“Fine. Buy a spot upstate. One I can drive to in a couple of hours. You’ll be out of the fray of the city but not cut off from your entire life.”

But I needed that distance. A clean break was the only way to truly start over. “I’m going, Car.”

“Fucking hell. Fine. But when you’re bored as shit in two weeks, don’t come crying to me.”

“I promise, I won’t.”

“I’m gonna miss you too, you asshole.”

I grinned. “You’re going to come visit in a month when I’m settled. Hopefully, we’ll be well into building the studio by then.”

“I am jealous of the space you’ll have.”

Space in New York might as well be made of diamonds. And when you worked on large-scale art the way Carson and I did, it was a commodity you’d shed blood for. “I’m finalizing the designs with the architect now. It’s been a hell of a thing getting to choose every last placement.”

“Let’s hope the new space brings inspiration.”

Carson and I both started at the voice behind us. Carson muttered a curse. “Have you lost the ability to ring the bell?”

Lara held up a glinting piece of metal. “I don’t have to knock. I have a key.”

“Brody could’ve been banging a chick out here.”

Her face screwed up. “He’s not you. He has some decency.”

He gave her a wink. “Come on, Lara. You know you’d kill for a walk on this wild side.”

Her lip curled. “Not if it meant I’d have to be inoculated afterwards.”

I choked on my beer, and Carson speared me with a glare. “Don’t laugh at her jabs.”

Lara crossed to a chair, gracefully lowered herself onto it, and then set her handbag on the table. “He has good taste, what can I say?”

“More like you’ve trained him well,” Carson muttered.

I set my beer on the other side table. “All right, children. Can’t we all just get along?”

Carson gave me a mock pout. “She started it, Dad.”

“Gross,” Lara complained. “I will not be related to you. Not even in a make-believe scenario.”

I sighed, leaning my head against the chaise. “This, I will not miss.”

“I’ll put a hit out on Carson if you agree to stay in New York,” Lara offered.

“No hitman is going to take me out. I’ve got ninja skills.”

Lara rolled her eyes and then turned her focus back to me. “Seriously. We can call off the move.”

“I leave tomorrow.”

She made a pssh sound. “If I can put together a gallery show in forty-eight hours, I can reverse the sale of your condo and studio.”