Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife (The Harder They Fall, #2)(57)

I unlocked the door to my other apartment and pushed it open. Saoirse hesitated beside me.

“Come on. Nothing’s going to hurt you.” I gave her hand a tug, and after another beat of hesitation, she let me pull her in, and I flicked on the lights.

“This is where I spend my time. My studio.”

With her mouth shaped like a pretty little o, Saoirse did a slow spin, taking it all in.

When I bought the penthouse a couple years ago, I also bought the one-bedroom below it and gutted it to the studs. Now, it was completely soundproof, with a small, utilitarian kitchen used for cleaning my supplies more than making meals. The bedroom had been made smaller and lined with shelving, where I stored tools, materials, and canvases.

“The sculptures in your living room,” she whispered.

I nodded. “They’re mine. I made them.”

I let her weave around my studio, bending to check everything out, stopping to study completed pieces. She took her time, and I watched.

None of this was a secret from the people who were part of my inner circle. My friends had my pieces in their homes. My parents and sister too. I’d been creating art since I could stand and had been selling a piece here and there under a pseudonym since adulthood.

But no one else had ever entered this space. Saoirse was the first. She was seeing a part of me no one else had. The uncomfortable squirming in my chest took me by surprise. I’d thought I’d show her, lay her curiosity to rest, and that would be that. But as I waited for her to react, I understood why she’d wanted to lash out when I’d asked about her mother.

Without thinking, I’d made her one of my inner circle. She now held a part of me only a few did.

That made me vulnerable to her.

A fact I found I did not like.

Saoirse spun on her toes, facing me. “I can’t believe this.”

“What can’t you believe?”

She strode across the room, and as soon as she could reach me, she shoved my chest. “I can’t believe you, Luca. Why wouldn’t you just tell me you were going to work in your studio instead of disappearing without a word, knowing what I believed you were doing?” She shoved me again. Not hard. Just enough to keep my attention. “I can’t believe I’ve been looking at your sculptures in your living room, trying to figure them out, while I’m living with the freaking artist. I could have just asked you.”

“You could have.” I caught her hands before she could shove me again. “You can ask me anything.”

“I just have to know the right questions to ask.” Her eyes narrowed. “You aren’t wide open, no matter how many times you say you have no secrets.”

“I don’t have secrets, but you might be right. I could afford to be a little more open with you.” It seemed like I was safe from being shoved again, so I wrapped my hand around her nape. “For the final time, I am not having sex with any other women, and I won’t for the duration of this arrangement. My word might not mean anything to you yet, but it will. You will understand, sooner rather than later, if I have anything to say about it. When I tell you I’ll do something, you can count on it.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

I sank my fingers into her hair. “Do you get me, pretty girl? Are you hearing me?”

She nodded. “I do hear you.”

“Finally.”

She brought back the shoves. “Don’t be smug. You may not have been keeping this side of you a secret, but you definitely weren’t forthcoming, and you know it.”

“Maybe. I’ve never had someone to answer to. You’re the first person I’ve lived with since college.”

“You don’t answer to me, but a ‘hey, I’m headed down to the studio, see you later’ would be nice.”

My mouth hitched. “I can handle that.”

“We’ll see.” She pushed off me, forcing me to let her go. “Now, tell me about this place. Do you only sculpt?”

“That’s my main medium. I also paint and draw.”

Her gaze swept over me. “Do you love it?” She asked this with such complete earnestness I felt compelled to give her the full, raw truth.

“In another life, I’d make a go of this as a career. But I was born a Rossi, and with my last name comes responsibilities. What I do in this studio can’t be more than a hobby. That’s the way it is.”

“I’m not sure that answered my question, Luca.”

“That's all I have to give you.”

I showed her around, answering her endless stream of questions along the way. She wanted to see every corner, to know what each tool did. I wasn’t at all surprised she was so interested. Saoirse lived for experiences, and that was what this was for her: an experience to stack up with the others.

When she was finished with her tour, she started for the door, but I didn’t follow. “Aren’t you coming?”

I glanced around the space, then at her. “Hey, I’m gonna stay in the studio. See you later.”

That made her smile. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

“You’re right. I’ll try to make it a habit.”

“Well”—she shifted from one foot to the other—“don’t stay up too late. You have work tomorrow.”