Page 25 of Unyielding
I quirked a brow, not understanding what was coming, but then I saw it. A large paint pot of blood-red paint. She poured it over the broken edges of the sculptures and painted it across the gashes in the paintings she had pieced together. She streaked paint across the ground from each piece she had, which now looked as though they were bleeding onto the floor, culminating in a giant pool of blood. What no one else would know is that Jason’s blood lay there, mingling with the red paint. In the center sat a silver serving tray with a lid on top.
‘What do you think?’ she asked.
My eyes lingered on the serving platter. Was this some joke about how she would be serving Jason’s death to him by the end of the night?
‘I think it’s slightly more morbid than we had initially planned and that you need to change. The catering staff is nearly done and visitors will be arriving shortly.’
She smiled at my obvious, creeping anxiety. ‘It will be okay; trust me,’ she reassured me, taking the bag of clothes from my hand before placing a chaste kiss on my forehead.
None of this is what I had envisioned for our first show, but I knew it would work out. Nothing in my life ever had, but here with her, it was a certainty.
The first visitors began to arrive while V was gettingdressed after a quick shower in the bathroom upstairs. Waitstaff with wine circled the room as finger food made its way around.
Xav was the first of V’s brothers to arrive. I didn’t know how to approach him in public, let alone after all that had happened. I felt seconds away from losing my mind without V next to me to ground me.
‘Namazzi, it looks incredible,’ Xav said. ‘Not the show I was expecting, but V has always had a talent for pulling beauty from chaos. I suppose that’s how she found you. This collection, it makes more sense now than the snippets I saw before.’
I was slightly too stunned to speak, but before I could find the words, V stepped into the room, and she was glowing. The atmosphere in the room lightened as she strode in, eyes darting to her, with everyone wanting to approach her, but her focus was single minded. She came to me first where I was ushering in the visitors. She placed a gentle kiss behind my ear before turning to her brother.
‘Update,’ she demanded, not bothering with pleasantries.
Xavier stifled a smile but indulged her. ‘Z is on his way back. He has an IV drip keeping him unconscious; should he wake, he is chained down, and no one would be able to hear him isolated in the desert.’
‘Good, and the police?’
Fear gripped me.What police?
I gripped V’s arm, but she squeezed me back reassuringly.
Xavier jumped in quickly before my mind ran away from me. ‘The police on duty when the gunshots went off are in our pocket. No one called in the sound; there’sconstruction on the other side of the block so it would be easy to think it was coming from there.’
I exhaled, releasing tension I did not know I was holding on to.
‘Thanks, Xav. Will you be there tonight?’ she asked.
‘Of course. For now, enjoy all of this and we will do what comes next together.’ With that, he took a glass of champagne as a waiter walked past and folded into the crowd to examine the pieces more thoughtfully.
We greeted the visitors as they came in; some were there for me, from my college classes, including my professor. This was the first time I had met any of them in person, as all my classes had been online, but I was shocked they had made the effort. V held my hand through it all, unable to let go of me given everything that had happened.
‘So, this is the woman who has had you hidden away, V? I can see why you forgot about me now. So much fornothing and no one.’ A familiar face that I couldn’t quite place stepped forward, embracing V in a hug that had me riling with a touch of jealousy.
‘I remember you!’ he exclaimed, pulling me in for a far too familiar hug. ‘You work at the Velvet Room. How on earth did you lock her down, V?’ The bucks party, the night I had met V—he was the groom.
‘Worked. She’s my gallery director now, and I wasn’t hiding her; it was you who chose to go on a two-month-long honeymoon across Europe and it was also you who got married first so shove your nothing and no one, we aren’t kids anymore. Besides, I didn’t want to disturb your happy little bubble. Is the wife here?’ V asked.
Matt laughed, seeming unphased by her bluntness. I had heard a lot about him and their friendship. He was likeanother brother who had been there for her through the social isolation being a De Luca brought, one of the few who didn’t fear her family and its name. The tension in my body faded as I took in the warmth with which he looked at V.
‘You know Ash; she’s working late—doctors and their ridiculous schedules. So, what’s your lovely lady’s name?’
‘Namazzi,’ I replied.
Matt quickly ushered me away, ignoring my protests as well as V’s and the fact that I was working, instead pulling me into a corner and thrusting a glass of champagne into my hand.
‘Now, here comes the obligatory threatening speech. Her brothers won’t openly say this because their faces alone will strike the fear of God into anyone sane, but I will. Don’t hurt her. Please. You can’t hurt her. She’s been through too much, been abandoned one too many times. I’ve never seen her with anyone, at least not seriously, and I need to know that you’re serious about her too. If you hurt her?—’
‘If you hurt her, what Matt? Are you threatening a member of the family?’ Zane stepped forward, crowding over Matt.
‘I was just setting the ground rules. Looking out for V is all.’ He looked sheepish and slightly intimidated.
