“Nooo, your father. Good thing he’s dead otherwise I’d be paying him a visit,” Hunter said, patting the perfectly tied tie. “There…anything else I can do?”
“Uhh, spank me?” Fionn giggled.
“I’m planning on it.” Grinning wickedly, Hunter retied his tie as he said,” I received all of the Representative Agreements this morning and glanced at them briefly. There are some decisions for you to make before moving forward with them.”
Hopping off Hunter’s lap, Fionn straightened the crease on each leg of his pants while asking, “Like what?”
“Stuff like…are you allowed to sell directly to clients. Another is whether you want to give only one gallery the exclusive rights to sell your sketches. And then there’s framing and shipping and who pays for it, not to mention who sets the price and what percentage of it you receive,” Hunter explained, closing his laptop.
“Shit. All of that? I thought all I had to do was find a gallery who wanted to carry my work.”
“And you did…three of them, so the hard part is done.”
Looking askance at his mate, Fionn replied, “Really? Because I gotta tell you that was pretty easy yesterday.”
Standing, Hunter said, “It was easy foryoubecause your drawings are superb, but trust me, for many other artistsit’s tough. C’mon, Dylon and Cody are waiting downstairs.”
Taking Hunter’s hand, Fionn twined his fingers with his mate’s. “Okay, so that part was easy, but…all this other stuff is like Greek to me. Like selling direct to clients? I don’t have any.”
“Not yet, but you will, pet.” Before ushering his mate out of their suite, Hunter checked the hallway before leading Fionn to the elevator. “Don’t worry about all this stuff cause I emailed a college buddy of mine who’s a fine arts photographer and asked him to give me his opinion on the three contracts, along with his thoughts about exclusivity, pricing, and the other stuff I mentioned to you. He should get back to me by tomorrow. It’ll give us some good pointers from someone whose work is carried by several galleries.”
“Thanks,” Fionn said, realizing once again how lucky he was. “We really make a good team.”
“That, we do, pet,” smiled Hunter.
Chapter 35
Dakota stood outside his mother’s hospital room, looking at her through the window, remembering how hard he’d willed her to wake up during his many visits—all to no avail. So here he was, after the meeting with Ian and Kieran, ready to use his Shadow Voice in an effort to help her find a reason to come back to him. Thinking about the possibility of failing, a shiver shook his body, causing Slate to move tight against his back, pulling his mate within the shelter of his embrace. Tilting his head back until it rested on his mate’s shoulder, Dakota felt Slate’s Alpha power encircle him, helping to calm his nerves.
“Babe, are you sure you want to do this?” asked Slate.
“I am…I have to try,” Dakota said, his voice so low only his mate could hear it.
“I understand. If it was my mother, I’d do the same,” Slate murmured. “Just believe, babe… just believe your mother will wake up.”
“I’m trying to.”
Ian joined Dakota and Slate. “How are you feeling, Dakota?”
“Pup-wise…okay, but otherwise…nervous as hell.”
“About what exactly?” asked Ian.
“Everything…what happens if Kieran is wrong and I can’t reach her…or I can but mom doesn’t wake up…”
“Whoa. First of all, if you can’t reach her, then you haven’t done any harm. This is a long shot, as I explained yesterday. And the same goes for whether Hope wakes up or not. Dakota, I know this is asking a lot of you but if what Kieran said is right, then both of you together cangive Hope her best chance of coming back to us. Have you thought what you’ll say to your mother?” asked Ian.
“Not really,” Dakota answered, uncertainty in his voice.
“Hi guys,” Kieran said as he and Logan joined them. “It’s really simple, Kota, just start telling your mother about you and your brothers, their mates, and don’t forget about the pups. Make sure you tell her she’s a grandmother and her grandpups want to meet her and don’t stop, just keep talking the entire time because she won’t believe it at first, thinking her mind is playing tricks on her but if you just keep going, there will be a point in time your mother will start listening, eager to learn all about what is happening to her older pups, oh and I wouldn’t mention your younger siblings at all because that’s going to bring up memories of why she doesn’t want to live, but don’t worry, I’ll be with you and while I’m removing her grief, you will be giving her a reason to wake up if for no other reason than to see her grandpups…easy-peasy.”
Slate snorted. “Babe, you got all that?” he asked Dakota.
For the first time that morning, Dakota smiled. Kieran always had that effect on him. “Thanks, Ki, I’ll try to do just that.”
“Why don’t we head into Hope’s room so I can get Dakota and Kieran hooked up to monitor the pups,” Ian said. “Oh, good…here’s Colton and Dr. Evans. Mac, Kieran is your patient today and Colton, you’ll be in charge of monitoring your mother.”
“Hey, Dr. Mac,” chirped Kieran, “you got an easy one today because my pup is doing good.”
