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Chapter 7
Atlanta
Ican’t quite get overthe idea that Leo Brickhouse knows Jaime Knowles. She’s one of my all time heroes, not just for her own work—which is amazing—but she’s also one of the foremost critics and buyers of her generation. A lot of people criticize the fact that she comes from a wealthy background, but that’s not why she’s successful. She’s had to work hard, making opportunities for herself and ignoring those who tried to keep her down, including her own family.
She’s done what, deep down, I wished I could do. Going her own way, making her own life. Doing what made her happy.
I had no idea she was married, or that she was married to a woman, but that just makes her even more awesome. She clearly treats love the same way she treats everything else in life: like the only opinion that matters is her own.
And now she’s going to help me get into Yale to study art. And I don’t have to worry about tuition fees either, because apparently Leo has that covered. And I’m going to have anexhibitionof my work.
Somebody please pinch me. Or don’t. I don’t want to wake up.
The sound of soft humming—Debussy’s Clair De Lune—makes me smile. Leo is so not what I was expecting. He’s in the shower right now, getting ready for a meeting with Chris and Hannah, and he didn’t eventryto get me to join him. Even though I would have done so without a second thought. I mean, I was lost to him in a card game. When I came here, I was prepared for the fact that I might have todothings for him before I’d get an opportunity to pull my gun. I’ve never, ever done anything like that with a man before, but for my family I was ready to. What I wasn’t ready for was being shown all this.
A different life. A life where I’m the top of every agenda. Where my feelings matter, not just as an afterthought but as an equal. Maybe even as the most important person in the room.
My feelings.
I’ve never even really thought about them before, beyond wanting to be an artist and knowing I’d never be allowed. The portfolio was just for me, and sort of to keep the dream alive. While I had that I could always thinkmaybe.
But now? Now there are new feelings. Things are happening and I’m almost overwhelmed. I shouldn’t want Leo the way that I do, I know that, but the truth is I can’t help it. He’s wrong in so many ways. He’s violent, he’s a criminal, he’s massive and immovable like a boulder.
But he’s also sweet and vulnerable, with a heart of gold.
My phone dings and I dig it out of my bag, hardly even concentrating as I unlock it and check the message.
Dad: Hey, sweetheart, is it done? I haven’t heard anything on the news.
I frown as I read the message. He’s not checking if I’m OK. He’s not finding out if the man he gambled me away to has had me killed or tossed out, if I’m wandering the streets right now.
But the dangerisover. That’s what I came here for. Nobody is going to hurt him and bring that kind of violence to Cody’s life. Crisis averted.
Me: You’re out of danger. Don’t expect me home anytime soon.
I turn the phone off before he can reply. If he’s even going to, who knows? I’m not sure he cares enough. But I won’t let that man ruin what I’ve found in the most unlikely of places.
Happiness. Safety. Someone who sees my value beyond how my choices reflect on him.
Leo Brickhouse.
Before I know it, I find myself wandering into the bedroom, opening the wardrobe and running my fingers along the hangers of clothes. The dresses are modest but stylish. There are leggings and tops from designer brands.Lingerie. Not just underwear, lingerie. Things that are designed to make me feel like a million dollars.
And I do.
With him, I do.
And Iwanthim. I want this. This life, this...relationship. Us.
As the notes come humming from the bathroom, I slip out of the black dress I chose for going to the gallery. The boy shorts underneath cling to my ass, cutting at just the right angle to make the most of what I never thought was my best feature, not quite as rounded and full as I would like.
I hesitate before unfastening the bra. What’s best here?
Best to tease.
I leave it in place and creep through to the bathroom. And there he is, blurry behind the fogged glass of the shower. So big and dangerous, but somehow I’ve tamed him. Somehow, I’ve made him mine in all ways but one.
The one way I now want more than anything else in the world. And this time I’m not going to take no for an answer.
