For now, this is a great start.
I don’t recognize half the people in the room. The PR firm I hired insisted on inviting the usual tableau of beautiful people. I see two of my NYU professors. I took a leave of absence this semester, but I wanted them to be here for this. And then I spot a long blond braid, a tall beautiful woman wrapped in a purple fur coat and wearing knee-high boots. She see me, too.
Niffer pulls Umberto across the room.
“Killer party,” she says, handing me a glass of champagne. “You know what? We should have our wedding reception here,” she says to Umberto.
“I don’t know why she teases me with such things,” he says. “She won’t even set a date.”
“I believe in spontaneity.” She looks around the room. “Is your mother here?”
“No. She’s still in London.”
My mother went to Europe when the Brandt Penn show blew up. I thought she might come back for this opening, but I knew it was doubtful. Maybe she just wasn’t ready yet. Or maybe she wanted it to be my night, and mine alone.
But I don’t want it to be mine alone. I want Rory by my side.
“Look at you, riot grrrl,” Damian Damian says, trotting over to me. We do the double European air kiss.
“I like the blue,” I say, acknowledging that his hair is now azure.
“Picasso had his blue period; I’m having mine.”
Richard Vogel, my mom’s longtime friend and Times art critic, makes his way toward me. I haven’t seen him since the beginning of last summer, the night of the Dustin McBride opening. Once again, he waves his anachronistic tape recorder at me. But this time, I’m happy to speak up.
He asks me how long it took to track down my father’s work, and I tell him, about six months. He asks me how I could afford such an investment, and I tell him the truth—that my father himself helped make it happen by leaving me a trust.
“He would be very proud of you,” Richard says, and I choke up. I think of my mother’s photo albums, all the parties, nights like this one. Nights when my father and mother stood side by side, planning a future. The weight of it hits me hard, and for a minute I think I’m going to start bawling. But mercifully, Richard changes gear.
“Tell me about Underground Art. You’re exclusively showing Rory Abequa?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Is Mr. Abequa here tonight?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “Not tonight.”
“I’m here.”
I turn around, confused. Rory takes my hand. I’m speechless.
Richard puts the tape recorder in his face. “I’m sorry, I missed that. What’s your name?”
“Rory Abequa,” he says.
Photographers sense that something in the room has shifted. They circle us, snapping away. I squeeze his hand tighter. There is no turning back. We’re here. Together.
For all the world to see.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my agent Adam Chromy for introducing me to the Banksy documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, and for suggesting I write about a street artist. As always, you are the springboard for all inspiration.
Thanks again to Dan Weiss and to my talented editor, Vicki Lame, who immediately “got” this world and was ready to run with it. I love working with you.
Rebecca Hansen, of the Fernando Luis Alvarez art gallery, patiently answered all of my questions about her job. And a special thanks to Patrick Joseph Conlon, whom I met on the street while researching the cast-iron buildings of SoHo. He was full of knowledge and gave me an impromptu tour.
To the ladies of RWA New York City: you are the best!
Finally, thank you to my husband, who fills my life with passion and adventure.
Also by Jamie Brenner
The Gin Lovers
Writing as Logan Belle
Miss Chatterley
Bettie Page Presents: The Librarian
Now or Never (A Last Chance Romance, Part 1)
Now and Forever (A Last Chance Romance, Part 2)
Blue Angel
Fallen Angel
Naked Angel
About the Author
Photograph courtesy of Trevor Laurence
Jamie Brenner is the author of The Gin Lovers, selected by Fresh Fiction as one of the Top Thirteen Books to read in 2013 and praised by the San Francisco Book Review as “pure delight.”
Writing under the name Logan Belle, her erotic romances Miss Chatterley, Bettie Page Presents: The Librarian, and the Blue Angel trilogy have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Her e-book originals, Now or Never and Now and Forever, are the first in a series of Last Chance Romances featuring women who discover passion later in life. She lives in New York City. Follow her at:
@JamieLBrenner
www.jamiebrenner.com
https://www.facebook.com/jamiebrennerauthor
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
RUIN ME. Copyright © 2014 by Jamie Brenner. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Lisa Pompilio
Paint splash © Shutterstock.com
Couple © Shutterstock.com
e-ISBN 9781466862135
First Edition: May 2014
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
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