I stalked her for twenty minutes before I could even breathe normally again.
Apparently that’s what I did now…stalked her like a pathetic dog.
It wasn’t even real stalking. I was just watching. Admiring. If any other man had been doing it, I wouldn’t break his nose. I’d take his fucking eyes.
She stood in front of a piece of art. Real paint on canvas. The kind that only existed in dynasty circles now, human, and stupidly expensive.
Generated art wiped out artists along time ago. Which made real human artists that committed to learning their craft, rare. Human race always chose the easy option.
I walked up beside her.
Close enough to smell the faint perfume. She glanced at me once, then turned away completely.
Might as well have been a wall. She moved to the next piece, and I followed like gravity had been wired wrong.
This… this silence between us, was my fault.
Not walking her to the car. Letting her connect dots she shouldn’t have. Every mistake wrapped around my throat now, choking me with the memory of her voice.
When she drifted down the narrow stairs to the lower gallery, I motioned to my men.
Simple instruction. Keep everyone out. Down there, it was quieter. She was staring at another painting when I found her again.
“I’m sorry,” I stood next to her. “For not walking you to the car.”
“Okay.”
She didn’t even look at me, just took a slow step toward the next piece.
“Don’t‘okay’me.” I followed her. “Talk to me. Please.”
Her laugh was small. “Please? Since when do you beg?”
“Since you stopped looking at me.”
“Will you…” She sighed and turned halfway toward me. “Just stop okay.”
“Stop what?”
“You don’t have to explain anything, Vincent.”
The way she said my full name hit harder than a punch.
“What, I’m not Vince anymore?”
Her eyes were ice when she met mine. “We aren’t together, and we aren’t friends. So you’re in the clear.”
She took a sip of her drink like she was erasing me between sips. “Whatever secret you think I’d tell—I won’t. You don’t have to do this.”
I stepped closer to her. “I don’t care about secrets. I just wanted to talk to you.”
She shook her head. “You shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not good enough for a lot of people already. I don’t need to disappoint you too.”
I opened my mouth, but she was already walking away, like something I’d never touch again.
