need to move on with my life. Grant isn’t coming after me, not in the way we thought he would.
Instead, he’s destroying my life through the media and his public influence, and I refuse to sit back in a pretty cage while the rest of the world moves on without me.
It’s why I’m in a car now, heading downtown. I didn’t contact Ari for permission, didn’t tell Lincoln. Fuck them both. It’s not like they’re bending over backwards to stay in touch with me.
My babysitters will have to deal with the fact that their little monster has remembered she’s the type of girl who isn’t told what to do.
“That’ll be twenty-six even.”
The car idles near the curb as the driver turns to look at me. Smiling back at him, I swipe my card and add a ten dollar tip. I have money now after Ari bought my last set of photographs, so I’m not destitute without the means of taking care of myself.
Saying “thanks” as I let myself out of the car, I walk the sidewalk with my head lowered and my hair hanging down to disguise my face as much as possible.
The media frenzy has made it difficult to get around town without people staring, but fortunately nobody approaches like I’m a celebrity or anyone of importance. They just whisper to each other and move along.
Air conditioning sweeps out as I let myself in to the Weeping Willow, my eyes lifting to see Rebecca standing in front of a photograph on the wall, her perfectly shaped brows tugged together in the center as she scrutinizes the piece.
I step up behind her and startle at the dark and sensual shot.
Taken from behind, the line of the woman’s body is curved back, her hands bound above her head in black leather as she’s kneeling on the ground. Red lines are evenly spaced down her back, wisps of blood leaking over pale skin, a subtle pink handprint on her naked butt.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, my head tilting slightly as I make sense of it.
She spins at that, her hand going to her chest. “Shit. You scared me.”
“Who’s the photographer?”
Her cheeks glow pink. “Uh, it’s nobody. This is for a private show.”
Hand gripping my shoulder, she hurries me away from the shot as much as she can with how pregnant she is.
Once we enter her office, I take a seat and nudge my chin at her belly. “Any day now, huh?”
“A few weeks,” she smiles and relaxes back in her seat, manicured fingernails steepled and tapping against her chin. “So? You were abducted. How does it feel to be free again?”
There’s an odd glint behind her eyes, not the sympathy or worry a person would expect with such a morose topic.
“I wasn’t abducted. I simply left my husband for -“
“Harrison Nash. I know. He’s a stunning man. A bit sharp around the edges. I assume he’s the demon from your last show.”
My eyes flick away. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve parted ways.”
“Have you?” she asks, her voice conspiratorial. “That’s a shame. Men like him are rare. They’re not the easiest to live with, but they’re fierce in their possession of you. It’s a fire unlike any other.”
She doesn’t know Ari, apparently. He’s too cold. In a way, he’s exactly what I always feared when I was younger and stood still. Like the black void of space swallowing you whole as you float away from Earth.
“Well, I’m sorry that didn’t work out for you. But it makes me glad I got in touch. I’d like to do another show with your work. Your recent chaos would be amazing to see from a visual standpoint. How about we schedule it for six months from now?”
It’s not a bad idea. My gaze darts back to her.
“Are you sure you’d want that? I’m a bit of a pariah in the city currently. The gold digger that played a game on her husband.”
Her lips curl. “That makes you even more interesting. Let’s set a date, and you can spend the next six months creating the perfect shots. Maybe even use the show to tell your side of the story.”
Excitement sparks inside me at the thought of taking back my life. My art. My heart and mind. “Let’s do it.”
After setting a date, I leave the gallery and wander around the city for a little while. People stare and whisper but leave me alone for the most part, keeping their distance as I spend a few hours re-familiarizing myself with