Page 25 of Announcing Love
His guilt doubled. “Hey. Yeah, I’m sorry. This day has been wild as hell, but I should’ve checked in sooner.”
He heard Sacha take a calming breath. It was a familiar sound when Sacha dealt with him. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re an adult. I shouldn’t have been so overbearing.”
Artem smiled. He really loved his brother. If given a choice, he would still choose Sacha to be his big brother. “Nah. Worryingabout someone you love isn’t overbearing. But hey, listen to this. I signed a contract with the gallery.”
“Are you serious?” Sacha sounded every bit as excited as Artem felt.
“Yes. She wants to showcase my work with five paintings at a time to drum up interest for the next auction. She thinks they’ll go for a minimum of fifty thousand up to hundreds of thousands by their second showing.”
“Oh, my god! That’s amazing, Artem. Holy shit. I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling. How did you celebrate? What are you going to do first? I’m just so blown away on your behalf.”
Sacha reacted the way Artem should have, but he was still incapable of seeing any of those big dollar promises come true. People could hate his work. Maybe no one would even bid. So many things could still go wrong. He couldn’t let himself believe his dream was real until it actually happened.
He took a deep breath. “I’m feeling really torn, actually.”
“Why? What’s wrong? Talk it out with me.”
A sad smile pulled at his lips. This was exactly why he was so unsettled. There was no one better than Sacha, and Artem was abandoning him. “Tip asked me to stay here.”
“Okay.” Sacha dragged out the word, sounding confused.
“Permanently,” Artem clarified. “It’s so, so beautiful, Sacha. My horse is here, and it’s not so huge that I’m intimidated and—”
“You love him,” Sacha finished for him.
“I do.”
“Sounds like you’re staying.”
Artem chewed his bottom lip for a second before responding. “I am. Do you hate me? Am I abandoning you? I know Baba has full-time care now, but still. It feels like I’m leaving you.”
“No. Stop.” Sacha’s tone had his teeth snapping together. “Look, Artem. I love you. You’re my brother, but I never expected we would spend our entire lives under the same roof. Even if Bandit hadn’t come along, or my cake business hadn’t taken off, one day Baba would still be gone. There was always going to come a day you’d be free. I want this for you. I want this for you so goddamn hard. You have no idea how many times I’ve cried over the way you’ve lost your life because of our situation. You deserve better. It’s your turn.”
Artem sniffed. His eyes stung. “But I’ll miss all of you.”
Sacha snorted. “Do you really think Baba will let you miss us? You’ll be lucky if she doesn’t end up living with you.”
“She’ll never leave that house. It means too much to her.”
He practically heard Sacha smile. “Not as much as she loves you. You’ve always been her favorite.”
Artem couldn’t stop toying with his bottom lip between every exchange. “Don’t say that. That’s not true. She’s never played favorites.”
Sacha chuckled. “I know she’s always treated us the same, but she feels closer to you. You’re the most like her.”
Artem couldn’t stop the confessions. “She told me this would happen before I left. She said she saw it and I had to choose Tip.”
“Well, there you go. When has she ever been wrong?”
Despite everything, Artem smiled. “Never and it’s so goddamn annoying.”
“Oh my god, so annoying.”
They shared a laugh.
“I’m proud of you, Artey. You were always meant to make it.”
Artem’s throat swelled so fast, it took his breath. “We both were. I love you.”
