Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Beth yawned and stretched. No need to rush then, she could have a nice leisurely bath, work out the kinks in her sore body, maybe order some breakfast in bed and go exploring.
She guiltily wondered if Gideon was okay. She was supposed to be his back-up. Instead she was languishing in bed while he faced God knows what from his asshole family.
She would find him and see if he wanted to go exploring with her, he’d probably need the respite by now.
She moved to get out of bed when the blood red rose on her pillow caught her eye. How had she missed it? It had been right next to her head. She smiled and picked it up, mindful of the thorns, inhaling the subtle powdery scent deeply. Her smile widened when she saw the sheet of paper that the rose had been placed atop.
He had sketched her. A pencil sketch of Beth while she was sleeping. She stared at the drawing for a long time, marveling again at how remarkably talented he was. His family should be proud of him. Supporting him. Not tearing him down every chance they got.
The was a handwritten note on the flip side of the page.
Forever Yours? The words sent a tingle up her spine, even though she knew it was just one of those things people wrote on notes, like warmest regards or sincerely. She shouldn’t read anything into it. Just as she should ignore the hugs and kisses at the end of the note. She was being ridiculous.
She looked at the sketch one more time, tracing the soft lines with her fingertips, before carefully folding the note paper, making sure that the crease didn’t go through the sketch.
She placed it in the side pocket of her bag.
She’d get cleaned up and changed and then go and find him.
In case he needed her.
“I wanted to apologize to you,” Niall said, after awkwardly confronting Gideon once they’d finished breakfast.
“Apologize? What for?” Gideon stared at his brother in surprise.
Niall had cornered Gideon away from the rest of their group before leading him to this small, private sitting room.
They were seated in a pair of supremely uncomfortable ornate Regencé armchairs, which matched the overwrought French Regency design aesthetic of the rest of the house.
“The thing. Last night. I was exchanging messages with my friend throughout dinner, and when he sent me those pictures, and your name was on them, I asked you about them without thinking. Only afterward did I realize that maybe it wasn’t something you wanted Dad or Nox to know.”
“Wouldn’t you have told them regardless?” Gideon asked, not sure why Niall was telling him this. Or even why he had apologized. Niall rarely apologized for anything.
“No. There was no reason to tell them about it.”
Well, that made sense. Niall was the most pragmatic person he knew, he didn’t trouble himself with unnecessary drama if there was no benefit to be gained from it. He didn’t do things out of petty spite.
“So why bring it up in the first place?”
“I was interested in your response. But I should have known it would set Dad off again and you know how Nox is.”
“An arse.”
“I preferred your girlfriend’s description,” Niall said with a grin.
He was so enjoying the rare moment of camaraderie with his brother that he chose not to dwell on the little coil of warmth he felt in the pit of his stomach at Niall’s reference to Beth as his girlfriend.
“A twat you mean?” he clarified with a chuckle, and Niall laughed.
“He’s gotten so much worse this last year. With the car and the trophy fiancé and the billion-dollar account he just landed for the company. I swear to God, he thinks he’s the second coming of Christ.” Niall rarely criticized Nox, so to hear him talking about their middle brother like this was eye-opening to say the least.
“It was good,” Niall suddenly said, and Gideon was baffled by the sudden change in subject.
“What?”
“The reason I asked about the graphic novel was because I thought it was damned good.”
“Oh.” Gideon swallowed down a surge of emotion and forced a smile. “Thank you.”
“My friend’s kid can’t stop raving about it and because he still monitors her reading material, he recognized your name and asked me about it. He’s pretty impressed with it too.”
Gideon nodded, not sure what else to say.
“You’re really talented, Gideon.”
Gideon sighed and smiled at his brother, before taking a leaf from Beth’s book.
“I know I’m talented, Niall. I’ve worked damned hard at my craft, I finished at the top of my class in one of the best art schools in the world.” Gideon had attended the Royal College of Art in London. “I’m not merely good at what I do, I’m bloody brilliant at it. I’ve just been floating from discipline to discipline while searching for my niche. Now that I’ve found it, I have the potential to be the best. And I’ve had to achieve all of this without any kind of emotional support from my family.”