Page 70 of Billionaire Unbroken - Asher
“Are you two officially a couple now?” he pushed.
I saw Reese elbow her husband, silently telling him he was going too far.
I didn’t mind, and I knew that Devon already thought that situation was inevitable.
“We’re living together now, and we’re a couple.”
I saw Sierra visibly tense next to me, and I hated it.
Did she think I was going to care what my family thought?
“That’s wonderful,” Millie said enthusiastically. “Are we going to be planning another wedding soon?”
She sounded pretty delighted aboutthatidea.
“Millie,” Anna said firmly. “I think it’s a little soon for that. They just started dating.”
Millie smiled unabashedly. “An aunt can hope for her nephew.”
One glance at Sierra told me she was a little uncomfortable.
“We’re dating for now, Millie,” I explained. “Sierra is working on her illustration career, and I’d like a chance to take her on some real dates.”
In my opinion, Sierra and I wouldn’treallybe dating until I took her to some places that weren’t just an opportunity for me to get out.
Preferably some nice places that she deserved.
“I’ve seen some of her work,” Millie mentioned as she looked at Sierra. “Actually, I saw it years ago. I was an admirer. You’re an incredible watercolor artist. You stopped for a while.”
I tensed up.
Fuck!I hadn’t planned on this.
I hated that I’d just put Sierra on the spot by mentioning her career.
Before I could try to fix my mistake, Sierra spoke. “I did. Something bad happened in my life, and I couldn’t concentrate well. I didn’t lose my love for creating illustrations, but it was impossible for me to finish a project or do my best work. Things got better for me, and I started again.”
Millie nodded. “I’ve had periods in my life when I couldn’t paint. Deaths of people close to me and other sad events were hard. It kills your creativity. I think we know when we need to take a break. I’m so glad you’re resuming your career. It would be a shame for talent like yours to be silenced forever.”
“Thank you, Millie,” Sierra said in a genuinely touched voice. “That means a lot coming from a legendary artist like you.”
“You’ll have a legendary career of your own,” my aunt promised.
My muscles relaxed.
My aunt might be enthusiastic, but she was also intuitive.
She’d obviously sensed that Sierra wasn’t comfortable talking about some of her painful past, and Millie hadn’t pushed.
She’d simply put Sierra at ease and encouraged her.
“I’d love to see your work,” Anna said excitedly.
“I just realized that I think I have a book that you illustrated,” Hannah said in a quiet voice. “I bought it to read to Winter. It has amazing pictures by someone named Sierra Ellis. I didn’t connect you with those illustrations because I didn’t know your last name. Is that you?”
Sierra nodded. “That’s my last name. It has to be me. Nobody else illustrates under that name.”
“The illustrations are magical,” Hannah told Sierra excitedly.
