Page 57 of The Devil's Canvas

"I don’t even know him," he says, frustration bleeding into every word. "He doesn’t run in our circles, Ophelia."

"And that matters?" she scoffs.

"It matters because you don’t know him either."

Her expression hardens. That hits a nerve.

"That’s funny," she says, voice like steel wrapped in silk. "Because I could say the same thing about you."

That’s when I decide I’ve had enough.

"Lia," I say smoothly, drawing her attention, letting the name roll off my tongue like it belongs to me.

She looks at me immediately. Soft, unguarded.

Dominic stiffens. I watch it happen. The moment he realizes I called her that. The moment he realizes she let me. The moment he realizes I have something he lost.

Dominic’s eyes snap to mine, rage igniting behind them.

"Don’t call her that," he grits out.

I tilt my head, amused. "Why not? It suits her."

"Stay out of this," he snaps.

"Oh, Dominic," I sigh, mocking pity dripping from every syllable. "You seem to have forgotten something important. You don’t get to dictate who Ophelia stands beside anymore."

Ophelia glances at me, her lips twitching in amusement. Dominic looks ready to kill me. And I’d love to let him try.

But before he can, Melanie calls for him.

"Dominic," her voice rings out, smooth, impatient, practiced. "Come on. We need couples shots."

Ophelia exhales sharply, shaking her head. She is done.

"Your wife, remember her?" she says, gesturing toward where Melanie waits, already smiling for the cameras. "She’s calling."

Dominic hesitates. Too long. Ophelia doesn’t.

"Oh, and Dominic?" she says, her voice calm but cutting like glass. He looks at her. That was his first mistake.

"You left me. I’m moving on." Her expression doesn’t waver. "Stay the fuck out of it." She doesn’t wait for a response before turning, lifting her chin, and sliding her hand into mine.

"Ready to walk the carpet?" I ask her.

"No," she says. "I never walk the carpet. Usually, I just go in and watch the movie and leave."

"Times have changed, Lia," I say. "We can walk it together, but you are beautiful. And I want to show that off."

"Okay, let’s do this," she says.

We go to the carpet, and I wrap an arm around her, drawing her close. The cameras go crazy, and I hear people calling her name. We take the attention from Melanie and Dominic.

I have to try to keep my composure as they stomp away, their frustration practically vibrating in the air behind them. I could gloat. I should gloat. But right now, I have something more important to focus on.

Ophelia.

We step forward, moving toward the reporters, the flashing cameras, the endless noise of the red carpet. This is where the real game begins.

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