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“Will you be okay if I stand just outside the door?” Ari asked.
Claire nodded.
“Fine,” he finally said. He turned his full focus on Kane. “But if I get even the slightest hint that you're bullying her, this night is not going to end on good terms between us.”
“Understood,” Kane said. “But you have to know I would never hurt your girl.”
“Do I?” Ari challenged, his stare glacial.
“I would protect her just as you would Saskia. You know that. I got carried away. I pulled the scary dominant shit on her, forgetting she doesn't know me well enough for that. Okay?”
“Youneverpull the scary dominant shit on her. I don't care how well she knows you. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
Ari nodded and left the room, but he clearly wasn't happy about it.
When they were alone again, Kane extended a hand and helped her off the floor. Then he took a few steps back to give her space.
“Well? Spill it. Why did you look at me like you'd seen a ghost when you saw me tonight? What do you know that you shouldn't know? More importantly, how in the fuck do you know it?”
Claire took a deep breath. “What if I tell you something you don't want to hear? What happens?”
“I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you're asking. But I need to know.”
She sighed. “I know you're Joseph Quill.”
The resigned look on his face said he'd known that before the words had come out of her mouth. “And how do you know this?”
“Before... things happened... I wanted to work in art restoration. As part of my studies, I took a lot of art history classes as well as a survey on famous contemporary and recently deceased artists even though I wouldn't need to know that kind of thing specifically for what I wanted to do. It was interesting, and I was into everything about art except actually making it myself.
There was a heavy focus on your work. So I recognized it when I saw the painting you did of me. Though I wasn't a hundred percent sure you were him because I hadn't seen your work in so many years. At least I wasn't sure until I saw Ari's art collection tonight before we came here. He's got a Quill nude in his private gallery.”
Kane raised a brow. “He does? He never told me that. The last I checked all of the work was in the hands of private collectors unwilling part with them.”
“It's one of the earlier pieces. The only girl you were known to have painted multiple times.”
Kane laughed suddenly. “Motherfucker. I'd wondered where that painting got off to. There is only one piece of that girl in private hands. I was planning to steal it from the previous owner. I'd tried to buy it first, but they wouldn't sell. They must have decided to sell after all. I guess they chose another buyer. They probably didn't appreciate the way I'd talked to them.”
“I'm sure Ari would sell it to you if he knew how much it meant to you.”
Kane laughed again. “Right now he wouldn't sell me a pint of blood if I was bleeding out. But it doesn't matter. I'm happy for him to have it. I don't need it anymore. I've moved on.”
“Can I ask you something?” Claire asked.
“Sure.”
“Why did you fake your death? You didn't need to be dead to sell art for millions of dollars. You were well on your way, alive.”
Kane shook his head. “I didn't fake it. I was running a tech start-up, and I couldn't afford any scandals. The kind of art I do would have qualified as a scandal. My art was taking off at the same time as the startup. I wasn't sure which horse to bet on, so I bet on both. I got someone to pose as Joseph Quill for public appearances. He was the one who died in the crash. I'm mainly doing kinky art installations as Jacob Hunter now, but I still do my nudes for people I know I can trust. Though I still make them sign NDAs. You can't be too careful.”
It was one thing to know he was Quill. It was yet another for him to confirm it.
“I was a huge fan of your art,” she said quietly, feeling a bit starstruck even after everything.
“Was? Claire, you wound me.”
“Am,” she clarified. “I still can't believe Joseph Quill painted me.”
