“Before you refuse to accept them, hear me out.”
I lift my gaze and find their eyes stretched wide with awe.
“Your art will change the world, Maeve. I have no doubt about that. The tools used by an artist of your caliber should be just as masterful and just as beautiful. So, please, accept them.”
“Okay,” I say softly, my stomach writhing with nerves as I set the gift box down on my desk. “I’ll accept them... on one condition.”
Phantom’s face pinches in confusion. “What’s the condition?”
“I’m going to ask you a question, and you have to be honest with me.”
“Okay.”
“I still don’t know anything about you,” I explain while wringing my hands, unsure of exactly where to start this conversation.
“You know everything that matters.” Their eyes harden as they observe me and I can almost see them building their walls up, brick by brick. My heart aches as I watch them try to keep me at arm’s length, like I’m an outsider.
“You’ve only told me about your art. Nothing aboutyou,” I counter.
Phantom nods. “Right.”
I close the distance between us as I say, “No, Phantom. I want to knowyou. I want to know it all.”
I watch the muscles in their jaw clench past the edges of their mask. “You might change your mind.”
My chin rises to meet their challenge. “No, I won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
My gaze flits between green and blue. “Yes, I do,” I say angrily. “I broke up with Noah.”
Phantom’s lips press against the cotton fabric as they fall apart. “You actually did it?”
“Yes. We broke up,” I reiterate.
Phantom’s gaze drifts to my nightstand. They won’t find what they’re looking for. The picture of Noah and me is gone.
“But you’ve been with Noah for a long time, why would you pick me over—”
I can’t help but raise my voice. “Because I’m falling in love with you, you idiot! Can’t you see that?”
They simply stare at me, and then a single tear falls from Phantom’s eye, immediately absorbed by the fabric of their mask. “You love me?” they croak.
“Yes,” I say in exasperation. “Which is why Ineedyou to be honest with me now.”
They swallow hard but nod.
“Is Dean Reithart your grandmother?” I ask, my gaze never leaving Phantom’s.
Their wrinkled brow betrays their shock. “Yes.”
My teeth grind together at the confirmation. “And you’ve asked her to do things for you? Or forced her hand somehow? To do things she didn’t want to do?”
They avert their gaze. “In a way, yes.”
“What did you make her do?”
When their eyes return to mine, all I see is fear. “Maeve, you have to understand. When I saw your art, I couldn’t help myself. People had to see it. I couldn’t leave it, or you, locked up in that dull, small-minded town. Not someone that stunning.”
