43. Valerie

Chapter forty-three

Valerie

A mbrose lounges further into the couch. "No, I think I'll wait right here," he gets comfortable, putting his arms behind his head.

"Have you lost your fucking mind, please go to my room and close the door," I beg as the doorbell rings again. He glares at me briefly before getting up.

"Fine, but we're going to have to tell him eventually." He agrees and smacks my ass as he walks up the stairs.

"We will, just not right now."

I rush over and try to make myself appear more decent. My hair is knotty and I'm sure I smell like sex. Opening the door I feign surprise and smile. "Hey."

"Good morning, Val, I have breakfast," he says walking straight past me into the house.

"Uhh thanks, Nino, but I have some work to finish up." I shift, awkwardly closing the door since he's walking deeper into my house with no visible intent of leaving.

"Work? Did you get a commission? I was hoping you'd ask for some help sketching after my offer. Can I see it?" His eyes are bright as he places the takeout containers on the kitchen table .

I freeze, I haven't even truly seen the piece since... well since we made it. "It's not the type of artwork that needs a sketch but sure," I say and turn to head upstairs.

Antonio is still looking around the house. "Karyn not here?"

"Nope, she's off till my papá is out of the hospital again." After the scare yesterday morning, I called Antonio to fill him in on what happened, leaving out the obvious mention of Ambrose.

As we reach the top of the stairs I sigh, noticing my door is closed and I'm thankful Ambrose has chosen to listen to me for once. I open the door to the studio and let out an audible gasp at how much of a mess we truly made.

"Wow, you really got into it, hey," Antonio says, flicking my ear and laughing.

"Wh-what?"

"You've even got paint behind your ear," he steps further into the room, clearly a bit sceptical about where to step.

"Sorry, I was busy with it last night so I didn't get a chance to clean up," I apologise and step in as well to take a real look at the piece.

"Well, it is…something. A shift from your usual style. It's good, don't get me wrong, I'm just surprised you changed your style this much to suit a commission." Antonio stares at the piece and I have to swallow down the nerves at his words. I'm thankful no real body parts can be distinguished in the paint, that would've given it away. Instead, it's a complex mixture of smears and paint flicks, with some extra details this piece could be something great. I smile softly to myself at the thought.

"It's still amazing though, what was your inspiration?" he turns to face me and moves closer so he can wrap his arm around my shoulder.

"Uhm, mainly love and passion and the evolution of that. I also tried to replicate some of Jackson Pollock's work…" I trail off.

"Well that explains the change in style, it's really good Valerie." He looks down at me fondly. "I'm so glad you get to pursue your passion like this again."

You wouldn't like it that much if you knew how passionate it was.

I smile and thank him as we both head out of the room. He kisses the top of my head as we pass my room and my stomach drops.

"I'm so, so proud of you, Val." His voice is almost sickly sweet and I know my face is screaming with concern but I try my best to muster up the fakest smile I can so that he can't see it.

We walk the rest of the way down the stairs when he turns to me. "I'll get going, I can see you're a bit," he pauses before looking back up the stairs, "preoccupied."

"I'm sorry, maybe we can meet up for breakfast later in the week?" I offer and can somehow feel the mood has shifted.

His phone beeps and he looks down before he lets out a scoff. "Don't worry about it Val," his lips form a forced straight-line smile.

As we reach the door, he stops to look at me. "Tell Ambrose we have dinner with Horatio on Friday night."

My heart drops to my stomach as I try to figure out what to say in response. "I–why don't you tell him yourself?"

Antonio scoffs again and shakes his head as he opens the door. "Because his car is in the driveway, Valerie."

"Antonio-" He shakes his head and raises a hand.

"I don't want to hear it, and when he fucks this all up and you're left heartbroken or even worse, I don't wanna fucking hear it then." He says before turning on his heels and heading to his car.

The tears that had just simmered began falling again. "I'm sorry," I call after him.

"So am I." He yells, still walking away. I watch him slam the car door and drive away. Feeling like a fucking idiot for not remembering his fucking car was outside, I close the door.

How do you forget an entire car?

A one-of-a-kind custom-coloured Audi. One that anyone in the entire city, let alone his brother, would notice. I can hear Ambrose coming down the stairs .

He looks pissed as he reaches the bottom of the stairs. "I understand you don't want to tell him but I am not okay with him kissing you and shit like–" He takes in my appearance and stops in his tracks.

"He knows."