“I know exactly what you mean. I might have to turn naughty just to…make sure,” she winks.
“And you know I’ll be right there to reel you in.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
I smile as she hugs me tight, then pulls away again. “I need to call dad!”
“He knows.”
“How does he know?”
“I asked him earlier today and he gave me his blessing.”
“You actually asked someone something? I’m shocked.”
“It’s a tradition.”
“You mean…a rule?”
“I guess Daddy has his own rules to follow in life too.”
“Like to always be my Daddy, and only my Daddy.”
“Always and forever. You were always the only one,” I say, bringing her hand to my face and kissing her ring. “And that’s why I love you, princess.”
“And I love you…Silas.” I give her a stern look and she giggles. “My bossy Daddy.”
“Good girl.”
Epilogue
Silas
Two months later
“And the winner of this year’s Art Basel is…”
The man slowly opens the envelope while a real live drum roll is played by a single musician.
“Scarlett Steele and Jack Sharp!”
I clap and whistle harder than I ever have in my life, completely abandoning my stoic, professional personality. It’s amazing what the right woman in your life will do to you, and I’ve got the only one for me.
And now that I do I want nothing more than to enjoy life to its fullest, and cheer on my little one through all her accomplishments.
We worked tirelessly for the last two months to get her up to speed to her dad’s level, and to also get Jack back into the swing of things. His mental struggles are starting to turn a corner and he’s seeing the world with renewed optimism, and with Scarlett in my life the sun has never shined brighter.
Although I have lots of money, she isn’t superficial in the slightest. She isn’t motivated by the wrong things. Not only that, she’s a blank, clean, white canvas for me to paint. And she knows it, loves it, and trusts in me to create a masterpiece.
As far as I’m concerned, she always was exactly that.
I stay in the backdrop and listen to her and her dad tell the story I already know, and how the crowd can’t believe what they’re hearing. Being that it’s Art Basel, there are a lot of famous and influential people in town and out of the corner of my eye I can already see a couple of the major Hollywood studios talking about a picture. If I can hear it right they’re already in a bidding war.
Little do they know everything about my wife is priceless, including the secret we share.
I’ve converted one of the rooms in the house into her little space. Now that we understand the dynamic we have completely, and that there are more people like us out there, I was able to do quite a bit of research and find out things that can help her thrive.
And thriving she is.