Page 72 of Painted in Love

She spoke to her parents for the first time since they’d knocked on the door. “You need to go.”

More words whispered in her mind. Go crawl back under the rock you came from. But she didn’t say those words. Her parents weren’t worth it.

Her father opened his mouth, more useless words pouring forth. “But we want to be here for you. Help you. Mentor you.”

If only he’d said those words sixteen years ago. They would have meant the world to her. But they meant nothing now.

“I said, you need to go.”

The great Julian Oliver puckered his lips and huffed out an annoyed breath. “You should know we’ve done a lot of thinking. Your mother and I would like to talk to you about what happened all those years ago.” But he made no apologies.

Her mother didn’t echo his words. In fact, she said nothing at all. Her expression hadn’t changed during the entire exchange, her lips a grim line bisecting her face. No smile, not even a frown. Maybe she’d had Botox.

“We’ll let you think it over,” her father said. Then he handed her his card. Saskia reached out automatically to take it as he added, “Call us. We’re staying at the Palace Hotel.”

Just before her fingers touched the card stock, she hesitated. Then she withdrew as he let it go, and the card fell to the floor between them. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

Her father didn’t look down or bend to pick it up. “Please. Call us.”

Then they turned together, her father’s hand on her mother’s elbow, their movements synchronized as if they were one unit. Saskia didn’t move as they headed down the corridor to the elevator and their footsteps faded away.

Her father had looked back once, her mother not at all. Just as she hadn’t spoken the entire time. Not one word. Obviously, Patricia Oliver wasn’t ready to admit she’d been wrong. She never would be.

Even if Saskia let them in, if she told them about her art and her life and what she’d been doing, after they got what they wanted, they would desert her.

But she would not let them suck her dry again.

Clay ached for her, but he was immensely proud of her too. He’d seen hope in the slight curve of her lips when she’d first seen them. He’d seen the hope die. Then she’d stoically sent them away. She had emotions about the episode, but she hadn’t let them devastate her. She was tougher than that. Not hard, but tough.

After a deep breath and a long exhale, she said, “I just realized I’ve been mourning a relationship with my parents that I never actually had. All they care about is the money I make. They’ll bleed me dry to get it.”

He could see the intense emotion roiling inside her, but it was the emotion of release. Her parents had trampled her when they’d kicked her out—not just her art, her. Hugo Lewis had ripped her asunder all over again when he’d stolen her name.

But her suffering had made her a strong woman, tough enough to take all the blows thrown her way. That made her a very special woman indeed. The woman he loved.

He had to give her the words her parents wouldn’t. “I’m so sorry. I know what your parents did was even worse than what Lewis did.”

Behind him, Adrian snorted. “Hugo was a jerk. Your only mistake was not realizing it from the start.”

Clay wrapped Saskia’s hand in his. “You have to forgive yourself for that too.”

All she’d ever wanted was someone’s love and appreciation, the things she’d never gotten from her parents. It had made her an easy target for a man like Lewis.

A small smile creased the corners of Saskia’s lips. “Hugo was a total douche.” Then she squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry, but I really need to get out of here. I just—” She cut herself off, turning and dropping his hand. Then her boots echoed down the hallway as she strode away at a fast clip.

“I’m going after her,” he said to Gareth and Adrian.

Adrian grabbed Saskia’s bag off the couch and handed it to him. “Take care of her.”

He would.

Part of him wanted to run after her parents and tear into them for what they’d done. But he’d figure out how to deal with them later.

Saskia needed him more right now.

Ahead, she took the stairs instead of the elevator, and he followed her down. As they stepped into the lobby below, her parents were just leaving through the outside door. Saskia stood for a moment, watching them.

Beautiful. Strong. His.

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