The Muse (Interracial Mystery Romance) (Dark Art Mystery Series) (30 page)

What else could I do, but leave? Too many things were happening. More girls had died, and for what? A curse. A serial killer, or according to Hex, both. This was too much for anyone to handle. Yet guilt remained lodged in my gut and Alvarez’s name was written all over it. He’d been so good to me the whole time I stayed here. He not only showed me what real love felt like, he accepted me for who I was. But I just couldn’t remain in a dangerous situation. Sure, I had four bodyguards. Sure, cops and investigators combed the property. But still, the thought of more dead women around me chilled my bones and sprouted goose bumps on my flesh.

Hex had discovered three girls strung up in Alvarez’s office. Three.

Had they all died together or did the sick killer do it one by one? Who was doing it, a servant, cook, guard—or even worse, one of Alvarez’s family members?

I couldn’t even think about it for too long. It would make me go crazy and I was already jumping around like a lunatic at every little sound. I had to get out of here, go off somewhere that was safer. Maybe even visit my old hometown, if necessary.

A knock sounded at my door and I jumped.

Calm down. I have security guards in the hall. No one is going to get me.

“Yes?” I zipped up my suitcase.

“It’s me, Alvarez.”

This was going to be the worst part of the day. I didn’t know how I was going to explain to Alvarez that I had to leave because his life, family, and history scared the crap out of me.

We’d shared such a magical evening, but it hadn’t been enough to make me ignore the obvious severity of the days to come.

I placed my hands behind my back and squeezed them together. “Come in.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come by last night. I had a lot to do and then. . .” His gaze turned to my luggage and now bare bedroom. “You’re leaving?”

“I think I should.”

He kept a neutral expression on his face and gave me no indication of what emotions moved behind his eyes.

Say something, dang it. So I won’t feel so uncomfortable about this.

I cleared my throat. “Hex told me about the other three girls dying and. . . about what happened to him when he was younger.”

“He told you about my mother and Snyder?”

“Yes. And he said something about a curse and that his step-dad was returning from the dead or something—”

Alvarez nodded and backed out of my room. “Okay. Just let the guards know when you

want to leave. You can use my private plane. If you need to go anywhere in the US it will be no problem. If the destination is overseas then my pilots will need more notice, but just a few hours.

You should probably tell Hex goodbye and let him know you won’t be modeling for him or that—”

“Alvarez…”

“Please say goodbye to Hex, but don’t let Hex try to make you feel guilty about this.

He’ll be okay. As far as payment for your time here, that is no problem, just send me a—”

“Alvarez?” I walked to him. “Stop.”

“Stop?”

“Yes. You’re upset.”

“Of course I’m upset.” He averted his gaze. “You’re leaving. After last night, it’s hard to say goodbye without hurting inside. Do I understand why you’re leaving? Of course. Do I like it?

No. But I have to keep pushing on and take care of the situation.”

“No. You don’t.”

“Yes. I do.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Can you?” Our gazes met. “My grandma says Michael is looking for you and that he’s not a good man.”

“You told me to ignore your grandma’s visions.”

“Well, now I’m telling you to listen to them. Is this true?”

“I don’t know. The last time I saw Michael he was in his studio having sex with his new model. We argued and I left.”

“You left without saying goodbye?”

“Obviously.” I turned away from him and checked the room. This conversation was

making me nervous and shoving me on edge. I didn’t want my last words with Alvarez to involve Michael.

“Did Michael let you out of your modeling contract with him?” Alvarez asked.

So he was worried about the art that Hex had done of me, instead of anything else? Here I thought Alvarez worried about my well-being. Instead, he wanted to know if Hex could still use the painting he’d done of me.

“Don’t worry.” I picked up my bag and placed it on the floor. “Hex will be able to use the painting he’s doing of me and the women yesterday.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I don’t want to talk about Michael. I would rather say goodbye to you, a meaningful goodbye where we hug and promise that we’ll see each other again.”

“Will we?” He dug his hands into his pants pockets.

“Yes.”

“Grandma says Michael is looking for you. I need you to explain what she’s talking

about.”

“No. You don’t. That’s my business.”

“Not anymore.” He stepped closer to me. “Are you out of the contract with Michael? And I don’t want to hear about how Hex can use the stuff that you’re in.”

“I’m still bound to the contract with Michael.” I raised my hand before he could say how pissed he was for lying to him earlier. “However, there is a clause in the contract that says if he doesn’t have me in a work-in-progress and I’m involved in another artist’s project for at least thirty days, then I’m allowed to continue that project.”

“So your plan was to tell him you were working with Hex after thirty days?”

“No. My plan was for him to find out whenever the collection was released. I planned on working other jobs by then. I had my lawyers researching ways to cancel the contract, but they’ve been lackluster in trying to solve it. In the end, they’re really Michael’s lawyers and will be more loyal to him.”

“I’ll have my own team look into it.”

“I don’t need you to do that.”

“Too bad. It’s going to happen. Not only will it affect you, but this will deal with my brother, too. You should have told me the truth from the beginning.”

I blew out a long breath. “I didn’t think you would’ve let me work for Hex if I told you.

Plus, Michael wouldn’t even find out until the end. He doesn’t even know now.”

“He does.”

I scrunched my face up in confusion. “What?”

“My grandma’s visions show him screaming out the name Ellie over and over and staring at a newspaper announcement I had my publicist do to reveal that Hex and you are working together on a new collection.”

My heartbeat boomed at an erratic pace in my chest. “There was an announcement?”

“Yes. It was posted yesterday morning.”

“And in your grandma’s visions she saw him looking at the article and yelling Ellie?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe your grandma knows that he calls me that and perhaps she figured out that—”

“There’s no use trying to convince yourself that my grandma’s visions are wrong or even why she is having them. That’s not the point. What’s important is that you’re possibly in danger.

She said he was drinking the whole time he screamed your name and painted you on his canvas.

That doesn’t sound like a sane man to me.”

He wasn’t, but not as bad as what Alvarez would be thinking. Michael just liked to swim in depression and mind games. It wasn’t that he missed me because he loved me. Michael cried for me because he needed another person to blame and hurt. If I was gone, then who would he point to as the reason for his failures? Who would take the blame?

“He won’t hurt me.”

“Guards are going to stay with you wherever you go.”

I shook my head. “First of all, I would appreciate it if you asked me instead of ordered me.”

“I care about you. I want you safe.”

“I understand, but it’s my choice to make whether I will have guards with me or not.”

He took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his temples. “Will you?”

“Maybe. I’ll have one for a few days, but I can’t keep them the whole time.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not your responsibility. You have enough going on.”

“And what if I want you to be my responsibility?” He stopped rubbing his forehead and moved closer to me. Bags rested under his eyes. His shirt appeared rumpled and slept in.

Although, knowing Alvarez, he probably hadn’t slept at all.

“You’re busy right now. Maybe you should take some time to finish all of the things you have on your plate first, before you begin adding me to the mix.”

“What does that mean?”

I swallowed down my nervousness. It had been one of the biggest things I’d considered last night after hearing Hex’s news. Alvarez dealt with mountains of duties and stressful situations when it came to his family, things that no one should have to deal with. But after being with him and truly learning about the type of person Alvarez was, I understood that his family was a labor of love for him. I just didn’t know where I would stand in such a busy situation. With all of my baggage and personal insecurities that I still had not conquered, would I be more of a hindrance than an escape?

And there was the fact that although Michael didn’t truly love me, he would be a new difficulty for Alvarez. I didn’t know if Alvarez’s grandma’s visions were true or not, but if they were, then this would be awful news. Michael would come here and try to win me back, whether through fake chivalry or threats. Alvarez would attempt to step in as the knight in shining armor because that was just the type of guy he was. I would add even more to his plate than his family.

“I just think that we may have jumped into this situation without truly thinking about whether we should.” I couldn’t look Alvarez in his face and see his heart break. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t date or whatever. I just believe I have a whole lot of stuff I need to deal with. And frankly, you do, too.”

“I don’t like this conversation.” He came in closer, until barely a foot remained between us. “I don’t like what you’re saying or how you’re saying it. If you believe you’re unsafe and need to leave this property, then that’s fine. I’ll help you remain protected. If you need help with Michael, then I’ll be there for you, but putting a pause to what we’ve begun isn’t going to happen. You’re the one good thing that’s happened to me this week. Fuck it. These past years. I won’t put a pause on this.”

“But—”

He stopped my counterargument with a kiss. “There’s no buts about this. I want to give you my extra heart. Take it. Don’t overanalyze my life. Don’t try to make things easier for me. I need you more than I need them. In the end, if it’s you or them, I’ll take you and leave them as well as all of this other stuff behind me.”

“Stop that. Don’t talk about them like that. I know how much you love them.”

“It’s true.” He captured me by my waist and pulled me against him. “I love them. Until meeting you, they were all I had. And I know it sounds wrong that after only a few days of knowing you, I would leave them all behind, but it’s the truth. These few days taught me something. It showed me that I’ve been letting life pass me by. Every day it’s something new with my family. No matter how many fires I put out, another comes to take its place. You can leave, if you want to. I understand. I need to know you’re safe as well, but you can’t leave what we have. You can’t.”

I buried my face in his shoulders. “I need time to think about this.”

“Why? What time do you need? I didn’t propose. I didn’t ask for a commitment.”

“But you
are
asking for something more than I can give you right now.”

He stiffened against me. “I just don’t want you to think we need space or time away from
this
.”

“What is
this
between us?”

“Everything,” he whispered.

“Alvarez, I can’t give you everything right now. Michael broke me. He made me second-guess who I am and in that process I forgot myself. I left her behind. My coming here was about learning about me and finding out who I am.”

“That’s not what you said last night,” Alvarez said through clenched teeth. “You told me no limits.”

An exasperated sigh escaped my lips. “Well, in the light of everything around us from the new murders to Michael searching for me, I think we need some limits.”

He released me. “If this was a movie, would it be one of those stupid unrequited

romances where the couple decides to not be together on the basis of simple things that could be changed?”

“No. It’s the type of romance where the heroine is broken and the hero is chained to other things. It’s not unrequited love. It’s just not possible. In a few days or weeks or even months it will be possible. Right now, I need space and time to reflect on me while you need to save your life and family.”

He formed his hands into fists. “Is that your final say on that?”

I directed my attention to my bag. “Yes. I would like to leave here this evening and we can stay in contact through email, but I would rather you not come and visit me for a few days or so. Take care of this and let me deal with Michael.”

Several uncomfortable minutes passed.

“Then fine.” He turned away from me and left the room. “Goodbye, Elle.”

Chapter 24

~Alvarez

I dove into my work and swam through piles of duties and did my best to keep my mind off Elle. I had a meeting with Detective White about the murders. Something had to be done.

Things had gotten out of hand. Too many died and still only unexplained peculiarities existed.

As grandma suggested, I looked at the video.

The screen flashed off and on a few times before clearing to reveal three dead bodies sliding through the hallway toward my office by themselves. The tape switched to the camera in my office where the dead girls glided into the room, rose in the air, and then hung from the ceiling.

“What do you think this is?” I asked Detective White, who stood next to the open

window and lit his third cigarette.

Please don’t tell me you think it’s an evil spirit, too.

“When my men cut the girls down, they found dozens of fish wires attached to the

victims’ shoulders, necks, and arms. Further analysis of your office showed there was a contraption over here.” Detective White headed over to the area behind my desk. “There was a box nailed to the floor that worked by remote control. The wire was attached to the box.