Epilogue
AVA
W e stand back from the canvas sheet and tilt our heads, looking at the splashes of color. Reds blend into fiery oranges, deep blues cut into smokey lilacs. Splashes, stripes, prints. It was a mess of color and movement, taking up half the space in our new art studio.
After everything that happened, I moved in with Elijah and although we loved the penthouse apartment downtown with the colossal windows; I found I preferred a house he owned that was part of the same gated community as Rosie and Julian.
We were now their neighbors, if you could even call it that, since there was a large stretch of land and a giant hedge between the properties.
As a moving gift, Eli had converted the pool house into an art studio, renovating it so that there were floor to ceiling windows on two sides for incredible lighting. On warmer days like this one, they also served as doors.
We each had our own workstations, although Elijah still had difficulty spending time on his art, but we were getting there. Since the Lutwidge auction, my popularity has continued to grow, especially when Anoushka Volkov commissioned several pieces for her club, Toska.
“Well…” Eli tugs on his boxes and places his hands on his hips, giving me a pointed look. “I think it’s a masterpiece.”
“Of course you do.” I chuckle, crouching to trace my fingers along an odd green pattern on the print. “Is that…are those?—?”
“Yep. That’s what my balls look like when you ride me.”
I bury my face in my hands with a snicker. “Jesus.”
Wrapping his arms around my waist, he kisses my neck. “Nope, just me.”
“I like this bit right here,” he says, moving to point towards two yellow shapes, with a dark pink color swirled in.
Squinting, I lean in closer. “Are those my tits?”
He smirks as he motions to a jumble of purple, blue and green with hints of yellow here and there. “And look at this, I clearly fucked you hard here because you can see it in the direction of the lines and the way your handprints move from there to there.”
Since I’d been fired from Ogmore Grange and Eli was a free man, he hadn’t had the opportunity to slather me in paint and fuck me on the classroom desk like he’d promised, but this was the next best thing.
He straightens, expression serious for a moment, making me worry as I pull on my robe. “What’s wrong?”
There’s panic in his eyes as he pulls me into his arms. “Is all this paint dangerous for the baby?”
I tut and smack his chest playfully. “We don’t even know if there is a baby yet.”
The three positive tests sitting on our bathroom counter would argue differently, but until I saw the doctor next week, I wasn’t getting my hopes up. These things could go wrong so easily, and I wanted to be sure.
“Hmmm. I mean, I’m pretty sure there’s a baby in there. But I don’t mind filling you up again anyway.” Crashing his mouth against mine, I submit to his kiss as he slowly turns my brain to mush. Eli tastes like coffee and hints of sweetness, and being held in his arms makes me feel grounded.
There’s a rustling, and the sound of twigs snapping as someone curses. A few moments later, Rosie tumbles out of our bushes, followed by an unimpressed Julian. Breaking apart, Eli and I look at each other questioningly while our friends and neighbors cross our yard.
Sashaying into the studio while brushing stray leaves from her yellow halter neck playsuit, she freezes when she spots the canvas spread across our floor.
Tilting her head one way and then the other, she hums thoughtfully. “Oh, that’s…interesting, darling. New piece?”
“Did you…you just climb through our hedge?” Raising a brow at the woman who was now one of my closest friends, I snicker as she pulls a twig from her blonde curls before turning to help her husband with the leaves in his hair. It was always strange to see him in more casual clothes, if you could call designer linens and a pale blue short-sleeved shirt casual.
“Hmmm? Yes. I wanted to map out how long it would take me to get from our house to yours if there was an emergency.” Rosie takes a seat on my stool and crosses her legs, spinning the seat slowly back and forth. “The answer is too long. We’re going to need a walkway.”
Eli looks between Rosie and Julian, frowning. “Why would you need to know that?”
Rosie looks at me as if I’ve gone crazy, her blue eyes wide. “For when my godchild is born obviously.”
I turn to look at Eli so fast I’m surprised I don’t snap my damn neck. He has the decency to look apologetic as he holds his hands up in surrender. “I may have sent Jules a picture of the tests.”
Julian shrugs, “And I, of course, told my wife.”
“And tah-dah!” Rosie does jazz hands, wiggling her fingers while she flashes us her signature smile. “Now we’re here.”
“That’s not the only reason.” Julian clears his throat and crosses his arms. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Julian this annoyed with Eli. They were always like two peas in a pod.
Glaring at Eli, he clicks his tongue and there’s a sharp edge to his tone as he says, “As my Left Hand and head of my security, can you please explain why the leader of the Six Suns crime syndicate is sitting in my office, smoking my good cigars?”