Mafia Heir

Chapter 28

Charlotte

I leaned back carefully eyeing the canvas in front of me. I was at it all morning and I still wasn't happy with the progress I was making. The painting was slowly taking shape, but I was definitely having trouble shaking the cobwebs off. It had been weeks since I painted and I was definitely paying for it now.

Painting was an outlet for me. It was something I was good at, and felt my most confident in. I never felt more at ease than I did when I was behind a brush, but something about creating these pieces for Luca was daunting. The clientele he would be serving at his club was vastly different than who I usually painted for, and I was nervous. Something like this could make or break my career, and there was more money than sin in the circles he ran in. Not to mention I wanted to impress Luca himself. This was a big responsibility and as I sat in front of my canvas, I suddenly felt like a kindergarten who was fingerpainting for the very first time.

Art wasn't born under pressure and the stress I was feeling was seriously inhibiting my imagination. Deadlines were like kryptonite to me, but I promised ten painting to Luca, and I still had three left to complete.

"Are you going to be in here all day?" Jenni smiled, leaning against the door frame.

"I don't know." I grumbled. "I think I've lost my touch."

"You have not. You just need to step away for a little while. Come back in a few minutes with fresh eyes." Jenni suggested, offering a cup of coffee to me. She was my biggest fan, and she supported me almost to a fault. Jenni was in my corner even when I was wrong, and she believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. A friend like her was one in a million, and I was lucky to have her.

"You win. But only a few minutes, I've got to get this done." I sighed, wiping my hands on my apron and setting my brush down on the easel. A little break couldn't hurt.

I sat down next to Jenni at the table in the studio. I loved this space. When we decided that we were going to open our own gallery, Jenni and I had spent hours scouring New York looking for just the right spot. Everything was saw looked old and tired and by the time we got to this place, the last stop on our search, we were feeling pretty defeated.

As soon as we walked inside though, it was like our dream came to life. I could actually imagine it happening. This building had beautiful, original brick walls and creaky wooden flooring. There was a wrought iron loft that over looked the front space and was perfect for entertaining. This back room though, it was my absolute favorite. It had floor to ceiling windows on all the walls and a beautiful stained-glass mosaic along the back wall. Just after two o'clock every day, colorful beams shone through it illuminating the whole room in beautiful patterns and colors.

Jenni had a knack for decorating and transformed it into a studio and office area. She was an artist in her own way, and seemed to make this space completely our own, but still kept some of the original hardware and appeal of the place. It truly was perfect.

"I think it's coming along; it looks much better than the last time I was in here." Jenni teased.

"Very funny. It's a mess." I laughed. 

"It is not!" Jenni assured me. "Luca is going to love it. Speaking of which, how is Luca?"

She gave me a playful smirk, pivoting topics so seamlessly I almost didn't notice her blatant attempt at fishing for information. 

"He's good." I laughed. "Things are going well. Fast, but good." 

"Fast and good?" She arched her eyebrow at me. "Charlotte, I'm your best friend and you've been icing me out the last few weeks. I'm going to need a little more detail than that. you've practically moved in with him and I feel like I know nothing about him."