Naomi (Dressed to Kill), page 8
Settling on a 90s station, I look over to Cole who has a little smile on his lips. “Is this something you do often?”
He looks over at me with a raised brow. “Bring pretty girls to set up art shows?”
“No.” I laugh. “But I’m glad you think I’m pretty.” He blushes at that, and gah, I love it. He’s so adorable. “Host art shows.”
“No, only a few a year. I mostly just paint for fun, and sell a few online. I’m not much of a social person. I enjoy locking myself in my studio and letting my mind wander. So when I put these on, I go a little wild. It’s for a good cause, and I mostly just stand in the corner out of people’s way.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound like fun.” My brows furrow. “Don’t you take a date or something? Would be better than being all alone.”
He lets out a little snort of laughter. “Ah, no. No dates. I don’t really date. Don’t have the time to. And when I tried, well...” His face falls. “They didn’t like what they saw.”
“What do you mean? What they see in your art, or you?”
“Both? I don’t know.” He shifts in his seat and lets out a deep breath. “I have an ex, we met through one of my art shows. She’s a buyer, not an artist. She asked me about one of my paintings, and we talked for a while, and it took off from there. At first, I thought she liked me and I fell hard. But over time, I realized she was just using me for my money and status. She always complained I was too quiet, I never took her out; and whenever we did go out, I didn’t socialize. That’s when my art changed. It does that when my mood changes, you know?” He looks over at me, and this time his blush makes my heart hurt for him. “She hated it, thought it was trash, and broke up with me because I wasn’t selling as much.” He shakes his head as if it’s not important, and my fucking blood boils.
“What a fucking bitch,” I scoff, shaking my head. “Look, I know it’s easy for me to say this because it didn’t happen to me, but you’re better off without her. I’ve seen your art, it’s amazing. But even if it wasn’t, someone shouldn’t like you for what you can do or offer them—it should be for who you are and how you treat them.”
“You would think.” He sighs. “Sadly, it’s hardly like that in this world.”
“Well, you’re too good for the rich and stuffy assholes.”
“Thanks.” He chuckles.
“And it’s your ex’s loss. I know we don’t know each other well, but I can tell just from sitting in a car with you for five minutes you’re a much better person than she ever will be.” And the fact that I know almost everything about this man. He’s a fucking saint, and I might not know his personality, but I can tell what he does is genuine and not for show.
I also know the ex he’s talking about. Bethany Walker. Daughter of some billionaire who has more money than he’ll ever know what to do with, yet his daughter is sniffing around other people’s money. I’ve seen her in the news with a new person every few months, from athletes to models. All she cares about is her image, and Cole deserves better than that. Someone who can see him for who he is and not what he has.
“Thanks,” he says again, this time softly.
When we pull up to the gallery, I help him take out the paintings and bring them inside.
“Naomi.” Nat stops in the middle of the room, her eyes growing wide when she sees me, a blush taking over her cheeks. These Parson siblings seem to have a thing for pink cheeks. Maybe I should see if I can get them all to grow crimson for me.
“Hey,” I greet, biting my lower lip as I look her up and down, remembering the way her pussy felt around my fingers, the way her release tasted so sweet on my tongue. She’s fucking gorgeous. Even now, as she stands here in a red blouse and black pencil skirt.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, looking behind me to her brother.
“She helped me bring the paintings to the car and wanted to come along,” Cole explains, passing his sister but stopping to kiss her on the cheek as he goes. “Thanks for helping, Nat.”
“Always,” she replies, still looking a little stunned as Cole busies himself with his work.
“I was bored.” I shrug. “Only so much TV and swimming a girl can take. I needed to get out of the house.”
“Yeah.” She nods. “I can see that.”
My eyes scan the room, landing on the men in each of the corners. Her private security, personally vetted by me. I don’t like the fact that she’s out of the house, but she insists on not hiding and allowing them to take over her life. We got into a little fight, because this woman is almost more stubborn than me. But she came to me with a compelling case.
“How’s broody over there taking babysitting duties?” I giggle.
She sighs. “Don’t get me started, he’s just as bad as you.”
“Hey.” I raise my brow. “Don’t get mad at me for wanting to keep you safe. Same goes for him.”
“It’s only for a few hours to get parties set up. I have people watching me inside and out. I don’t even attend them anymore.” She pouts, crossing her arms. It’s taking everything in me not to go over to her and suck that bottom lip into my mouth and nibble down.
“Suck it up, buttercup. Alive Nat is most important here.”
“Fine,” she huffs, looking down at her clipboard. “I don’t have much else to do here. My assistant is going to be attending tonight in my place, so I just need to make sure a few shipments are brought in on time and—shit.” She groans, staring at the clipboard like it might sprout horns.
“What’s wrong?” I step forward, trying to get a look at her clipboard.
“I just got the final guest list in,” she answers, grinding her teeth. She looks pissed.
She willingly hands over the clipboard as I take it from her hands. My eyes fall to the list of names. I know most of them, all high society snobs, but it’s when I reach Cole’s ex’s name I understand Nat’s emotions; it has my blood boiling too.
“Of course she’s coming. Bitch didn’t even get an invite, so I’m guessing she’s riding one of the other guest’s dicks and coming as their plus one.” Her eyes dart over to her big brother standing in front of some paintings, fixing them up just right. “This is the first time he’s come out of the house in a while. He’s been going through a bad depression for the past few months. Once our mother’s ten-year death anniversary hit, he kind of just kept going downhill. She was always supportive of his art, his number one fan. I think he hates that she’s not here to see how well he’s doing. I think he stopped trying so hard because she can’t be here to enjoy it with him. All of that on top of the anxiety and depression he already has.”
My heart hurts for Cole. He’s softer than his siblings, a sweet soul deep down. It makes me want to put him in my pocket and protect him.
“What’s got that sour look on your face?” Ezra pops out of fucking nowhere, making me jump a little. He sees it and gives me a small smirk. Bastard. Sexy, stupid bastard.
“Bethany is coming tonight,” Nat growls, and this fierce protective side of her is hot as hell.
“Fucking hell.” Ezra sighs. “If that bitch starts shit with him tonight and puts him back in a dark place, I’m going to lose my shit.”
An idea sparks in my mind. It might be a little childish and petty, but I can’t seem to find it in me to care. A bitch like Bethany is someone who needs to be beaten at her own game. It’s how it works in a world like this.
“Natty.” I bat my eyelashes at her.
“Whaaaat?” she asks slowly, sounding weary of my sudden shift in demeanor.
“How mad would you be if I came to your brother’s event... as his date?” I give her a slow grin, and I’m thankful when her eyes light up with understanding instead of jealousy.
“I wouldn’t be mad at all. I think that’s a great idea.” She smiles widely.
“Perfect. How about after you’re done here, we do a little private shopping? Put some money to work.”
One thing I love, next to taking sick creeps off the face of the earth, is putting people in their place. And that’s what I plan on doing tonight. I’m not going to let this bitch get to Cole. If that was her intention with just showing up tonight, she has another think coming.
Cole
I MOVE THE PAINTING for the fifth time in the last five minutes. No matter what I do, I can’t get it to look right. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I take a step back to look at it again.
“It’s fine,” Reese says. I jump at the sound of his voice as he places a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Wow.”
“What?” My eyes flick up to his in panic. “What’s wrong? Is it bad?” I run a hand through my black curly hair. “Shit! It sucks, doesn’t it?”
“No,” Reese counters in almost a dazed like state as he continues to stare at the painting. “It’s... it’s amazing.”
“Really?” My brows furrow. “Are you sure?”
He nods. “Is it her?” He looks at me, and I feel my cheeks heat.
“Yeah,” I reply, looking back at the painting.
The canvas is alive with different shades of yellow, red, and orange. All coming together to make the painting. The painting of her, Naomi.
The moment I saw her in my father’s office, her fiery personality matching her hair, I was captivated.
Since Ezra brought her home, I’ve been holed up in my studio, painting her. It’s always her. But this one, this one is the best one. It’s why I chose to bring it today. It’s not for sale, I couldn’t allow anyone else to have her on their wall. It’s mine, but I felt like I needed to show it off.
I haven’t had much time with her since she came to stay with us, too busy with my art. So I was excited when she offered to help me get my art into the car and even more so when she hopped in, offering to help out here at the gallery.
Being around her, it’s... easy? She’s just so carefree and sweet. I feel like I can say or do anything around her and not feel judged. Maybe that’s why I opened up so easily about my ex. Or maybe it’s just my lack of social skills.
Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter because she didn’t see me as some weak, pathetic man. When she got upset with how Bethany treated me, I liked it. Seeing that fire in her eyes, the fact that she cared enough to have a reaction at all, had my cock twitching in my pants.
I thought I was broken for a while, never feeling the urge to have sex, or even touch myself. After everything with Bethany, I was so torn down, too tired to care about much. It affected my depression pretty badly. Then add on the fact that I was missing my mom; living her dream hurt even more.
The past week since Naomi’s gotten here, I’ve felt more alive. I haven’t been this inspired in a while. And the fact that she’s an assassin, someone who kills people for a living, doesn’t seem to bother me. Sure, I feel a little intimidated by her, but I’m not afraid. I could see it in her eyes when she said she wouldn’t hurt anyone who didn’t earn it.
She’s younger than me by almost ten years, but I know this woman has lived an entire lifetime already. Something tells me she’s experienced heartaches that no one her age should.
It makes me want to bundle her up and hold her, to protect her from this world. But I couldn’t do anything for her that she couldn’t already do for herself.
“It’s amazing,” Reese repeats, something flashing in his eyes, an emotion I can’t quite put my finger on. He looks at me. “You know Nat is practically in love with her, right?”
“What?” My eyes widen as his words hit me like a bag of bricks. “What do you mean?”
“I know you’ve been locked up tight in your little tower, which means you’ve missed a lot. They’re pretty much besties at this point, but I see the way Nat looks at her. She wants her, badly. And I haven’t seen her like this for anyone since... well, you know.”
“Since Becca.” Becca Lindell. Nat’s childhood best friend. Nat fell hard for her, the only thing was, Becca didn’t want her in that way. Even worse, Becca had a thing for not only me, but my brothers as well. And when we turned her down, telling her we couldn’t hurt Nat like that—even if we all did have a little crush on Becca too—Becca lost it. She freaked out on Nat, and said some pretty fucked up things before disappearing from our lives altogether.
My sister was crushed, and from that day on, her hard shell was put in place. If he’s right, and Naomi has brought her out of it even just a little bit, then we can’t do anything to ruin it.
Disappointment hits me in waves because I can’t stop thinking about Naomi, even more so after spending some time with her today. I don’t think I could just shut that off because Nat called dibs on her first.
“I don’t like it,” Reese sighs.
“Why?”
“Because... Do you really think Naomi is going to stay once she’s done her job? I can tell Naomi likes her, but they just met. Nat might be all in, but we know nothing about Naomi.” He looks over at the painting. “But I can’t say I blame her. I think Naomi has caught more than just Nat’s attention.”
He gives me a knowing look and I blush. “I mean, I can’t lie.”
“And nor can I.”
“You too?” I ask, surprised at that. Reese isn’t one to fall for anyone. He enjoys his single life, doing what he wants when he wants to. Other than his family, the only thing he cares about is his restaurant.
“What can I say? She’s hot as hell, funny, kind, and, well, she’s going above and beyond to save our sister.” His voice lowers. “She killed two men for her the other day.”
“What?!” My eyes feel like they’re about to pop out of my head. “Holy shit, how much did I miss?”
Reese fills me in about the men who worked for Manuel and what he ordered them to do. How Naomi overheard and took things into her own hands. And now Nat has a bigger target on her back than we thought.
It makes sense why she’s not here, and why Ezra is at home with her. As I think back on it, I didn’t even notice the extra men in the gallery. I was so focused on making sure everything was going smoothly.
“What do we do?” I ask. “About Naomi.”
“What else can we do? Other than let Nat have her. That is, if Naomi wants her in that way. I can see the attraction she has for Nat, but well... she let me go down on her on the kitchen island, so...”
My head is spinning. “What the fuck, Reese!”
“I know, I know.” He holds his hands up. “I didn’t plan it. I couldn’t help myself. She didn’t stop me, she wanted it too. I couldn’t resist.”
My mind goes to a conversation my brothers and I had in the past. After everything with Becca, we vowed never to get involved with a woman Nat liked. And if it was someone we all felt strongly for, it was all or no one. That means all the brothers and Nat be involved with her, or none of us got her. At least none of the brothers because we would give anything to make Nat happy.
Three out of the four of us clearly have some kind of attraction toward Naomi. That just leaves Ezra. “What about Ez?”
“What about him?”
“How does he feel toward Naomi?”
Reese snorts out a laugh. “He might act like he can’t stand the woman, but he eye fucks her any chance he can get. I bet he’s holding himself back from pinning her against the wall and fucking her whenever they’re in the same room together.”
“I think we need to see where Naomi stands with all of this.”
“I’m not asking her if she has a thing for any of us.” He looks at me in horror. “My ego can’t handle any rejection right now. Also, I’m not looking for anything serious.”
But his protests die when we both see her walk through the door. “Holy shit,” I breathe, my knees feel weak while my cock perks up.
Naomi walks into the gallery like she owns the place, power radiating off her in waves.
She looks like Jessica Rabbit with her red hair down in waves and a form fitting dress hugging her body like a glove.
“Fuck me,” Reese groans.
I feel you, brother.
Naomi looks around the room, like she’s trying to find someone. And when her eyes lock on me, I blush as a slow, sexy smile takes over her lips.
She starts striding over to me, and my heart pounds in my chest with each step that brings her closer.
“Hello, handsome,” she purrs, reaching for my tie and straightening it. “Don’t you just look dashing tonight?”
“Excuse me,” Reese mutters before taking off. Probably to the bathroom to get a little relief. I can’t blame him. I’m praying like hell my dick behaves before I embarrass myself. I don’t pay him any mind as Naomi’s eyes stay locked on mine, heavy-lidded and so fucking sexy.
“Hi,” I say, finally remembering to breathe as I swallow hard. “What are you doing here?” I ask, but quickly panic and say, “Not that I’m not happy to see you here.”
“I couldn’t let you come to your own event alone, now could I?” she asks, giving me a sly smile. “I mean, you are here alone, aren’t you?”
I nod, hypnotized by her beauty. “Yes.”
“Well, not anymore, sweet thing.” She freezes, and I can tell by the shocked look on her face that she’s seen my painting.
She steps away from me, slowly approaching it. I feel a wave of nervous sweat break out along my skin as I start to panic. Does she hate it? Will she think I’m a freak? I hope I didn’t offend her.
“Cole,” she breathes, her fingertips lightly brushing the curves of her lips on the canvas. She turns to look at me, her eyes watering. “Is this me?”
I swallow thickly and nod. “I- I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” she huffs out a surprised breath. “Cole, I’m honored. This is...” She looks back to the painting. “This is amazing. Stunning. I’m—I—Wow.”
Euphoria fills me. She likes it. She loves it. I’m filled with so much relief that a smile blooms across my lips at her praise.
“Really?” I ask. “It helped that my muse is something from a fairytale.”
I feel like I was just given the moon and the stars as I see the slightest blush on her cheeks. I don’t think many people have been able to get her to do that, but I did.
