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In her spiky heels, Avril was nearly eye-to-eye with me. I leaned in to kiss her and she returned my affection with pliant, welcoming lips. I wouldn’t have minded lifting up the floaty little skirt she was wearing to let her know how hot I thought she was, but if all went according to plan, I’d have the chance later that night.
“I’m glad you’re okay with hosting tonight’s shindig.”
“I’m happy to, Chase. I mean, I’m still thinking about what I’m going to do, but I couldn’t leave you guys high and dry.”
She looked around as the room was magically transformed from an austere art gallery to a sensual playroom for grownups.
“I do love Kink Lab, Chase. I really do. I just have to figure out what I’m doing with the gallery.”
Her hair was twisted into a long, thick braid, something I’d hoped to grab a hold of at some point.
Down boy.
I settled into one of the sofas the movers had brought in. One of the cool things that Blu took care of for us was making sure each party was set up a little differently. The setting was always a bit of a surprise to our guests. They loved that.
“If you closed the gallery, what else would you like to do?” I asked.
Her face actually brightened. Maybe that was something she’d been giving a lot of thought to?
“Well, you know that school for special kids, where I volunteer, teaching art? I’d love to expand the program into a small center that teaches all sorts of art classes, all year round. I mean, right now, the kids get one hour a week for art. What if they had it every day?”
“Wow. That’s ambitious. I’m impressed, baby.”
And I was. She was always thinking. She’d suffered a big set back with her husband leaving, and she was still thinking of other people.
“On the other hand, the Kink Lab parties have brought me an entirely new clientele. This past month has been the best I’ve ever had. And since we’re selling more, more of the top artists want me to represent them. That’s a good thing. A very good thing. So I have a lot to think about,” she said, sighing.
The office door blew open and Blu whooshed in. “Hey Chase.” Then he turned to Avril. “Did I hear you talking about closing the gallery again, Av? You need to just quit that crazy talk, okay? You’d be lost without this place.”
“Well, part of the problem is that Devon’s on the lease—” she started
“Yeah, well, that bitch is goin’ to prison—” Blu said, stopping himself short.
“What?” A dark frown settled over Avril’s face. “What do you mean? Is he going to prison for sure, now?”
Christ. She didn’t know about the extent of her ex’s legal troubles? It was easy to forget that in our business community, word traveled fast. But if you were outside of it, things tended to pass by, unnoticed.
Blu sat with his mouth partly open, regret all over his face.
“Um, yeah, Av. Devon’s in big trouble, sweetie. You’re lucky you got out when you did.”
She looked back and forth between the two of us. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I decided to let Blu answer because one, he’d known her longer, and two, I was basically a chickenshit and hadn’t wanted to upset her.
“Av, sweetie, you already have so much going on. I don’t think any of us wanted to upset you further.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes wide.
“So he was definitely engaged in illegal activity while we were married?”
I decided to pipe in. “With all the charges filed against him, it looks like he’d been breaking the law for a long time.”
“Oh my god.” She dropped her head into her hands.
I reached to rub her back. I knew it hurt to deal with the shame of what someone else had done. After all, I’d been through some shit with Ruby’s mother. But I also knew my girl was strong enough to hold her head high.
“C’mon,” I said, taking Avril’s hand. “You’ve been through worse, and you are not going to let this get you down.”
