Page 9 of Partnering with the Artist

“It’s like you don’t trust me.”

“I trust that this girl you want to hire to model for you will fall head over heels with you in a matter of days, and then you’ll be stuck again, since you have never—once—been interested in dating any of the women who have thrown themselves at your feet. I do not need it on my conscience, which works double time, to make up for the fact you don’t possess one.”

“Please. She’s not going to fall in love with me. She’s just—” I snort. “—broken up with some guy named Harry.” I chuckle, slice, slice, slicing potato skins onto the counter. “He’s a wolfkin. Great howler. Don’t ask me how I know that.”

Being absolutely no fun at all, Viktor doesn’t.

So I continue my spiel, “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t like me. I did laugh at her.”

“Youlaughed at a stranger?In front ofa stranger?”

“I know. Why do you think I’m so invested? She’shilarious, Viktor. Hilarious. In two minutes, she had run through a convention hall away from a guy who was howling and calling her hismate, collided with my table, and knocked down all the boxes in a storage room—all while spilling her life story. She rambles. It’s adorable.”

“Zakery.” Viktor pauses his prep of the other steak ingredients in order to stare me deep in the eye. “Women…” He takes a breath, lets it out slowly. “Peopleare not your toys. They do not exist to amuse you. I shouldn’t have to telltwoof my brothers that regularly.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I inquire, offended. “Trust me. Iwishpeople existed to amuse me, yet so few I find are genuinely amusing. Be honored. Crisis is one of the few.”

Viktor growls, “Why don’t you practice never looking at my wife again, hm?”

“Hard not to look when things randomly blow up around her. Looking is practically required—for self-preservation reasons. Also.Fiancée, Viktor. You’re not married yet.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I know it.” I beam. “Come on, since when do I ask for anything?”

“You asked me to let you run this con.”

“Other than that.”

“You asked for a new drawing tablet less than a year ago. It was over three thousand dollars.”

I wanted a standalone, with a stand, as if I don’t bring that much into the family on a weekly, if not daily, basis. My comics and accompanying merch sell by the hundreds every single day. I frown. “It’s really messed up that we have to get permission for things like this from you. I could afford her all on my own if I wanted.”

“Yes, you could. But, last I checked, my brothers trusted me to protect the image of our family to the best of my abilities.”

“We do, don’t we? And you do agreatjob protecting that perfect, shining image that our parents loved so much. You’ve always protected it, haven’t you? Even whenprotecting itmeant covering our bruises with makeup.”

“Zakery, that’s too far.”

Is it? I rewind the words in my head and wince. Yeah, okay. It was. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“I think I’m angry.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

Attempting to free the convoluted mix of emotions twisting up in my stomach, I soften my voice. “Am I doing anything wrong by wanting a model to help me plan my next series? Is itreallymyfault if she gets her feelings hurt? Can we not afford to pay her fifty dollars an hour for a few hours a day?”

“We don’t need or want scandals, Zakery, least of all with any of the residents in Sunset. This is the one place where we can exist without cameras being shoved in our faces every few seconds.”

Yeah, don’t I know it? Only having a few security guards at a con was…refreshing. Normally, I’m surrounded by them. And screaming fans. Who sometimes feel compelled to throw their undergarments on my face.

Having a pretty pink little furry fox tumble into my lap, by comparison, was so much better.

“I solemnly swear I won’t start a scandal or rumors in Sunset. I’ll have her sign an NDA to keep what happens during our time together classified. Then, if she rats, you have grounds to escort her out of our lovely little town and fill the spot with a less chatty person from our long, long waiting list. My muse might not be perfectly sane, considering Crisis passed the assessments to live here,butshe’s definitely going to be kind. That’s the main thing your tests look for, isn’t it? If she goes and gets her feelings hurt longing after my princely façade, that really seems like aherproblem. There are no downsides. For us.”

“I wish you had a soul,” Viktor murmurs, morose, despondent, trulymourningthe soul that he knows our parents carved from my flesh.

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