Dark Masterpiece (Serendipity Series 3) (28 page)

Evie’s face burned, but Traevyn’s rumbling
chuckle made her smile. She loved that he laughed more often. She
sighed and thought back to the night they’d spent stranded in the
fog. She had felt so right sleeping close to him, being near him.
That night had changed everything for her.

She could feel Traevyn’s heartbeat as she
lay there, and it made her own heart sigh a little. His beautiful
heart. It was still beating. It was still alive and, as long as she
lived, she would make sure it never broke again. As long as he was
willing to give her his heart, she would protect it always.

* * * *

Evie had to admit, she was
a little nervous sitting across from Talis. While he was much more
easygoing and lighthearted than Traevyn, he had the same
nerve-wracking intensity when he was being serious. She folded her
hands in front of her, waiting for whatever it was he wanted to
say, as it was apparent he wanted to say
something
.

The waitress came by to refill their coffee
and take their orders, and when she left, Talis turned his light
blue eyes up to Evie and smiled.

“Evie,” he began, “why do you love my
brother?”

She blinked. “Excuse me?” What kind of a
conversation starter was that? Talk about getting right to the
point.

His smile broadened. “I mean Traevyn, in the
state he was in when you met him, was not an easy man to love. He
didn’t really have a lot of redeeming qualities. I’m just curious
as to how someone as vibrant as you managed to fall in love with
him despite his obvious issues. Julian and I could barely stand him
and we’re his family. Our parents didn’t even know who he was
anymore.”

She gave a small smile and played with one
of the sugar packets. “Traevyn has always been beautiful to me,”
she said. “Granted, I thought he was a world class jerk when I met
him, but that didn’t change the fact that his art was fantastic and
I knew his art was a reflection of his soul. When he gave me a
glimpse of that soul outside of his paintings, I could do nothing
less than love it.” She sighed. “Talis, no one’s ever really
understood me. No one ever made me feel beautiful or validated.
Traevyn understands me. He understands my passion and my
creativity. He’s always made me feel validated in my thoughts, even
when we were having conversations about nothing at all.”

Talis smiled. “I remember when I was fifteen
I was pissed because Traevyn was getting married and I thought I’d
never see him again. Me, Julian and Traevyn were like the Three
Musketeers our whole life, but Traevyn always understood me in a
way Julian couldn’t. Julian is very smart, very kind, but not
really that creative. Not in the ways Traevyn and I are. Traevyn’s
always made me feel validated, like you said.”

He paused for a moment and frowned down at
the table. “How in the world did you get him to open up to you?
None of us could do it, Evie. We thought he was going to kill
himself one day. His sorrow was just eating him alive…”

Sudden tears filled his eyes and he stopped
to clear his throat and compose himself. When he had his emotions
under control, he looked back up at Evie. “He never got any better.
He never worked through his grief. He just became more and more
distant and cold. There was nothing we could do. Julian and I just
had to sit back and watch as our brother and best friend slowly
slipped away from us.

“When I saw him coming toward me in the
airport, I didn’t even know who I was looking at. He was a
completely different person. He was the brother I remembered.” He
shook his head in wonder. “How? How did you do it? How did you
bring him back when none of us could?”

Evie stared at him, her heart twisting at
Talis’s obvious display of emotion. She shrugged helplessly. “I
don’t even know, Talis. I just listened to him…and loved him. He
was so easy to love. I never thought he’d love me back.” She was
actually still having trouble believing any of what had happened
the night before. It seemed like such a surreal dream.

“My brother has never taken love lightly.
It’s not a casual thing to him. For him to tell you he loves you…
Amy was a sorry excuse for a human. Maybe he can experience real
love with you, Evie. The kind he deserves.”

She smiled. “I hope so, Talis. I hope I can
always be everything he needs. I know that sounds really sudden,
but…”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t sound sudden.
If that’s how your heart feels there doesn’t need to be any set
times. Just love him, Evie. Love him for real, the way he deserves.
If you do, he’ll be yours forever.” He smiled. “Traevyn mates for
life.”

She grinned and felt a blush stain her
cheeks. She knew she should be unsettled by the seriousness of the
conversation when Traevyn had only told her he loved her the night
before, but it didn’t feel strange to her. She wanted to be with
Traevyn. She wanted to love him forever. Talis’s words did not make
her uncomfortable.

“Evie.”

She looked up and met Talis’s gaze again.

“You are a unique and amazing person. Thank
you for bringing my brother and best friend back to me. Julian will
love you as well when you meet him, as will our parents. You
brought light back into our family.”

Evie bit her bottom lip and averted her
gaze, feeling her eyes fill with tears. Blind acceptance was new to
her. She thought back to the party at the deBoers, how she had
watched everyone in envy, how she had wanted so much to have a
close group of family and friends. Maybe she could have that with
Traevyn and his family. It seemed attainable when she was talking
to Talis. She sighed, thinking that Traevyn may just be the answer
to all of her prayers. Perhaps they could both make one another’s
dreams come true.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The day was clearer than normal with the sun
shining joyfully down on the water as Evie sat on Traevyn’s
balcony. She was sketching, as usual. It had been a week since
they’d left Sedona and Evie had graduated to drawing on Traevyn’s
balcony as it had a better view. Plus, he didn’t mind now that they
were together. She spent more time in his room than anywhere else
anyway, especially since he had that gigantic tub. She practically
lived in that tub.

Her life had been nothing short of bliss
since leaving Sedona. She and Traevyn spent almost all of their
time together and were so affectionate that Seth’s gag reflexes
were working overtime. Half the time Evie didn’t even know what to
do with herself. She’d never had a real boyfriend and every guy
she’d liked had only thought of her as a sister. Maxim deBoer had
been more in her league at least, even if he was married. Traevyn
was one of those men she never would have even attempted to go for.
He was like a celebrity. Unattainable, too beautiful and amazing
for someone like her.

She still had trouble comprehending that he
was really in love with her. Her mind reeled every time he kissed
her, making her feel breathless and lightheaded, and her blood
burned every time he touched her. To her, Traevyn was like one of
those steamy romance novel men who fulfilled every woman’s most
wicked desires.

A smile curled her lips as she added some
shading to her drawing. She was drawing Traevyn again, as usual. He
was her favorite subject. Suddenly, she felt a light touch on the
back of her neck and her hair moved away from her shoulder. She
smiled wider. He was always so silent, sneaking up on her without
warning. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips touch her neck.
Her heart skipped a beat, as it was accustomed to doing, and she
let out a soft sigh. His hands rested on her shoulders and one of
them crept up to hold her head while he continued to lavish her
neck and jaw with intoxicating, tender kisses.

“What are you drawing?” he whispered, grazing
his teeth along her skin.

She grinned. “The only thing I ever
draw.”

He smiled and rested his chin on her
shoulder as he peered down at the sketch. There was no real
structure to it. Just an absent sketch done as if she couldn’t get
him out of her mind. He hoped that was the case. In the past week
he had come to crave Evie. She was not only something he needed,
but something he wanted desperately.

It was strange being in love and yet feeling
so differently. With Amy, he had worshipped her, would have laid
down and died for her if she’d asked. At the time, he’d been sure
that was real love, but now he thought it felt more like slavery.
While there was no doubt in his mind that his love for Amy had been
nothing but genuine, Evie made him feel differently. She didn’t
make him feel like he needed to sacrifice anything to be with her.
She didn’t demand anything from him, except her usage of his tub,
but he could overlook that. With Evie he felt more like a
complimentary part to something already beautiful. Like the right
shading on a well-drawn picture. She made him feel like he was
special just as he was. She had always made him feel that way. Even
during his blackest days.

Amy’s reasoning for cheating on him had been
that she’d felt second to his painting. Evie understood his art.
She was as passionate about it as he was. She would never ask him
to give it up. It was essential to his survival and she knew that.
He was a whole person with Evie. She made him better; she made him
good. And even though she felt plain, he thought she was
magnificent. He had never seen her as plain. Even on that first day
when she had come to his door he had thought she was lovely, though
he would never have admitted it at the time. He had long ago lost
his taste for tall, figureless women with perfect hair, perfect
makeup, and perfect skin. He would much rather have Evie with her
fantastic curves, petite frame, and bright smile. She was more of a
goddess to him than any woman on Earth.

He heaved a sigh, dreading what he was going
to say next. “Evie, I want to show you something.”

She frowned and twisted in her chair so she
could look at him. His voice had a serious note to it and that
troubled her. “What is it?”

He gave her a small smile and took her hand
in his, helping her out of the chair and leading her into his room.
He sat down on the edge of his bed and slid over two thick picture
albums, pulling them onto his lap.

Evie’s eyes widened as she recognized them.
They were the ones Seth had knocked over, the ones Traevyn had
gotten so upset about. She met his eyes and gave him a questioning
frown.

He sighed again. “I want to share everything
with you,” he murmured. “This is my past, who I was to make me who
I am. I need to show this to you, Evie.”

She stared at him, amazed and touched that he
trusted her so completely, that he wanted her to know all of him,
even the parts that caused him pain. She sat down next to him,
close so that their bodies were touching.

Traevyn closed his eyes, and she felt him
ease almost instantly at her presence. She reached her hand up to
cradle his cheek in her palm and he smiled. “Traevyn, you don’t
have to do this,” she assured him. “You don’t owe me anything. I
have never asked you to share your past with me and I never will.
If it hurts you to look at these—”

He shook his head, silencing her. “It does
hurt me,” he stated. He opened his eyes to look into hers. “But
this was my life. Amy and Leanna were real. They happened. I can’t
pretend they didn’t. And it’s not fair for me to ask you to pretend
they didn’t either. You shouldn’t have to wonder about the secrets
I hold inside. I don’t want to keep anything from you. Ever.” He
sighed. “I need to heal, Evie, and I can’t do it if I keep all of
my problems up on a shelf where I run from them every time I glance
their direction. I need to look at these even if it hurts me. I
have to do it. I have to remember so I can move on. I can’t look at
them alone. I need you here with me, Evie. You make me strong.”

She nodded and reached down to take his hand
in hers. “Whatever you need, Traevyn.”

His eyes filled with tenderness. “I remember
you saying that to me before.” He shook his head and touched her
face. “You have always been so willing to give me whatever I’ve
needed.”

She smiled, knowing in her heart that there
would never be anything he could ask of her that would be too much.
She would do anything for him. He’d had her under his spell from
the moment he’d opened his door.

“I will show you the pictures of my wedding
first,” he said. “Then I will share with you the joy of my baby
girl.”

She squeezed his hand in reassurance and
waited.

Traevyn swallowed, took a deep breath, and
opened the wedding album he had sworn he would never look at again.
The first picture was their main wedding picture. He and Amy
standing in a beautiful garden. He was in a double breasted tux and
his hair was pulled back and braided. Amy was in a cream-colored
dress with spaghetti straps and a large skirt with a long train. He
drew in a shaky breath as he looked at her face. He remembered her
laugh, remembered the feel of her hand as he slipped the ring on
her finger…

“Traevyn, we don’t have to look at these,
really,” Evie said, obviously seeing how difficult it was for
him.

Her voice anchored him. She was a light
banishing the threatening darkness. He shook his head, dispersing
the painful memories. “It’s not Amy that it pains me to remember,”
he said. “It’s the betrayal, but I’m fine.”

Evie looked down at the wedding picture and
wrinkled her nose.

Traevyn caught the expression and frowned
thoughtfully. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “You look funny in a tux,
out of place. If I was marrying you I wouldn’t want you in a tux
and I would want your beautiful hair flowing free.” She suddenly
seemed to realize what she was saying and clamped her mouth shut, a
furious blush staining her cheeks.