Radiant

by Elizabeth Hayley

  “You hungry?” Derick asked, taking her hand and leading her out onto the street.

  “I could eat something.” Although they’d gone to breakfast earlier in the day, it was almost two o’clock, and they hadn’t had anything since.

  The subway ride took only a few minutes, and they walked another block to the place Derick had suggested. It was a café that served authentic Mexican food, including special desserts: homemade fried ice cream, churros, and chocolate tacos filled with caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream, and cinnamon.

  They ate some lunch, and then Derick ordered one of the dessert samplers and some hot chocolate and brought it over to the bar that looked out onto the street. In between conversation, they ate slowly, enjoying the variety of flavors. Siobhan stared out the window, catching a vague reflection of herself in the glass.

  She’d forgotten how much she loved to watch people, especially when she’d first moved to New York and hadn’t been used to the rushed pace of the city and its inhabitants. She remembered how she used to wonder what each person’s story was, why they were always in such a hurry, not stopping to take in the city surrounding them.

  She nodded toward a middle-aged woman pulling back her graying hair. “What do you think her story is?” she asked Derick.

  “Her story?”

  “Yeah. Like where is she going? What does she do? That kind of thing.”

  Derick’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, I like the sounds of this game,” he said, although the woman was already out of sight. “I’m thinking she’s on her way to get more cat food. She only has enough to feed six of them, and she doesn’t want the other three to go hungry.”

  Siobhan elbowed him playfully. “That’s mean.”

  “No way. The mean thing would be to let them starve,” he replied, making Siobhan laugh out loud. “What do you think she’s doing?”

  Siobhan remembered the woman’s hurried pace and the weariness in her eyes. “I think she’s late for her shift at the hospital. She’s a nurse. Long hours. She sees things she can’t unsee. It’s added years to her life.” Siobhan’s gaze remained straight ahead, but she could feel Derick’s eyes on her.

  “Well, that’s cheerful,” he said.

  Siobhan huffed out a laugh through her nose as she turned to him. “Okay, your turn to pick someone.”

  Derick studied the people passing by the restaurant. “That guy.” He pointed to a gaunt-looking hipster in gray skinny jeans and a floral shirt that looked like it had been sewn out of a vintage curtain.

  Siobhan thought for a moment. “I’m thinking he’s running to a store to buy his girlfriend a last-minute anniversary gift because he didn’t realize six months was something to celebrate.” She looked to Derick. “What do you think?”

  “No way he has a girlfriend,” Derick said drily. “I think he’s going out to buy a mirror so he can finally see what he looks like when he gets dressed in the morning.”

  Siobhan laughed. “I haven’t done this since I first moved to New York.”

  “I haven’t done this ever,” Derick said.

  “Well, I never actually played it out loud like that. I used to think about what New Yorkers’ lives were like. I guess because I always wanted to be one so badly.”

  But at some point, the reality of living in the city that never sleeps had set in, and Siobhan had begun to understand that fast-paced way of life all too well. Eventually, though she wasn’t exactly sure when, she’d stopped wondering what each person’s story was.

  Maybe it was because she’d gotten one of her own.

  She was the girl who’d come to New York like so many others, leaving behind who they once were to find the person they hoped to become. An actor, a musician, a model, a writer, a dancer…a painter.

  It hadn’t taken her long to realize that all those who came to New York brought with them the same thing: an unwavering optimism that they could beat the odds, that they could make a name for themselves in a place where so many people couldn’t.

  Why else would anyone move to a city where a shared studio apartment cost more than a mortgage payment on a three-bedroom suburban house?

  Siobhan finished the last bite she could eat of the dessert, and Derick polished off the rest. He threw their trash away and held the door while Siobhan exited the café.

  They decided to walk the three blocks toward Central Park. The zoo would be their last stop before heading back to Derick’s.

  Their pace was quick, purposeful. It made Siobhan feel like a real New Yorker—on a mission to get somewhere. Or maybe to get away from somewhere. The sounds were familiar ones: heels clicking on concrete, conversations melding together until they became one steady din of voices, the occasional fist pounding on the hood of a cab as a pedestrian tried to cross the street.

  Sharp orange light pierced through the thin spaces between buildings, silhouetting them against the fall sky. She knew this moment well, the last few hours of light right before the sun goes down and the city comes to life, waking itself up with artificial neon lights and the almost imperceptible hum of jazz or blues from some bar only locals frequent.

  She’d been gone a few months, had moved to a city she’d grown to love and, more important, a city that loved her in return. But after a few days back in New York, she could already feel the thrum of the city pulsing inside her like a heartbeat she hadn’t noticed had stopped.

  The last time she’d been in the park had been for one of her painting classes. And come to think of it, she didn’t think she’d ever actually gotten a chance to enjoy it when she wasn’t working.

  Their pace slowed when they entered the park, and everything looked different from how she remembered it. “It’s beautiful here in the fall,” Siobhan said. She wished she had her art supplies with her so she could properly capture the park’s beauty.

  Derrick’s smile shone in his eyes when he spoke. “It’s perfect.”

  Siobhan couldn’t take her eyes off the scenery, as she tried to catch everything she’d somehow managed to miss when she’d lived here. “It really is,” she said.

  Chapter 25

  Derick watched Siobhan put her toiletries into her suitcase and zip it up. He walked over to lift it from the bed and placed it by the door with the rest of their luggage.

  “Guess that’s it,” Siobhan said.

  “Looks that way.”

  Siobhan closed the small gap between them and slid her arms around his waist. “This was a good trip,” she said, her cheek pressed against his chest.

  Derick rubbed his hands up and down her back. “It was. Though I always have a good time when you’re around.”

  Siobhan swatted his ass. “Suck-up.”

  Placing a chaste kiss to the top of her head, Derick replied, “You know it.”

  They broke apart slowly, and Derick pushed his hands into his pockets to resist pulling her back to him. “Where are you meeting the girls?”

  “Some restaurant downtown. I told them we needed to meet at eleven thirty. That should give me plenty of time to catch our flight, right?”

  “Yup. The jet’s scheduled for takeoff at four, so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’m sure the captain won’t mind waiting a few minutes if one of his two passengers is missing.” Derick shot her a wink before walking over to the chair and taking his jacket off it. “My meeting should be all tied up by one, so I’ll be there waiting for you.”

  “Hmm, that’s how I like you best: waiting for me.”

  Derick walked over and ran his hand along her jaw. “I’ll always wait for you.”

  Siobhan smiled, and Derick couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to her lips.

  He walked over to grab his keys and wallet from the table. When he turned back toward her, she was rubbing her hand over the back of the couch. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Do you miss it?”

  Derick’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Miss what?”

  “Living here. Full-time, I mean. The commute has to be getting old.”

&nbs
p; Derick thought for a moment how best to answer her, and after releasing a small sigh, he decided the truth was it. “I don’t love all the flying back and forth. But I do love you. So…you’re worth it. Whatever I have to do to keep you is absolutely worth it.”

  She looked at him. “Let’s make it six months.”

  He raised his eyebrows and waited for her to clarify.

  “Once we’ve made it six months without breaking up, then we can talk about coming back to live in New York.”

  Surprise was probably evident on his face as he stood there and stared at her. There were a million questions floating around his brain. Was she sure? Didn’t she love Detroit? He wasn’t pressuring her, was he? Could she be happy here? Did she not think they’d make it six months?

  But the only thing that actually came out was a simple “Okay.”

  Chapter 26

  “Ugh, this place is so crowded,” Cory said.

  Siobhan went up on her tiptoes and scanned the foyer of the restaurant they’d chosen to meet at for a farewell brunch. “We might want to try somewhere else. I have to meet Derick at the airport at three.”

  “There’s another place two blocks up that I’ve been to a few times. It’s a hole in the wall, but their food’s pretty good,” Marnel said.

  Blaine shrugged. “Works for me.”

  The women walked back out into the chilly New York air, pulling their coats tighter around them.

  “You excited to get home?” Cory asked.

  “Yeah, I guess. It’s definitely been nice visiting, though. I left New York in such a bad place, I forgot how great it can be here.” Siobhan was nearly overwhelmed by the feeling of having come full circle. And even though she didn’t want to admit it out loud, the city felt more like home than she’d initially allowed herself to admit. Maybe moving back here with Derick one day wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

  “Oh, they’re finally filling this empty store space. There hasn’t been anything here in a while,” Blaine remarked.

  Siobhan threw a cursory glance at the renovated storefront. And then she looked again. Stopping abruptly, she barely registered Marnel walking into her.

  “Jesus. Warn a girl, would ya?” Marnel joked.

  Siobhan took a step closer to the large window. It can’t be.

  She felt a hand on her arm. “Siobhan? What’s wrong?”

  Never averting her eyes from the window, Siobhan wasn’t even sure who had spoken. The words that came out of her mouth weren’t directed at anyone, either. “The paintings.”

  Cory’s reflection stood next to hers in the window. “You don’t like them? I think they’re amazing.”

  Siobhan finally let her eyes leave the paintings so she could turn her head toward Cory. “They’re mine.”

  Chapter 27

  There had to be a reasonable explanation. There just had to be. And that was exactly what Siobhan was determined to find out when she pulled open the door to the gallery and walked inside. “Hello? Anyone here?”

  The girls had followed her in, but they stayed a few steps behind her, clearly willing to have her back while allowing her to run the show.

  “Be right out,” a woman’s voice called from the back room.

  Siobhan let her gaze track over the room. Her paintings were all organized at the front; other artists’ work filled the rest of the space. The stark white walls were the perfect backdrop to the colorful collection in front of her.

  Her perusal was interrupted by a short woman with shoulder-length blond hair. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She approached with her hand outstretched. “Hi. Welcome to the Lost Diamond Gallery. My name is Liza. Can I help you?”

  Siobhan woodenly shook Liza’s hand. This didn’t make any sense. Siobhan didn’t even know this woman. “Where did you get those paintings in the front?”

  Liza’s smile dimmed slightly, and Siobhan figured it was in response to her harsh tone. “I believe they came from the owner’s private collection.”

  “You’re not the owner?” Siobhan asked.

  “No, I’m the interim curator overseeing the opening.”

  “Could you please tell me who is the owner?”

  “Yes. His name is Mr. Derick Miller.”

  “Oh, my God.” Siobhan heard the gasp from behind her.

  Liza looked puzzled. “Do you know him?”

  Siobhan took a deep breath in an effort to keep the tears that had begun to sting her eyes from falling. “No. I don’t know him at all.” She turned to leave but stopped with her hand pressed against the door. She turned back to look at Liza. “You said you’re the interim curator, right? Who’s the permanent one?”

  Liza’s eyes moved between the girls curiously. “A woman,” she said, “named Siobhan. Miss Siobhan Dempsey.”

  Chapter 28

  Derick paced on the runway next to his jet, gripping his phone against his ear with white knuckles as he listened to the seemingly endless ringing. When the voice mail came on, he left a message. His sixth so far.

  “Siobhan. It’s me again. I’m starting to panic here. Please call back as soon as you can.”

  Derick lowered the phone and stared at the display, silently cursing himself for never bothering to get the phone numbers of the other girls.

  Siobhan had said she’d meet him at three. It was almost three forty-five. Where the hell could she be?

  Helplessness was not a feeling Derick was fond of. He was never helpless. Feeling an irrational anger at Siobhan for putting him through this, he called her again.

  This time, he heard the call connect, though Siobhan hadn’t actually said anything yet.

  Derick’s words instantly filled the line. “Siobhan? Where are you? Are you okay?”

  There was no immediate response, just the sound of her breathing on the other end.

  “Is something wrong? Baby, are you okay?”

  He heard her bitter laugh.

  Derick was still worried, but now for a very different reason. “Please talk to me,” he whispered.

  “Talk to you? Why? What’s left to say?” Her voice sounded like it was vibrating with anger but also wavering with sadness.

  Derick’s worry turned to all-out fear. It caused him to hesitate, and Siobhan filled in the silence.

  “I thought we were past all this bullshit. But we’ll never really be past it, will we, Derick?”

  “Siobhan, I don’t know what’s wrong, but why don’t you meet me at the airport, and then we can—”

  “I’m not coming to the airport. It’s done. We’re done. Forever this time.”

  The call ended, and all Derick could do was stare out over the tarmac and wonder how this had happened all over again.

  Curious to see how it all ends?

  “Please don’t let me fall.”

  Since Siobhan has made it as an artist, she’s ready for a fresh start in New York with the love of her life, billionaire Derick Miller. But their relationship has been a roller-coaster ride that has pushed Derick too far. Will Siobhan be able to win back her soul mate?

  Read on for a sneak peek at the final book in the Diamond Trilogy, Exquisite, available only from

  Derick stared at the piece of cardstock in his hand and read it once more. It wasn't that he didn’t want to see the words written on it; it was just that he couldn’t bring himself to fully believe them.

  Not only did he receive an invitation to the Lost Diamond’s grand opening that would be taking place next week, Siobhan had been the one to invite him. He hadn’t even known she was back in New York, let alone planning to run the gallery.

  There hadn’t been any calls between them since he’d spoken to her about the deed. No texts or emails had been exchanged. He’d been sure that she didn’t want to see him. And yet, the invitation in his hand proved differently.

  But he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to see her.

  Derick breathed heavily and then tossed the invitation on his counter before grabbing his coat and headin
g downstairs. He needed to go for a walk to clear his head.

  The cool, crisp air hit him in the face as he exited the building. It was exactly what he needed. Maybe the sounds and sights of the city would be enough to get his mind off her. He rubbed his hands together and blew into them before thrusting them into his pockets and heading down the street.

  The movement soothed him, so he walked quickly, crossing streets and turning down others. He’d covered two miles before he’d even realized where he was.

  Somehow, in his effort to get away from thoughts of Siobhan and the gallery, he’d ended up right in front of it. His feet had taken him where his mind didn’t want to go.

  Stopping across the street from the gallery, he looked into the glass exterior, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Maybe this was best. It didn’t matter that they weren’t together anymore, that they wouldn’t be together. He needed to make sure she was okay, happy. He knew attending the opening was unlikely. What would he even say? Congratulations on the gallery I bought for you?

  Yup. Voyeurism was definitely way less awkward.

  He could see a woman on the phone writing something down, but there was no sign of Siobhan in there. He watched for another few minutes before deciding that he should go home. He took in a deep breath, letting the cool air hit the back of his throat.

  And that’s when he saw her.

  She cautiously emerged from the back of the gallery, her slender fingers wrapped around a painting. She spoke to the other woman for a moment before moving toward the front of the gallery to position the art on an easel in the window display.

  Then she pointed toward the side wall and said something else before grabbing some nearby boxes and heading toward the back of the gallery again. She looked so graceful, so confident, so self-assured.

  This was where she was supposed to be. Even if he wasn’t there with her.