The Zodiac Queen by Gemma James

Author:Gemma James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gemma James

10

After we return to the tower, we settle into a synchronous routine that allows us to sharpen our avoidance skills. For the first couple of days, I’m too angry to clear the air, so I throw myself into work, using Landon and Elise’s upcoming wedding as an excuse to hide in my studio late into the evenings.

On our first night back, when I return to the House of Leo, having already eaten dinner while pouring over a new batch of designs, Sebastian is nowhere in sight. He left me a note directing me to my room. The fact that it’s across from his quarters doesn’t escape me. I’ve never seen the inside of his bedroom, but he left the door ajar, and on the end of the bed, I spy the clothes he wore home from the cottage.

The following morning, we exchange a curt and polite greeting over breakfast. Five minutes later, he grabs a croissant and makes his escape, mumbling something about a full schedule of clients. As he makes his way out the door, his signature ripped jeans send my fingers into a curl from wanting to touch him.

That’s when I realize my anger is subsiding, no matter how much I try to hold on to the bitter emotion. Now it’s pride stopping me from closing this horrible chasm. By the time the fifth night of this impasse comes to a head, and the painful silence over dinner shreds my defenses, his hurt-filled eyes flaying me alive, neither anger nor pride have any place inside my heart.

Not when it comes to him.

It’s almost midnight when I leave my quarters and find him barefoot, shirt removed and gripping a paintbrush in the living room. It’s the only space in the House of Leo where he seems to fit. His art covers the walls, and though there’s ample seating for entertaining guests, the great room resembles an art studio more than a main living space—almost as if he moved in and setup shop in this room while ignoring the rest.

Folding my arms, I watch him work for several moments before he senses me loitering on the threshold.

“You don’t have to hide in the shadows.” He acknowledges my presence without turning around, leaving me to wonder how he knew I was standing there.

Taking that first step toward him is like mounting a horse for the first time, or learning to drive. It’s scary and exhilarating all at once. I wander close enough to see what magic he’s stroking to life on his canvas, and my breath stalls.

The girl on his easel is me, her flushed face taking up most of the canvas, brown eyes warm with a glint of a smile even as they impart a lustful vibe. Her blond hair is mussed, the strands led astray by a man’s fingers holding her face in the cradle of his hands.

That girl isn’t just me—it’s me on the beach.

Me and him.

I’d give anything to go back to that moment, to how perfect things were between us for that single day.

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