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Lizzie scoffed, turning back to the painting, arms folding together. “Like I don’t know exactly where you live.”

Ali looked up at Charlotte with wide eyes. “Is she stalking me?”

“Likely only mildly,” Charlotte murmured with a shrug. On the list of things Lizzie had done in the name of defending her this was small. “She’s protective.”

“Uh huh.” Ali’s lips pressed into a determined line. “I respect her intimidation tactics.”

Lizzie quirked an eyebrow, pointing to the dark paint on Charlotte’s right shoulder blade. “What the fuck is that?”

Ali didn’t miss a beat.

“Her tattoo.”

“What do you mean, her tattoo?” Lizzie asked, eyes narrowing.

“Well, you see, we had a day of spontaneity and ended up getting tattoos.”

Shocked, Lizzie looked back and forth between Ali and the portrait, mouth slightly agape. “What do you mean? Are you telling me you convinced my sister to get a tattoo?”

Ali nodded, the picture of perfect innocence. “We wrote a bunch of different things on a list, rolled some dice, and let fate decide which we would do.”

“Twinnie! What is the meaning of this?” Lizzie all but screeched.

Charlotte’s eyes rolled. “Calm your tits. It’s henna.”

“Oh,” Lizzie said, outrage vanishing. “That’s okay then.” Lizzie threw her arms wide at the wall of paintings. “Speaking of tits! How much for this masterpiece, Ali?”

“Whoever said you’re getting dibs, Lilibet?”

Diana’s voice glided in as she joined the group, arm looped through another woman’s who Charlotte couldn’t quite place. Salt and pepper hair, steel-gray eyes that darted between Charlotte and Lizzie, expression unreadable.

Lizzie spun to face their mother, a wild gleam in her eyes. “Because, as a twin, it’s my job to hang it somewhere embarrassing. Keeps her humble.”

“Which is why you can’t have it. You won’t appreciate the art. Tell me, what do you see when you look at it? Besides your sister.” Diana turned to Ali, with a knowing smile Charlotte recognized all too well. “They’re all lovely, Sugar, but Charlotte’s is especially captivating.”

Charlotte’s expression closed up, as the familiar discomfort of being too perceived sank from her chest into her lower abdomen.

“Thank you,” Ali replied, color rising in her cheeks as her fingers fidgeted with the chain at her throat.

Charlotte leaned in to whisper in Ali’s ear, unwilling to allow anything to ruin Ali’s evening. “If anyone is getting that painting, it’s me.”

Ali chuckled under her breath. “Maybe you should hold onto dibs for when I do paint your tits full-frontal, babe.”

It was Charlotte’s turn to blush.

This woman…

Lizzie studied the painting for a long moment, head tilted. “Yeah, I don’t get it. I just see, Charlotte.”

“Which is why you can’t have it,” Diana stated, sharing an amused expression with the stranger on her arm. “Read the title. It might help.”

“Oh gods,” Ali whispered, snatching a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and downing it in one go.

“What does it say? I haven’t looked.” Charlotte called, watching Lizzie crouch to read the tiny plaque beside the frame.

Lizzie straightened, eyes sparkling. “Adoration and Yearning.”

The words hit before the meaning. Her feet were already carrying her toward the wall until she was close enough to read for herself.