Cusp of Forever (Renzo and Lucia #4)

Forever

“You’re not listening to me.”

“No,” Lucia replied, “you’re not listening to me. And that’s the far bigger problem here considering I’m the only gallery in this city that offered to show your work.”

Most days, Lucia loved her job as an art gallery owner and curator. Then, she had days like today where she wondered why in the hell she chose this career path at all.

Well, that was partly a lie.

She didn’t really wonder.

Lucia chose a career in the art world because art was the only thing she found passion in when it came to work. It was the one thing she knew she would be able to do for the rest of her life and never become bored. She found art in everything. She looked for it everywhere. She might not be the artist who created things, but she was the person who loved the final product and appreciated it the very most.

Still, though, she had times when she wondered why she chose this career, even if she knew every reason. Today was, unfortunately, one of those days.

“Listen, there’s no reason why—”

“There are several reasons why I won’t meet your demands for this gallery showing,” Lucia said. “And if you want, I will repeat them to you, Mr. Tremblay.”

“Listen, Luc—”

“Mrs. Zulla.”

She almost smiled at the way the man stiffened a bit, standing a little straighter in front of her. And not even because of him, but simply because she liked the way that name came out of her mouth. Years after marrying Renzo, here she was at twenty-nine, and damn … she still loved saying her surname, the one he’d given her.

It was something he’d waffled on. A part of him hadn’t wanted her taking the name because of what he’d seen as a stain that covered it. A legacy that wasn’t hers to carry; a burden only he should carry alone. Someone had thought to suggest maybe he take her surname, and Lucia would have been just fine with that, too.

Instead, she’d fought for his name.

Who he was.

Renzo Zulla.

That’s who she’d met him as all those years ago. That’s the man she knew, the one she’d fallen in love with, and the same one who’d proven time and time again that he was absolutely worthy of her the same way she was destined for him. So yeah, she’d taken his name and she wore it with pride. She hoped he did, now, too.

At least, he seemed to.

Leaning back in the white leather office chair that rested behind her glass desk, Lucia waited for a response from the other person in the room. The man—who’d thought coming a couple of feet inside her office while he barked at her about what he wanted for his upcoming showing, in her gallery, would get him what he wanted—fumed. Some men were like that—didn’t appreciate a woman in any position of power, and certainly not one that was above them. In Lucia’s business as the owner and director of an art gallery that she’d taken over from her aunt, Kim, a couple of years back, well … it could be even more prevalent.

Plus, art was all about passion.

Artists were passionate.

They had a vision.

She got that.

Understood it perfectly fine.

Unfortunately, the vision of the artist didn’t always translate to success. And that’s where she came into play. All those art degrees she’d worked for, and the business one added on top just for good measure, well, that shit wasn’t just for decoration. She understood what would make art sell in this market. She knew how to put an artist’s work on display, and make their name and brand stand out, without them even needing to be in the same room to do it.

“I just think that we should do it my way, considering it’s my art,” Mason said, trying to soften his stance a bit. Maybe so he didn’t look as … arrogant standing there. Who was she to say? It was too little, too late for her, though, because Lucia saw right through it. “And that is the point of this showing, right? To show off my art?”

“No, actually.”

“Pardon?”

Lucia smiled. “The point of the showing is to sell your art. And if you think having my clientele walk through this place, after it has been turned into some trash heap because it’ll go with the theme, as you say, then you came to the wrong place to get this done. So, what do you want to do? Sell your art and make money so that someday you can put your entire vision on display the way you want to, or cut your contract with me and go your way? By all means, I will let you make the choice and won’t say a word about it otherwise.”

It took the man a second.

Then, two.

“I guess, I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“You do—I just gave you two.”

Take it or leave it, buddy, she thought.

Lucia understood the man’s plight, but he’d gone about this entirely wrong. Had he genuinely been concerned about his vision coming to life as much as possible, then he could have asked her if there was something more they could do to the gallery for the upcoming showing. Instead, he’d marched into her office, looking like he’d just rolled out of bed and smelling like he’d spent the night in a bar, with demands as though she were going to fold just because he’d said so.

Hard pass.

Lucia had better things to do.

And money to make.

She loved art.

No doubt about it.

Her respect for art and this business went beyond the pale—she lived for it. Thing was, the only way she could continue to do that was if she made enough money to make it possible. The same thing went for the artists making the art.

They needed money.

Simple as that.

The phone on her desk rang just as Mason looked like he might open his mouth and say something else. If this were another day, one where she had more patience and had spent the night in bed with Renzo, she might have given him the chance to talk. Instead, she waved her hand at the door behind with him with a sharp, “Anything else, take it to my assistant, okay?”

He huffed.

She smiled again.

Once she was alone in her office, she picked up the ringing phone. “Lucia here.”

“Dolcezza.”

That time, her smile was real.

Entirely true.

“Daddy,” she greeted, turning her chair away from the desk a bit to stare out the window of her office, where she could enjoy the sight of a bright sky overhead. “What are you up to this afternoon?”

“Coming to see if you might like to clear some time off that very busy schedule of yours, actually.”

“Excuse me?”

“You never take a break. I am in the city to do some last-minute business before your mother and I take our trip to Bali … and I know Renzo is coming home from Vegas this week sometime, isn’t he?”

Yes.

God, she couldn’t wait.

She didn’t have a clue what job Renzo had been on, but it’d taken him away for almost three weeks. It was unusual for him to be allowed to take his phone and call her when he was on a job, so instead, she was stuck waiting for that call which said he was back in the country. Finally, she’d gotten that today.

He’d be home soon.

“He is, yes,” she replied.

“So, you’ll be tied up with him for a while, won’t you? Which means I probably won’t get to see you until we get back from our trip.”

Her father knew her so well.

A lot like the rest of her family.

“Very possibly,” she replied.

“Then, I think you could at least let me take you to lunch before he hides you away.”

She had more than enough reasons to say no. Owning her own gallery meant the work never stopped. If it wasn’t one thing, then it was another. She also now needed to brief her assistant on the artist who seemed determined to toe every line and work her very last nerve. The less she had to deal with him after today, the better it would be. She had a lot to do, and she really couldn’t afford to cancel her next two meetings to have lunch with her dad when she already planned to just take it in her office that day.

But …

At the same time, she loved her dad.

Missed him, too.

Sometimes, they didn’t get enough time together. He never said anything about it one way or another. And she tried not to point it out, either. She never missed a chance to spend her day with her dad.

“How long before you get here?” she asked.

Lucian chuckled. “I am outside with a car running.”

Of course, he was.

Lucian knew her well.

“I will be out in two minutes.”

“Perfetto, mia cara.”