The words wrapped around my artist’s soul like a balm. She’d said them without knowing it was me, but I had to tell her. I couldn’t keep this a secret.

“I’ll take them all,” she said, her eyes still fixed on the wall where they hung.

And then I remembered one little detail. “Don’t you want to know the price?”

Yve finally turned to me. “You looking to gouge me after the last one?”

“Of course not. I just thought you might want a price before you said yes.”

“Nope. You’re not going to charge me enough regardless.”

I thought quickly and named a price that was near what Lucas had insisted on paying for the last one—multiplied by three.

Yve nodded. “Can I take them now?”

Wow.

“If you want. I can wrap them for you. Or crate them if you’d prefer.”

She considered. “Wrapping them is fine. I’m not going far. I’ve got my car at Dirty Dog, so I can put them right in it. I can’t wait to see the look on his face. You saved me a hell of a lot of trouble because I had no idea what to get the man who has everything for his birthday.”

I thought Lucas might agree with that sentiment, because now he did seem to have everything—he had Yve.

“Then I’ll ring you up and you can get back to work.”

Yve turned her shrewd gaze on me. “Are you going to tell me who the artist is?”

“Does it matter?”

Another shake of her head. “Not at all, but for future reference, I’d like to know.”

“You’re not going to find her work anywhere other than here.”

“Exclusive?”

“Something like that.” With a deep breath, I took the plunge. “I painted them.”

I had no idea what kind of reaction I would get, but Yve’s wide, brilliant smile was a perfect one.

“Are you freaking kidding me?”

“No. Not kidding.”

“That just makes it even better.” Yve’s excitement colored her tone. “I have your artwork on my wall and I didn’t even know it. That makes me so damn happy, I can’t even tell you.” She strode toward me and I found myself on the receiving end of an unexpected hug.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

She pulled back and looked me in the eye. “Now, tell me why your walls aren’t covered in your work and why you’re not advertising it as your own.”

“I wasn’t ready yet. This was a big move for me. You and Trinity and one other are the sum total of the people I’ve told.”

“One other . . . the mystery man, am I right?”

Hesitantly, I nodded before explaining that he’d pushed me into it by moving the painting she’d purchased from my house to my gallery without me being aware.

“No wonder you were so damn shocked.”

“It wasn’t exactly what I expected to see here.”

“I like him on principle. He goes after what he wants, pushes you to succeed. Those are both pros in my book.”

He didn’t take no for an answer. He routinely broke into my house against my wishes until he’d worked himself into my life such that I couldn’t go five minutes without him crossing my mind.

What would Yve say if she really knew who he was?

The words were on the tip of my tongue to ask her when I swiped her credit card. But I couldn’t get them out.

Yve wasn’t done with the subject either. “You ever going to tell us who this guy is?”

I worried my lower lip. “He’s not someone my parents will ever approve of.”

Yve shrugged. “Does that matter?”

“Not exactly, but I’m just saying that as a way to . . . I don’t know, Yve. He’s not someone I should probably even know.”

Her eyebrows went up, and her interest was well and truly caught. “But you can’t stay away . . . Now this sounds like an even better story than I thought.”

The door opened and I looked away, expecting a customer to save me from this discussion, but it was Trinity returning with the coffee she’d just had to have. No rescue from that quarter. And Yve thought one step faster than me.

“So, how hot is this guy Valentina can’t keep her hands off of?”

Trinity paused with her coffee partway to her mouth and answered before I could intervene. “Rix? He’s hot. Like dayum, thank the day his mama was born hot.”

My stomach twisted as soon as she said his name.

Yve’s gaze swung from Trinity to me. The cat was officially out of the bag. “Rix? Not the Rix who put some serious interest into Elle when she started working for Lord at Chains? Not the gangbanger Rix.”

I cringed at her description of him. First, because I didn’t know he’d put any kind of interest into Elle, let alone serious interest. And second, I hated the word gangbanger. It didn’t apply to him. Right?

When I didn’t immediately respond, Yve’s eyes widened further and her mouth hung open. “No. Freaking. Way. I don’t believe it.”

Trinity, realizing she’d let the cat out of the bag, whispered, “Sorry. I thought she knew.”

And that just confirmed it.

“Holy. Shit. I hate sayin’ shit like I can’t even, but right now—I can’t even.” Yve lifted a hand to her mouth and shook her head.

I’d never seen her look so stunned. But if I’d just been told what she’d been told . . . I would probably look like a gaping fish out of water too.

“Wow, girl. You’ve definitely been holding out on us. Hard core.”

I wasn’t even sure what I should say, but I knew I needed privacy to say it. “Trinity, could you give us a few minutes? Maybe go grab a beignet to go with that coffee?”

She nodded and shot me a sheepish smile. “I’m so sorry. I thought—”

“It’s okay, hon. Don’t worry about a thing. It was all going to come out eventually.”

Yve cocked a hip. “Damn right it was going to come out. It should’ve come out already.”

Trinity slipped out the door, and I walked around my desk and sank into my chair.

“I have no idea what I’m doing. None. Maybe less than none.”

Yve took one of the slim, modern chairs I had for clients and dropped her big purple purse on the other. “I’m getting that. How did it even start?”