Page 54 of The Saint

Trepidation ran through my veins, the girl holding my hand the very cause. Even though I’d invited her here, I wanted to back out. Walk away. Come back some other time when she wasn’t at my side.

Because this was the very thing I’d been fighting against from the moment she walked out of my life years ago. Everything had been compartmentalized, very little from one part ever mixing with any of the others. Yet I couldn’t keep her in a box. At Zio’s house. At my parents’ house. At the park with my friends.

Here with my art.

“Come on.” Jael gave my hand one last squeeze, then reached for the door. “Let’s get in there and show him how amazing you are.”

A smile tilted my lips, and as she got out of the driver’s seat, I took a deep breath before I followed after. She’d rounded the back and was waiting for me at the curb, giving me a look like I was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

I tussled her hair, then slung my arm around her neck, pulling her head into my chest. She jabbed my ribs with her knuckles, pushing away from me with laughter in her voice.

“Jerk.” Her hands smoothed over her hair, missing a strand and leaving a loop of it sticking straight out.

“You know you love it.” I reached for her, itching to keep her close in a way I hadn’t just minutes ago in the car. She looked up at me as I tucked that wild strand behind her ear, eyes dancing across my face. Searching for something, but I wasn’t sure what.

“Quit dawdling.” She grabbed my hand from her head, giving me a smirk before she turned on her heel. “Let’s go.”

Inside, the gallery was exactly what I expected: a wide-open space with beautiful paintings hanging from the walls and a few sculptures lit up with lights hanging from the tall ceiling. At the desk, along the wall, stood a woman dressed in a blue jumper. She turned as the chime above the door jingled and directed a tight smile toward us.

Before her eyes lit with recognition.

“Rolly Giordano.” The woman stepped our way, her movements graceful and her smile wide. Her grip was tight when we shook hands, almost like a reminder that she was stronger than she looked.

“Erika, good to see you again.”

“Likewise.” She turned her gaze toward Jael, then returned it to me with a quirked brow as she placed a hand on my arm. “You bring a helper?”

Jael stood like she was at attention not far from where I’d stopped. The same way I’d seen her at Zio’s, when she was talking to the lieutenants. I gave her a soft smile, wanting to tell her to relax and knowing I couldn’t say a word without making her more uncomfortable.

Instead, I reached for her, taking her by the wrist and pulling her closer. “This is Jael David.” I rested my hand upon her stiff back, spreading my fingers wide and trying to smooth the tension from her body. “Jael, this is Erika Lovegood.”

“Nice to meet you,” Erika said as they shook hands.

“Erika and I met years ago. Some fundraiser Mom dragged me to.”

“How is she? I haven’t seen her in years.”

“Good,” I told her. “Still doing the same thing.”

“That’s good.” The smile on Erika’s face wasn’t the wide one she’d graced me with earlier. Instead, there was a sadness to it that I hated to see. Before I could say anything, she gripped my arm again, giving it a light squeeze, and pointed over her shoulder toward the stairs at the far side of the room. “Dad’s upstairs. I’ll tell him that you’re here.”

“That’d be great.”

Jael’s face was pinched as she watched Erika walk away, her long black curls bouncing with every step. I lowered my face toward my girl and whispered, “What’s wrong?”

“You two close?” Her eyebrow was raised as she glanced up at me, and the look on her face had a smile tilting my lips.

“Not really. We met a couple times. Hung out at a fundraiser one night when there were no other kids around, but that’s about it. Why?”

“She likes you.”

Quiet laughter tumbled through me. “No, she likes people.”

“She kept touching you.”

My laughter died, but my smile grew. “Are you jealous?”

“No.” She said it with a huff, like it was the furthest thing from the truth. But the look she cast toward the stairs told me it was a lie.