The Painter's Passion
Page 36
“I know where he is, but you’ll have to wait until morning.”
Ana spun on her heels. “Why? How do you know?”
“Because I sent him there and the bank doesn’t open until nine.”
Chapter 35
He stood in front of the larger safety deposit box that the bank clerk had just led him to, spinning the key between his fingers.
Finally.
After all these years, the painting that had plagued him was now within his grasp – a grasp that was going to take it and then give it away. It might not make up for what he’d done, but it didn’t change the fact that it was the right thing to do.
Unlocking the box revealed the parchment that had been carefully protected. Unrolling the canvas, he stared at the scene in front of him – one of Monet’s most famous. It looked like his reproduction was going to have to do for the Met – for now.
Rolling it back up, he carefully put it in the black plastic carton that he’d brought with him and closed the lid. Letting himself out of the room, he nodded at the bank employee who had been waiting on the other side of the door.
Now, it was time to go claim his Princess.
If she’d still have him.
The cool rush of fall air greeted him as he stepped out onto the sidewalk, watching for a second as a red, double-decker bus sped in front of him. It was funny to think how the world continued to spin even though his was currently on pause. He turned to his left and began to walk down the street towards the nearest Tube station.
“Pierce!” He stopped dead in his tracks just steps away from the bank branch’s front door, wondering if he was hallucinating. He turned slowly, hope and anxiety flooding him as he saw her; she was real and she was there.
“Ana?” he rasped, noticing Morgan a few feet behind her. He took a few hesitant steps towards her and she did the same until they were standing right in front of one another. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m so sorry,” she blurted out and he stared, dumbfounded. “I know what happened. I’m so sorry for doubting you.”
“Ana,” he groaned, “don’t fucking be sorry. You had every reason to think what you did.”
“No!” she yelled. “I didn’t Pierce. I was wrong. You were trying to help Tash and I jumped to the wrong conclusions. Don’t you dare try to take the blame for this; I refuse to let you.” She shook her head frantically. “I’m not saying you did everything right, but I’m not blameless – no matter how much I tried to believe that I was.”
“Ana,” he forcibly interjected, “regardless of what happened last night, it killed me to see me hurt you that way.” The fear behind his confession was strangling him, but she deserved this. “For once in my life, I’m scared to death of letting you inside because I don’t want to ever hurt you like that – ever.
“Pierce, you need to let me inside even though it hurts; we can’t hide the broken parts from each other anymore.”
He nodded. “I know. I’m just broken in so many ways and even though I swear that there’s a million reasons for you to go, I only have one reason to give you to stay.”
He reached up and cupped her face, his thumbs caressing the soft skin of her cheeks, breathing in deeply the light that she emanated – the one that eliminated his darkness.
“I love you, Ana,” he said hoarsely. “I should have said it so fucking long ago, but I’d be lost without you and never find myself. I shouldn’t have left last night; I should have stayed, no matter what Morgan said – no matter how true it was – because I will do whatever it takes to turn this around.” He wiped away the tears that spilled from her eyes. “I love you and I know you deserve much better, but if you give me a chance and believe me when I say that because of you I’ve changed and for you, I will continue to do so, I swear I will never leave you again, Princess; I swear I will keep us together – whatever it takes.”
Her shoulders shook as she began to bawl into his grasp. “Shh,” he cooed, hating to see her cry. “Don’t cry, Ana. Please.”
“P-Pierce,” she said shakily, “I have a million reasons to stay and they all start and end with you.”
“I love you, Ana.”
“I love you, too.” She smiled tremulously and he felt the pounding in his chest like never before – and he welcomed it; he welcomed every feeling that he had because of her. For the first time in his miserable, self-loathing life, he felt loved.
“I want to kiss you more than anything right now,” he said thickly, “but there’s something I have to take care of first.” She stared up at him in confusion. “Trust me.” He released her face, reaching down for her hand and pulling her with him as he walked over to where Morgan was standing.
He stopped in front of his friend and they eyed each other up and down for long enough to make the silence awkward.
“I’m sorry, Morgan,” Pierce broke the impasse. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. But I’m not sorry for how I feel about your sister; I will never apologize for that again.” He squeezed her hand. “If you want to say that I don’t deserve her, I will be the first to agree with you, but I promise you that no one will ever work harder to try to than I will.”
“Pierce—”
“Just let me finish.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have no excuse – certainly not one good enough – for how I’ve behaved in the past. All I can say is that I’m not the person I successfully made everyone believe that I was and, because of your sister, I’m determined to prove that to you all – especially you. Starting right now, with this.”
He held out the canister containing the painting. Morgan’s eyes went wide, questioning the move even though he knew exactly what was inside.
“Take it and go save the girl.”
“Are you sure?” Morgan eyed him warily, knowing that this put in jeopardy everything Pierce had worked for by keeping a forgery in the museum.
“Not a fucking doubt in my mind.”
Morgan took the canister and nodded. “Thank you,” he said, rolling it in his hands. “I was wrong about what I said to you.”
This time, Ana squeezed his hand in encouragement.
“The one thing I’ve known about you this whole time,” Morgan continued as Pierce clenched his jaw, wondering if this was about to go swiftly downhill, “is that you will do whatever it takes to get what you want.” This didn’t sound good. “And the way you look at my sister, I see that all you want is to make her happy, so I know without a doubt that you will move heaven and earth to make that happen.”
He was shocked by his friend’s admission; he hadn’t expected Morgan to be won over so easily or so quickly and a brief glance down at Ana told him that she might have had something to do with it.
“I still don’t think you deserve her, but, as her brother, I have to think that.” A quick grin flashed over his face.
“Dick.” They both laughed as Morgan held out his hand that Pierce shook firmly: a truce, a forgiveness
“I should go…” Morgan briefly raised the canister as an explanation; time was of the essence.
He nodded. “We’ll take Tash to the airport.”
“I’ll be there if I can.”
“Morgan,” Pierce stopped him as he hailed a taxi, “go see Loury – he owns a bar called ‘the Ghost’ in St. Giles. He’ll know how to find her.”
Morgan nodded, his eyes conveying his thanks as he climbed into the cab.
“Where’s Tash?” The mention of her name made him realize that she hadn’t been with them.
“Tony’s with her at the house. She said you told her that she shouldn’t leave,” Ana explained. “There’s more… One of the men gave up Sanchez.”
“Yeah, well he still had people following you to the hospital last night, thinking you were Tash. Even if the information works out and Sebastian can arrest him, she needs to get back stateside.”
“I feel horrible for her.” He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight to his chest.
“I know. M
e too. She’s strong though; she’ll make it through this and she’ll make Sanchez pay.” He felt her slight nod against him as his hands rubbed along her back. “So, what now, my Queen?” He teased lovingly, tipping Ana’s face up to his. “We have a few hours before we need to take Tash to Heathrow.”
“I want to go home,” she sighed, smiling up at him, “and I want you to hold me.”
He groaned, hugging her against him, his face dropping down a hairsbreadth from hers. “Don’t you worry, Princess,” he whispered as his lips touched hers. “I’m going to hold onto you above everything else.”
Epilogue
“Everything is going to be fine, Tash,” Ana tried to reassure her, enveloping her in one last hug before she had to walk through security. “Julian is in custody. Tristan and Sloane will make sure that you are ok until he is finally put behind bars.” She didn’t want to mention Sebastian; she was sure that that particular man was already on the other woman’s mind. “Pierce and I will be there as soon as everything settles here and we hear from Morgan.”
Her brother had since turned into a giant question mark. Packing his bag, he disappeared, presumably following Pierce’s suggestion in order to find this mysterious woman who he was hell-bent on saving. One of these days he was going to learn that he didn’t always have to be the white knight to every damsel – whether they were in distress or not.
“Thank you, Ana,” Tash replied quietly, pulling back and picking up her carry-on. “For everything.”
She gave her a brave smile and squeezed her hand one more time.
“Call me or have Sloane call me as soon as you land,” Pierce said gruffly; they were both equally concerned for Tash’s fate, both hoping that this was the right move, sending her back to Sanchez’s backyard.
Tash nodded, giving Pierce a quick hug, before joining the security line.
“Maybe one of us should have gone with her. She was practically shaking,” Ana mused worriedly.
“She’ll be fine. Sloane said that they have Sanchez in custody already. He has bigger problems than Tash right now.”
“I hope so, for her sake. I hope his reach and his anger aren’t as limitless as they seem. I hate to see her so scared.”
She felt Pierce’s chest rumble against her shoulder. “If you want to know what I think – I think she’s more afraid to see Sebastian again than she is about Sanchez. At least for the very immediate future.”
She sighed against him, contemplating Tash’s situation and beyond grateful for what she’d found with Pierce. “I can’t imagine how she must feel – to want someone who will never want her.” His chest rumbled even more. “What? How can you think that’s funny?” she asked, aghast.
“I don’t. I mean, I do, but I don’t.” He sighed. “Sebastian isn’t what you think.”
“I don’t understand.” She pushed off to stare him in the eye.
“Well, he’s an undercover agent – you know what that means.”
Her brow furrowed. “Yeah… that he’s been secretly trying to infiltrate the Sanchez cartel.”
“And how do you do that, oh beautiful agent of mine?” He was toying with her; he knew something and like any good agent, she was going to get it out of him.
She turned to face him, their bodies so close that most people passing by wouldn’t notice as her hand slipped down his stomach between them to rest on the front of his pants.
He groaned, his eyes darkening at her. “Well, you become someone you’re not. However, dear painter of mine, I would appreciate if you would share with me exactly what you are holding back, otherwise, I will be forced to torture you.” She smiled sweetly, stroking his arousal through his pants, enjoying the feel of it hardening against her touch.
“Fuck, Ana,” he whispered harshly, his hand dropping to cup her ass. “Sebastian had to become someone he’s not – that’s exactly it. And the someone that he’s not is someone that is gay.”
Her eyes widened, every movement freezing at his revelation. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “Tash has no idea that he’s not actually gay.” Her hand cupped over her mouth in shock.
“He made us swear not to tell,” Pierce gritted out. “Now then, Princess, in your quest for information, you have started something that I’m going to thoroughly enjoy finishing.” He pressed his hips against her hand. She sucked in a breath, but her mind was still on the situation that Tash was walking into. “Ana, if there’s something between them, it will find a way. And I know that because I found you.”
She smiled up at him, feeling the exact same.
The End.
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed Pierce and Ana’s story! I would love to hear what you think, if you want to head over to Amazon to leave a review! Reviews play such a big part in not just how I get feedback on my work, but on how other readers make their decision on whether or not to check out my writing. It would mean the world to me if you would share your thoughts!
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Xx, Rebecca
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Other Works by Rebecca Sharp
Winter Games Series
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On the Edge (Book 2) – Arriving Spring 2018
Book 3 – TBA
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The Artist’s Touch (Book 1)
The Sculptor’s Seduction (Book 2)
The Painter’s Passion (Book 3)
The Photographer’s Fantasy (Book 4) – TBA
Book 5 - TBA
The Passion & Perseverance Trilogy (A Pride and Prejudice Retelling) – Complete Series Available Now
First Impressions (Book 1)
Second Chances (Book 2)
Third Time is the Charm (Book 3)