Payback Pt. 09

We arrived a little early and were asked to wait by an attractive woman in her late twenties, who sat at a desk in the corner, as Mr Lazarenko had a client with him at the moment. The desk was next to a door, obviously leading to his inner sanctum as it was marked 'Private'. We walked around the gallery, admiring the works of art hanging there, there was an archway through to another gallery with more paintings from various artists; the door at the end was marked as 'Workshop'.

"Ahh Stella my dear, so nice to see you again," a voice said behind us and he hugged her and kissed both cheeks, "I was sorry to hear about Konrad."

"Thank you Anton, may I introduce my son, Daniel," we shook hands, "And this is Alicia Carver our budding artist," he shook her hand and kissed her cheeks too, slightly embarrassing her.

"Daniel, would you please bring in the paintings from the car," Stella asked and I went out and the woman from the desk followed to help.

"Hello...Daniel, I am Talia, Mr Lazarenko's daughter, secretary and a student of art," She smiled and offered her hand which I shook. We carried the paintings inside and Alicia started unwrapping them in his office, she put them in order around the room as she did before.

He waited patiently and picked each one up and studied it for about twenty seconds before moving on to the next. When he had finished he picked up the one of Stella and said,

"She has really done a good job on you Stella," and he smiled, "How long did you sit for it?"

"I didn't, she did this from a screen shot on skype and a couple of photos from her holiday with us last year."

"You, young lady have a very good eye, Daniel please hold the painting next to your mother by the door," he asked. Stella stood as directed and I held to painting.

"Talia, see the accuracy, the expression, magnificent."

"Yes Papa, it's remarkable," she said smiling.

"Now for this one," he said picking up the horse, "It is very good too, my family in Russia, many years ago when I was a young man, kept horses and I own a stud just a few miles away from here, there is tremendous skill here, would you hold it up by the door please?" he asked me again.

"The musculature is excellent and the expression... I almost expect it to jump out of the canvas... beautiful!" he turned to Alicia and asked,

"Where did you train to paint like this?"

"I-I-I didn't," his question had taken her by surprise and she stammered, "I-I've always loved horses, I paint things I see that take my fancy, anything I like, portraits of my friends, my parents..." And she hesitated but recovered when I smiled at her and continued, "Landscapes, anything really but horses are my favourite subjects."

"I can see that these are earlier, a little bit naïve but still with good detail and accuracy, you have a rare talent Miss Carver, I would be pleased to show some of your work in my gallery." Alicia stood with her hands over her mouth with a look of stunned surprise on her face.

"Really... I didn't think there were that good, my friends and family said they were good but I just thought they were being kind..."

"My dear, if I was selling the painting of the horse I would be asking a relatively low price for it because you are a new artist, maybe five thousand dollars." I had put the picture down and was standing next to her and caught her as she started to sag. People moved quickly, he provided a chair which I sat her on, Talia brought a glass of water which she sipped and then drank all of it.

"Sorry... I misheard, I thought you said five thousand dollars which is silly..."

"You did not mishear me, I did say five thousand dollars and with some promotion and the usual boring things to get an artist noticed that have to be done, in a year or two I would multiply that by six or seven. If it was for a limited edition of say two hundred to two hundred and fifty, maybe twelve to fifteen thousand each."

"Alicia, there is a lot of money to be made by a good artist, once they are known to the art community around the world," Talia told her.

"Do you remember, I told you about those paintings that I bought a couple of years ago by Arlo Makinen, the artist who suddenly died?" they are worth at least six times what I paid for them.

"You have some Arlo Makinen, Daniel?" He asked.

"Yes, I had bought two or three at an estate auction and sold them to a customer of mine and was surprised at what they were really worth. Later I found some more for him but he died and I still have them, why?"

"His paintings have escalated through the roof since he died, you have a small fortune there, my friend."

"I know," I said as I started wrapping the paintings again.

Lazarenko was saying that she should pick a good painting but not one of her favourites and have good quality prints taken of it for handing out as free gifts to important people attending the exhibition. She should also choose another to make many copies but on paper or card, as an unlimited edition, to give out as prizes in a draw for the general public, all signed by her.

She only had to sell one painting to recover the cost of the materials and his fees for the promotion, which were quite reasonable too. We said our goodbyes and loaded the paintings in the car, Alicia was in a daze and had to be loaded too, but Stella had been making notes of everything he'd said.

"Daniel, drive us to your house to pick up all the paintings, we have some work to do."

We left the box with the watercolours and sketches behind and loaded the rest of the paintings into the car and I drove them back to Duncellin.

Stella's sense of the dramatic surfaced and she banned the other girls from the lounge, while the three of us set out all the paintings, including Alicia's parents from her room. She called Conchita, Carmen and Maddy to the lounge door and said with a smile,

"I should be charging you for this," and allowed them in, they had only seen the portraits and the three in Alicia's room and were now confronted by another twenty six. They were very impressed with the display and Alicia was almost bouncing off the walls with excitement. 'If I was to touch her pussy, she would cum instantly' I thought happily.

Stella explained what Mr Lazarenko had told us and we worked out a schedule for Alicia similar to Carmen's. After breakfast she would paint for two hours, have a short break and paint for two and a half hours until lunch.

After that she could train with the girls for two hours, have a break for an hour and then help Carmen in the kitchen and poor Danno would be back doing all the maintenance again, 'Se la vie' I thought. She chose the picture of the horses galloping for the freebies and surprisingly, the one of her mother for the unlimited edition.

She qualified that choice my saying that the original would never be sold but her mother could be seen advertising her, all over the country or even the world if the 'Lucky Cross' magic worked for her. I laughed but it was true, Caroline would have said 'Humph' grumpily but secretly would have been very pleased.

I looked online for a good local art supplier and Alicia ordered another easel, more brushes, a dozen each of three different sized canvases, a ream of thick artists' paper and a few other odd items she felt she needed.

I called Talia and asked her if she knew of a local printer who could make the freebies, she gave me a name, address and phone number, I thanked her and called them to ask if they could print artwork.

I described what we wanted done and they agreed to do it this week if I took the painting round now. I got Ali to sign the painting in the corner and used a hair drier to dry it before driving to the printers. They looked at it and said it would cost $50 for a hundred copies or $75 for two hundred, I ordered two hundred on thick glossy paper and paid for it, keeping the receipt for Alicia's records and waited, I was home an hour later with the prints and they looked good and Ali was very pleased.

"This is all going so fast Danno, my mind is a blur"

"Once it has been all set up, Stella is going to work with Mr Lazarenko to get things going, all you have to do is paint, maybe the first twenty of two hundred of the horse and mark them as one of two hundred etc. on the back.

I will take the portrait of your mother to the printers, they will use the seriolithograph method to print the colours in layers to give texture to the prints. If it goes well and he earns his fee you could be exhibiting all over the state by Christmas, anything is possible.

She hugged and kissed me and said "Thank you again Danno," I smiled and patted her ass and she went to the kitchen for her first day as cook's assistant.

I went to her new artist's studio and dismantled the bed and took all the sections and the mattress to bedroom five for storage as well as the bedside cabinets, giving her a lot more room. I brought a six foot work table from the garage for her paints and brushes etc. and a roll of kitchen paper.

Dinner was good, Alicia and Carmen got on well in the kitchen.

"I did as you suggested and asked her about how she came to be here and she told me about the gang and her dad and how you and Maddy rescued them," Alicia told me.

"We did what was necessary for their safety and what was the right thing to do," I explained.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you my story," Maddy said "Or as much of it as I know, I think that there are some parts that Danno hasn't told me, I trust him so there must be a good reason for it." She looked at me and I just nodded.

After she had loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen I took her to see her art studio.

"Oh Danno, it's wonderful, I can't wait to start painting," she said happily," Today I got so excited that if you had touched my ass or pussy I would have exploded, a bit like now," she added sexily.

"Sorry Ali, but a touch is all you're going to get, sex is usually off limits here, there are ways around it occasionally but not often. Lift up your dress," I said urgently. She did and I pulled off her panties and sucked on her pussy and rubbed her clit with my tongue hard and she came within a minute, gasping as I swallowed her juices. I stood and gave her the panties and kissed her.

"Thank you Danno" she croaked, still catching her breath. I went back to the lounge and spoke to Stella and Maddy.

"I'll sort out her delivery in the morning and then go to work," Alicia walked in and sat next to Maddy,

"He's so good to me and for me, especially recently with all the stress... but now I have lots to do and friends to help me if necessary, thank you all," and she cried but with happiness this time and Maddy hugged her.

"And Danno will be back doing the maintenance because you won't have time to do it Ali," Maddy said and they all laughed and I muttered 'Humph'.

The delivery arrived at nine, Alicia payed for it and I carried it all to the studio. She set up the second easel, sorted the canvasses and the paper, set up her paints, brushes and pallet knives and put on an old man's shirt, 'one of her father's', she said, she set up the picture of her mother by one easel and the horse by the other one.

"Don't forget to finish the one of you and Caroline sometime," I said as I hugged and kissed her.

"I will Danno, I love you."

"I love you too Ali," I left to say goodbye to Maddy who was studying.

"Stella said I could sleep with her in case she was upset but she was still excited from the day's events that I had to make her cum twice so that she could sleep," Maddy said. "I had to sit on her face to keep her quiet, you know what Stella's hearing is like even from two rooms away, anyway and it worked and I came nicely too."

"I'm glad it's all working out for her but I've got to go, I'll skype you tomorrow night to see how she's doing, love you Maddy," and I kissed her and squeezed her butt in both hands.

"I love you too Danno," and she squeezed my hard cock through my shorts. I went to the kitchen to allow time for my bulge to go down but Stella was in there and I think she noticed and smiled.

"Just saying goodbye to Maddy, Mom, and Alicia's raring to start painting."

"She's going to settle in quite quickly, I think Daniel."

"I'm sure she will, goodbye Mom, see you in a couple of weeks."

I drove straight to work and caught up on the backlog of orders. I checked up on prices of the artist paintings as I had been far too busy for the last few months and was pleasantly surprised, I had six paintings and the proof of purchase invoices to authenticate them, a couple were limited editions but the rest were unique as far as I knew, I had searched online and had only found two of the six.

Prices varied from $20,000 for limited ones to nearly $100,000 for some of the unique ones, I was glad I hadn't sold them already.

I went shopping, then home and a session on the X-trainer, a quick shower, a soak in the hot tub and a proper shower in that order. I cooked something easy for dinner and checked the company accounts. The 'Plus Twos' were slow as usual, the 'Plus Ones' were doing well as before.

The 'Triples' were still flying high, I worked out the figures and decided to hold a company meeting the next time I was at Duncellin and make the girls an offer. Over the next couple of weeks the only notable thing was that Alicia called me to say that her realtor had shown a few people around the house.

"And one has put in an offer a bit under the asking price and did I want to accept it, I said I didn't know what the asking price was and he said they'd valued the property at $2,200,000" she almost screamed down the phone.

"$2,200,000! They offered $2,000,000 and he thought it was a good deal as I wanted it sold fairly quickly, what do you think Danno?"

"It's up to you, Honey but it seems okay to me, it is a big house in a good neighbourhood, the lawyer can settle the estate and as you are the only likely beneficiary, you don't have to be there for the reading of the will but maybe you could set up skype and video conference it with him"

"And you," she added, "I'll call him and tell him that's what I want to do, then call the realtor back and tell him to accept, I-I just didn't think the house was worth all that money."

"You're about to be a fairly wealthy girl, you could even buy yourself your own art studio if you wanted."

"I am very happy where I am for now thank you, unless I could convert one of your store rooms into a studio and live with you," she said grinning mischievously.

"Then the only painting being done would be with my brush in your hot little paint pot."

"Now that's a lovely thought," she mused and giggled, "I know that's not going to happen but a girl can dream can't she, maybe you could pose nude for me to paint?"

"Not while Stella is still alive, if you want to try to paint an artful nude, your best subject would be Carmen, but remember it couldn't be shown in public while she still lives in the area, but it would a good test of your skill and she would love to pose for you."

"Yes I know, she's a real exhibitionist at heart, maybe in a few months..."

"Okay just let me know, bye love."

"Bye Danno, love you too."

The sale of the house went through and the lawyer set up the conference for the Friday afternoon when I was at Duncellin again and I had already asked Maddy to organise a company meeting in The Haven at the usual time on Saturday.

Three pm, Alicia and I were on skype when the lawyer connected.

"Good afternoon Miss Carver, Mr Cross, as you requested, this conference is for the reading of the will of Mrs Caroline Carver, she has bequeathed her entire estate to her daughter, Miss Alicia Carver.

The estate consists of the proceeds of the sale of her house, less the fees and taxes associated with that. Half the proceeds of the sale of goods were taken by the house clearance company plus their fees, and of course, our fees.

There are also the contents of her bank and savings accounts and her investments, the total coming to one million, eight hundred and twenty-five thousand, three hundred and sixty-five dollars and thirty-nine cents."

Alicia was stunned at the massive total even though she knew the value of the house already, she just hadn't done the maths.

"Thank you Sir," I answered for her, "As you can see she is still a little shocked at the whole amount, if you could transfer the money to her bank account, she can deal with it when she's ready to."

"Is that what you request Miss Carver?" he asked.

"Uhh yes... that will be fine... I just need... to think about it for a while, thank you for all your help."

"My pleasure Miss Carver, I will be sending the will and other documents by secure courier to you if you would sign the receipts and return them, if there is nothing else, I'll say goodbye."

"Yes I will, goodbye and thank you," and we disconnected.

"Are you okay Ali?" I asked, a little concerned.

"I... yes, I think so, it was a bit of a shock to hear that total and when it goes into my account with the compensation and my saving there's going to be over $2,000,000 in there, oh fuck Danno!" And she looked around quickly, hoping Stella hadn't heard her swear, "What am I going to do with $2,000,000?"

"Whatever you like Ali, whatever you like."

75.

"Well to start with, I want to share some of it with my friends," she said, "You have all been so good to me and I know Conchita and Carmen are basically broke after investing in the company.

I want to give you all the same amount, you and Maddy probably don't need it but they do so don't argue, let's catch them in the gym," and she was off straight away and I had to run to catch up.

"Maddy, Conchita, Carmen, can I talk to you for a minute please," she shouted over the music. The girls stopped and I turned the sound down. "I have just been told how much is going into my bank account and I want to give a small amount to you, my friends, who have helped me a lot over the last year."

"That's a very nice gesture Alicia," Conchita said, "But that money is yours, you don't need to give any to us, we helped because we love you, not for money."

"I agree with Conchita," Maddy said, "That's for your future."

"It's too much for me, it's almost $2,000,000!" She cried, getting visibly upset. The three were surprised at the total and just stared. "Carmen, when you get your Masters, you will need to move away from here to get a good job, this could get you an apartment and you Conchita, will probably go with her, so you can combine the money and get a better one. Maddy, you and Danno may not need the money, but I have to be fair with all of you, otherwise they would consider it to be charity and refuse it."

"Okay Alicia, if you insist," Conchita said carefully, "How much were you thinking of giving us all."

"I want to give you $100,000 each."

"WHAT!!" Cried Conchita, "I thought you meant enough for a deposit, not buy the whole thing outright, that's too much, knock a zero off!" Carmen looked disappointed at that, she wasn't greedy but her attitude was 'Why look a gift horse in the mouth'.

"Please, just think about it, talk it over with the others," Alicia said and walked out. Maddy looked at me and I winked at her so she kept quiet. Conchita frowned and looked at me.

"Did you put her up to this Danno?"

"Do you think that badly of me?" I said angrily, "After all she's been through lately, the first thing she thinks of is helping her friends and you accuse me of manipulating her!"

All three stood with their mouths open, I rarely get angry and they were shocked at my emotion.

"I-I-I I'm sorry Danno, it just came out, you've been with her a lot, helping her and you came in together and I just thought... or I didn't think," and she burst into tears but nobody moved to her.