The Arrogant Artist : A Billionaire Boss Romance (International Bad Boys Set Book 2), стр. 44

“Wow! I love his work.”

Of course, she does.

“I thought I was your favorite?” I tease her.

She kicks me lightly, but I grab her foot in my hands and hold it. She tenses for a moment, but then I let my fingers sink into her foot finding the right pressure points.

“Oh, wow.” Her head falls back, and she closes her eyes. “That feels so good.” Her voice is relaxed. I want to tell her I can make her feel better, but that’s for another time.

“Yes, Victor Kazalausks was my mentor, and Elisabeth was one of his many mistresses over the years.” She nods, now enjoying my foot massage. “One weekend Victor was gone, and he took everyone except Elisabeth with him. He gave her some bullshit excuse and left.”

“He was pushing you together.”

“Yeah. The old man saw what was happening between us, and I guess he wanted to see if something was really there. Nothing happened for a while until we got drunk at dinner. That’s when the obvious sexual tension between us snapped, and we fell into bed with each other.” My heart aches a little bit remembering those times, so I pour myself another shot of tequila while Emily is still sipping hers.

“What happened?”

“Once we slept together, my art took off. It was like I finally saw life in technicolor. The world seemed so bright… I was excited and inspired.” She nods. “When Victor came home, we continued to see each other. Elisabeth and I sneaking away whenever we could, but my art couldn’t hide the fact that Elisabeth was my muse.

“Maybe three months of us hiding behind Victor’s back was when he pulled me aside. He told me he could see that I was inspired, that my muse had come to me, and that I was painting some of my best works. He then told me that sometimes we don’t pick our muses, but once we find them, we shouldn’t let them go.”

“He gave you his blessing.”

“Yeah, he did. Weeks later, Elisabeth and I moved out, got our own place, and then my paintings really took off. I made my first big sale after that. With the money, we bought a house, and we made a life. My star grew brighter, and I thought I had everything I could ever want in my life.” I laugh sadly.

“She threw how we met in my face when I caught her with Yves.” Emily tilts her head and screws up her forehead. “She told me it wasn’t sex… she was just his muse. Didn’t help that I caught him using her as a human paintbrush, fucking her all over his canvases.”

Emily’s eyes widen.

“That’s what his paintings are?”

I nod and watch as the information sinks in.

“Don’t you get paint everywhere, like you know…”

God, she’s cute, and it makes me laugh. Something I haven’t done about this situation before.

“Wasn’t my first thought when I caught them fucking.” I pour us both another tequila as she’s finally finished her shot.

“Do you still love her?”

“No.”

Both of us are quiet for a moment, my answer falling more easily from my lips than I thought it would.

“Wow! Wasn’t expecting that answer.”

“Neither was I.” I grab the shot and throw it back.

Both of us are now sitting in silent contemplation.

“How did you meet Yves?”

I pour myself another shot before speaking, “I found him selling his paintings in Montmartre. I could see the diamond in the rough.” Emily smiles at me as she knocks back her shot. I pour her another. “Yves had a hard life. His family was refugees from Algeria, he grew up in camps, moving around a lot until finally settling in Paris. When I saw him practically begging on the streets, selling these incredible paintings for next to nothing, I wanted to help. Elisabeth and I had set up our mentor program by this time, so we offered him a scholarship, free room and board, and a mentorship for his art. He’d never had a loving and stable home life before.”

Emily moves forward, taken in by the story.

“Come here.” I motion to her. She gives me a strange look. “Just, please,” I say. She moves and settles between my legs, her back to my front, and I pull the blanket around us as the cool night air wafts over us. I wrap my arms around Emily, absorbing her warmth while she rests her head on my shoulder. “That’s better.”

She gives me a lazy murmur, “Yes.”

“Now, where was I. Right… Yves. As the years passed by, we become one big happy artistic family. I didn’t think I could be happier. I thought of him as my brother.”

She turns in my lap and looks at me. “Sorry… side note. Is Daniel your brother? You both have different surnames, but he calls you his brother.”

I smile. “Yeah, he is my half-brother, but that’s another story we might save for another night.” She nods and settles back down against me. “My workload increased over the years, and I was away a lot more than I normally had been. Each time I came back, I heard whispers that some of my staff had concerns about Elisabeth.”

“Like Gabriel.” I still, how on earth did she know? “He told me,” she answers my unasked question. I knew they were close, but I didn’t realize they were that close.

“Yeah, like Gabriel. And, of course, I didn’t listen to them, not after Elisabeth got into my ear, told me they were jealous of my success, even convinced me that Gabriel was gay and in love with me, and that was why he was making up these rumors about her.”

“Oh my God, Louis, that’s…” She doesn’t finish, instead she trails off.

“I know. And I fell for it.”

“She was your wife, of course, you would have. How would you have known what she was really like?”

Emily and I look at each other—I like that she gets it.

“Elisabeth was always a flirt, but I thought she was just being the life of the party. I never