Page 66 of Savage Prince
Her smile, genuine and brilliant, reveals her straight white teeth. “I appreciate your honesty. How about I put together a proposal for all five pieces—the one you’ve completed and four others—and then we discuss it?”
“That sounds perfect.”
Chapter 28
Temperance
“Wow.” I stare at the sculpture in the center of the gallery in awe.
“Pretty cool, isn’t it?”
One of Valentina’s employees, an art student named Trinity, stands beside me.
“Amazing.”
“I cried the first time she hung one of my paintings on the wall. It was hard to believe that it wasreal.”
“I totally get that.”
“I mean, to be more accurate, I should probably say it was insane because someone actuallybought itten minutes later. For real money.”
My smile tugs so hard at my lips, I feel like my face might split. I glance at Trinity. “That’s incredible. What a dream come true.”
“It was only a real dream because Valentina taught me it was okay to have it. She pushed me. Wouldn’t let me quit. Kept me off the wrong track. Because, of course, there was this guy ...”
“There’s always a guy,” I mumble.
A deep bark of laughter comes from the back room, and we both look in that direction.
“Sometimes he’s the right guy,” Trinity says. “Even when he’s disguised as the wrong guy.”
My brows droop and I turn to meet her gaze. “What does that mean, Obi Wan?”
“Just that sometimes you don’t know what you’re working with.” Rix’s tall frame becomes visible in the doorway. “She didn’t. She took a leap of faith, and it turned out to be the best jump of her life.”
“You sound like a philosopher, not an artist.”
Trinity shrugs. “I’ve loved and lost. What can I say?”
Valentina and Rix come toward us. “Try not to sound so world weary, Trin. You’re too young for that,” Valentina says.
“She’s too damn young for a lot of things, and she still does them,” Rix adds.
“Okay, you two, stop it. Temperance is going to think I’m still an eighteen-year-old idiot.”
“You said it, not me.” Rix’s ribbing comes out with an edge of laughter.
Before the banter can continue, the door chime rings again and a couple comes in.
“I was hoping you could make it. Even quicker than I expected,” Valentina says before moving toward the couple.
But they’re not looking at her or paying attention to a word she says. They’re moving directly to the center of the room where my sculpture stands.
“It’s breathtaking.”
The man finally cuts his gaze to Valentina. “How did you know? How are you always right?”
“It’s a gift.”
