Page 179 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

A thought suddenly occurs to me. “So, are they family from your stepdad’s side?”

“No, my cousins only met him a handful of times. They don’t talk at all. Why?”

“They don’t know me then?”

“No,” He says slowly. “Why?”

I grin. “Just wondering. Where are you taking them today?”

“Hmm, not sure yet,” Rurik says thoughtfully. “My cousin wants to go on a New York bar crawl, so I want to take him to this one bar where you can destroy your glasses by throwing them across the room after you finish drinking them.”

Oh, I know exactly which bar he’s talking about. I plan my day after he hangs up to pick up his cousins. If his cousins are from Scotland and they’re from his mom’s side, surely that means they don’t know me and what I do, right?

There wouldn’t be a reason for him to be scared of our meeting since they have no close relations with the Senator.

Besides, I want to get to know Rurik more personally. I want to meet his family —- His mom’s side, not his stepdad. Fuck him — and I just want to get to know his roots more, see where he came from and who he grew up with.

I'd research everything about him if it weren’t too creepy. Not that it would even stop me in the first place, but I know Rurik. He would find it weird. Sometimes, he's such a closed book; he doesn’t want me to get too close whenever I ask probing questions about his life.

Geeze, we exchange bodily fluids like every night, but sharing emotional details is where he draws the line.

As I mentioned before, he’s such a conundrum. He can be affectionate and unfeeling. Hot and cold. Push and pull.

It’s fine.

As I mentioned before, I can be patient. But I hope meeting his cousins would make him realize that hanging out in public isn’t always bad when we’re with the right people.

*-*-*-*

There he is. God, he's always beautiful to me, but for some reason, seeing him in gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt that clings to his broad, muscular shoulders stirs something within me.

Act cool, Briar. You need to act like he’s a stranger to make this look legit!

I straighten up and pat down my hair to ensure every wave is in place. Fuck, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I walk in.

I had Nat come over to help me plan an outfit that screamed, “I’m a classy, self-respecting woman. But for you, I’ll let you treat me like your own personal slut” which was kind of hard to find, to be honest.

So we just settled for a cute, flowy yellow sundress, a black faux leather jacket, and brown ankle boots. I look like a pretty little bumblebee, which is also adorable, but some people fear, right?

I enter the bar and casually lean against the counter, smiling at the bartender as I order a lemon drop. As soon as I get my drink, I take a few sips for some liquid courage and take a deep breath in and out.

I turn around and quickly see Rurik chatting with three men, who I assume are his cousins.

Fuck, why am I suddenly so nervous?

This is Rurik!

It’s his cousins. I’m worried they won’t like me. But why wouldn’t they? I just need to charm them like I do with our targets and make them like me. Yeah, exactly like I do at work — minus the killing part.

Fuck it. I can do this.

I plaster on an easy smile and walk over to their table. One of his cousins sees me immediately and elbows the cousin next to him. Rurik is the last to look up, and when he does… His eyes widen, and his face drains of color.

Shit.

Did I fuck this up before I even started?

“Hi,” I chirp, grinning at all of them. “I was sitting by the counter over there and wanted to come over and introduce myself. My name’s Briar.”

---