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The notepad in , and I placed it down Elpidio had been coht?

That ht? Does he have dark long hair?"

Christoph nodded "He alears black Never says anything" Christoph leaned forward "Real dark brooding artist type And honestly, he scares the shit out of uy"

"Oh my God…" I whispered I’d just seen hi here and I’d not known…

Abruptly, I covered Christoph’s hand with o?"

"Out the back door to the staff parking lot It’s where he parks every night"

I i the door open to the cool night, I watched helplessly as a blacklot and raced away fro the cool breeze caress my flushed face and soothe my frantic heart, I squeezedbeside the sculpture, head down, back tense, with his hand gripping the angel’s wing as though its touch was the only thing stopping hi lights of his car, and I whispered aloud, "What has happened in your life to make you so broken?"

Chapter Six

Ally

No one could ever know of this moment This one moment of pure insanity, I had to keep to ardless, I foundon a pale-pink shade of lip-gloss on ainst ray T-shirt that skiure and skinny black jeans I never dressed up to curate a gallery, toowasn’t beyond what I’d ordinarily wear But there was no doubt, that at thirty ht, I nor makeup on the off chance a reclusive artist would show his face

That reclusive artist I couldn’t get out of ht That reclusive artist who had been weeping while holding on to aThat tall, broad, sullen artist who had fled at the very sound ofabout what it would be like to meet Elpidio in person I prayed to all that was holy that he wouldn’t be a pompous ass I didn’t wantone last tilancing to the security desk to see if Christoph was there He wasn’t Which probablyht If only I’d known he’d been coht, I could have introduced myself… I could have finally met the man whose work had stolen my heart

Head down in disappointallery andthe private workspace Bridgette, the Museued to put the curtains up this afternoon afterto take in an early showing

As the curtains closed behind ht moves clad in black jeans, to a sculpted waist and torso covered in a short-sleeved black shirt splashed in what looked like e arm muscles, sculpted and pronounced under heavily tattooed olive skin My gaze drifted to a muscular tattooed neck, partially covered by a dark short scruffy beard and shoulder-length dark brown hair

Elpidio…

I had to blink to believe the ht in front of ot how to speak,else that should co

Elpidio’s head was down, avoiding aze, but I knew he kneas here Every inch of his body was taut, as if ready to spring

My voice failed to work as I watched his broad chest rise and fall Then, with deliberate slowness, he exhaled harshly through his nostrils and lifted his head

I nearly staggered back

He was… dark There was no other adjective I could think of to do hiressively tattooed, and absolutely yet unconventionally… beautiful

Elpidio was as inspiring to look at as his sculptures, and when his al breath