FULL NOVELXO A self-portrait of her crying was mounted to the wall encased in a stark black wooden frame. Her lips painted an angry red, mascara streaking down her cheeks and the clear despair on her features clearly depicted the title Betrayed. Then the self-portrait immediately next to it with rage, her features narrowed, fierce and vengeful was entitled Scorned.
She hadn’t put out such vulnerable work in years and letting her very real emotions to be viewed by the world was excruciating yet cathartic.
“Especially if your new patron shows up,” Elsie grinned, playfully nudging her with her hip.
She’d had multiple conversations with him all week. He liked to call, not text and he was very flirty. She really hoped he would show up. He would be a good bit of fun to rebound with. Or at least it was Fred’s suggestion. Her brother kept asking her if she’d boned the billionaire yet.
“I can’t believe you bribed him to show his face for a simple USB.”
She was quite certain it was not the USB which made him agree but the prospect of getting his hands on the laptop which had pushed him, but she was not about to divulge this information. She’d falsely reported a crime which she had committed. He was so grateful for the info he had he’d sent her a bottle of expensive wine and a dozen roses.
She heard the buzz of more people entering the gallery and looked over her shoulder to see her ex-in-laws entering. “What the actual fuck?” she hissed under her breath while maintaining her wide smile.
“Why are they here? They were not invited.”
“It’s open invitation,” she gritted through her teeth.
“Darling,” Torrie gripped her by the shoulders and blew air kisses to her cheeks, “you look gorgeous. Doesn’t she look gorgeous Trent?”
“She does indeed.” His gaze racked her up and down in the familiar way which had always made her skin crawl.
“I did not expect to see you here,” she kept her smile firmly planted on her face as she ignored his creepy stare. “Thank you for coming.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t miss a show of our daughter-in-law.”
“Ex,” she corrected quickly.
“Ugh,” Torrie rolled her eyes dramatically, “my son realized his mistake as soon as the woman provided her pregnancy test. Once the baby is born within wedlock to meet the confines of the will, he’ll come back to you, as he should.”
“Excuse me?” her smile slipped at the woman’s words.
“Your sister is not fit to be a McGrath and we all know it. We did what was right for the child and Merlin had his role to play. She is a frightful woman, isn’t she?” Torrie whispered lowly clutching Liesl’s hands tightly in her grip and putting their foreheads together conspiratorially. “She threatened to abort the baby if he doesn’t give her what she wants. She keeps making comments about how clumsy she is. I wouldn’t put it past her to throw herself down a flight of stairs to cause the child harm. Horrible human being.”
“Torrie, I don’t know what to say to all of this,” she withdrew her hands and stepped backward. She could feel Janka wanting to push forward to offer her two cents and waved her back, “but you need to know, I’m never taking him back. They were together multiple times over an eleven-month period. This wasn’t a one-time drunken mistake, which even then I’m not sure I could forgive. It went on for months. They had sex in my house while I was sick upstairs in my bed. On my kitchen counter.” She saw her Torrie frown at her words, “I might be kind and a bit na?ve but I’m not ever going to forgive him.”
“But she seduced him.”
“I’m afraid his inability to control his penis around a seductress is no longer my concern. He hurt me. I can’t ever forgive either of them.”
“You say this now but once he is free.”
“He may be free, but she won’t be,” a deep voice spoke behind them ending Torrie’s sentence with decisive firmness. “Hello, love, I’m sorry I’m late,” a warm kiss pressed to her cheek coupled with the deep scent of spicy cologne with the soft words whispered in her ear made her shiver. “Play along.”
She turned her head a fraction and met the humor-filled ones of Isaias Machado dressed impeccably in a dark suit with a crisp white shirt. She immediately felt the air get swept out of the room, or perhaps it was her only her lungs. She looked around and noted every woman appeared to be gasping. No, it was the room. He was a gorgeous man. Her panties were dampening by the second.
“Machado,” Trent voice was barely controlled with his irritation. “What brings you to our daughter-in-law’s show?”
“Liesl, did you not tell me you were divorced?”
“I am very much divorced,” she shot him an annoyed glance as his fingers rested on her shoulders. She looked at Janka who had moved to her side, out of Isaias’s purview.
Janka mouthed, “oh my fucking God!” and swung her hand as if it were on fire. Elsie was clutching her chest as if wearing pearls. She fought her laugh at their antics.
Her friends were all in. She decided rather than punch him for assuming she was a damsel in distress, she half-turned into his arm and wrapped her arm around his waist stepping closer to him and opted to kiss his cheek. “Isaias, have you met Trent and Torrie McGrath. They are my ex-in-laws and came to wish me well this evening.”
“Liesl,” Trent stared at her, “can we talk outside of this room please?”
“Why? Anything you say to me will be repeated verbatim to my boyfriend,” she felt his laugh rather than heard it. He wasn’t balking at the boyfriend term. Good. He started it. She was going to run with it. Give an inch, take a mile. Tonight, she was playing by Sandy’s rules.
“You don’t know who he is.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you?”
“He was one of my very first customers,” she smiled up at him and her breath caught at the endearing way he was smiling back. He winked at her and kissed her forehead. “He bought one of my pieces when I was still in art school.”
“It hangs in my office to this day. We recently reconnected and when I realized she was the woman who had painted the scene which inspires me every single day, I couldn’t help but pursue her.” He squeezed her hip tightly, “I mean, talent, brains, and this stunning beauty. Your son was an idiot to let her go but his loss is my gain.” He grinned wickedly, “it seems a pattern for him lately.”
“You went after her to get to our family.”
“Um, I approached him actually.” She snuggled into his chest. Damn he was solid like marble. She had a strange urge to take up sculpting again and use his chest for inspiration. She rested her hand against his pec and resisted the urge to squeeze it.
“You what?”
“Yes. In a restaurant. I saw him there and said hello. I couldn’t resist. I soon recognized him as the buyer to my piece and the rest was history.”
“My mother has the other piece we purchased back then hanging in her den. She loves it. She’ll be here soon. She was extremely excited to know you still paint.”
“Why are you doing this Machado?” Trent glared at him.
Liesl admitted she wanted to know as well but the man simply gave a shrug and smiled.
The strange emphasis on the word ‘never’ had chills running up and down her spine. They were dark, ominous and decidedly serious. As Janka and Elsie’s eyes widened at his words, Liesl had a sudden realization maybe she’d bribed the wrong billionaire. Perhaps, she was in over her head. Deeply.