say something?"

Her mouth opened. Closed. She blinked twice, slowly, like she was coming out of a trance.

Then she spoke.

"Your donation is soulless."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Your corporate art donation." She gestured vaguely toward the walls, toward the art hanging throughout the gallery. "I read about it in the Times last month. Five million to the Seattle Art Museum for 'contemporary acquisitions.' That's what your foundation called it, right?"

This was not the conversation I'd expected to have while standing in a gallery with champagne dripping down my chest.

"I'm not sure how that's relevant to you dumping a drink on me."

"It's relevant because you're here." Her eyes were clearer now, focused, and there was something sharp in them. "In my gallery. Looking at actual contemporary art instead of the sanitized, board-approved pieces your foundation probably bought for the museum."

"Your gallery."

"Celeste Ashford." She didn't offer her hand. Didn't apologize. Just stated her name like it was a challenge. "I curate this space."

Ashford. The name on the invitation that had arrived at my office this morning. My assistant Katherine had mentioned it during our afternoon meeting, suggested I might want to stop by since I was always looking for emerging artists to support.

I'd come because I had a charity foundation that did exactly that-supported emerging voices, funded art education, tried to make culture accessible beyond the elite circles I usually moved in.

And I'd walked directly into someone's champagne glass.

"So let me understand this," I said slowly, watching her face. "I come to your gallery opening. You dump champagne on me. And instead of apologizing, you're criticizing my foundation's donations?"

"Yes."

The audacity of it was almost impressive.

"The museum acquisition was carefully curated," I said, my voice taking on the patient tone I used when explaining complex concepts to people who clearly didn't understand. "We worked with their contemporary art department to identify pieces that would have lasting cultural value-"

"Lasting cultural value." She laughed, and it wasn't a polite laugh. It was sharp, dismissive. "You mean safe. Established artists who won't offend anyone. Work that's been approved by committees and critics until all the life has been sanitized out of it."

"That's not-"

"That's exactly what it is." She crossed her arms, and I noticed paint under her fingernails. "Real contemporary art should make you uncomfortable. Should challenge assumptions. Should make rich people in expensive suits feel something other than smugly satisfied with their own taste."

"And you think the work here does that?"

"I know it does." Her chin lifted slightly, defensive and proud. "Every piece in this gallery was chosen because it says something true. Not something safe. Not something that looks good in a museum press release. Something that matters."

I glanced around the gallery, at the work she'd curated. Bold colors, visceral imagery, pieces that were indeed confrontational in a way the museum's collection wasn't.

She wasn't wrong about that.

"Your foundation's donations are soulless," she continued, and there was passion in her voice now, the kind of conviction you couldn't fake. "They're tax write-offs dressed up as cultural philanthropy. You're buying your way into Seattle's art scene without actually engaging with what art is supposed to do."

"Which is?"

"Make you feel something real."

The words hit harder than they should have. Because she was right-at least partially. The museum donation had been strategic, calculated to generate good press and tax benefits while supporting institutions that needed funding.

But soulless?

"You don't know anything about me," I said quietly.

"I know you're wearing a six-thousand-dollar suit to an art gallery." She gestured at my ruined jacket. "That alone tells me everything I need to know about your priorities."

"My priorities."

"Yes. Image over substance. Wealth over authenticity. You probably walked in here expecting everyone to fall over themselves because Dominic Cross graced them with his presence." Her eyes flashed. "Well, congratulations. You got champagne instead."

Something in her voice made me look closer. This wasn't just artistic criticism. This was personal somehow, aimed at something deeper than my foundation's donation strategy.

"Did I do something to offend you?" I asked. "Before the champagne incident?"

She hesitated, just for a second, and I caught something crossing her face. Uncertainty maybe. Or recognition.

"No," she said finally. "I just don't like what you represent."

"Which is?"

"Corporate money pretending to care about art. Billionaires playing philanthropist while actual artists starve." She gestured around the gallery. "Do you know how hard it is to get funding for emerging artists? For work that actually challenges people instead of decorating their penthouses?"

"I imagine it's difficult."

"It's impossible. Because people like you throw millions at institutions that don't need it while galleries like mine can barely keep the lights on."

There it was. The real issue underneath the artistic criticism. She'd applied for funding and been rejected.

"You submitted a proposal to my foundation," I said. Not a question.

Her jaw tightened. "Three months ago. Got a form letter rejection."

"We receive hundreds of applications-"

"I know. Too many worthy causes, limited resources, better luck next time." She recited it like she'd memorized it. "Very professional. Very polite. Very soulless."

The champagne on my shirt was starting to dry, sticky and uncomfortable against my skin. I should leave. Should get out of this gallery and away from this woman who'd managed to insult me six different ways in under five minutes.

But I didn't.

Because underneath the hostility and the criticism, there was something genuine. Something real in a way most of my interactions weren't.

She actually believed what she was saying. Wasn't performing for my benefit or trying to impress me. Was just... honest.

Brutally, inconveniently honest.

"The work here is good," I said, surprising myself. "Better than good, actually. Provocative without being derivative."

She blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

"Your curation. It's thoughtful. You have an eye for artists who are saying something worth hearing." I looked at a canvas depicting corporate destruction through visceral decay imagery. "This piece in particular-Rivera, is it?-has real power."

"You... you actually looked at the art?"

"I didn't come here just to get champagne dumped on me." I pulled out my phone, ignoring the way my wet shirt clung uncomfortably to my chest. "What's your gallery's information? I'll have my assistant contact you about potential funding."

Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"I'm always serious about supporting artists who have something to say." I met her gaze directly. "Even if their curators have terrible aim and worse manners."

For the first time since the collision, she looked uncertain. Like she'd expected anger or dismissal but not this.

"I insulted you," she said slowly.

"Yes."

"And your foundation. And your suit."

"Also yes."

"And you're offering to fund my gallery?"

"I'm offering to review your proposal again. If the work is this strong, it deserves support." I paused. "Regardless of what you think about my priorities."

She stared at me for a long moment, and I watched something shift in her expression. Confusion maybe. Or the first hint of curiosity.

Then she did something I absolutely didn't expect.

She walked away.

Just turned around and walked back into the crowd of gallery guests, disappearing among the conversations and champagne glasses without another word.

No thank you. No follow-up. No attempt to capitalize on the funding opportunity I'd just offered.

Just... gone.

I stood there with champagne drying on my Tom Ford suit, watching her auburn hair vanish into the crowd, and felt something I hadn't felt in a very long time.

Interest.

Real, genuine interest in someone who didn't want anything from me.

Or at least, didn't want it enough to be polite about it.

A waiter appeared with napkins. I accepted them automatically, dabbing at my jacket while my eyes scanned the gallery for another glimpse of Celeste.

She was talking to a tech executive now, animated and passionate about whatever piece they were discussing. Completely ignoring me.

I should leave. Should go home, change clothes, forget about the woman who'd dumped champagne on me and then criticized everything I stood for.

Instead, I found myself walking deeper into the gallery, studying each piece with more attention than I'd planned to give, wondering what else Celeste might say if I gave her the chance.

She'd walked away. And somehow, that made me want to follow.