The Muse (Interracial Mystery Romance) (Dark Art Mystery Series) (8 page)

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll understand later.” He leaned his weight onto the door and watched the landscape of Miami rush by.

The Castillo property was located far outside of Miami and surrounded by tons of

farmland. As we pushed into the hustle and bustle of South Beach, fields of grass and crops transformed into small businesses. The farther we ventured, those convenience stores changed to large towers that stabbed the sky with their bright colors and sculpted edges. Bushy trees that cuddled dark green leaves and lush fruit transformed into high palm trees manicured at the top and decorated with tiny lights that one would put on a Christmas tree.

Hex lowered the window and breathed in the air. “We should have a theme for this party tomorrow. Something fun before we begin sacrificing the day after.”

“Okay. First of all, what are you talking about with
us
sacrificing? What will we be giving up?”

“Everything.”

“I’m not giving up everything.”

“You don’t even know what I’m talking about.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“Just follow me.”

I covered my eyes and held in a smart remark.

“I’m serious, Elle. Just follow me down the rabbit hole.”

“And what if at the end of the path, there’s a bunch of rabid human-eating rabbits that are ready to attack us?”

“Then we’ll kill them all.”

“With your wet thumb and my talent for movie lines?”

“Yes.” He smiled so much that he exposed his teeth. “We’ll destroy them with our

special powers. Are you ready to go on this voyage with me? It’s going to be more than modeling. This will be about the both of us sacrificing it all to learn about ourselves.”

I buried my face in my hands. “You know, I liked you better when you were quiet in the corner and sucking your thumb.”

“Well, it’s too late now.” He reached for the wine bottle, took a swig, and set it back down. “I’ve got that word,
sacrifice
, drumming over and over in my head like I’m a cocaine addicted drummer, banging at a hard surface to just get a few seconds of freedom before he tilts over and takes a snort. Sacrifice! Say it with me.”

“Sacrifice.”

“Louder!” He put his head out the window and screamed, “Sacrifice!”

Uh oh. What did I start?

He jumped back into the car, his eyes wild with insanity. “Can I dress you for tomorrow night’s party?”

“Uh—”

“I see you in feathers and diamonds as well as lots of white all around you. I want to cover you in white.”

“I’ll have to approve this outfit first.”

“Fine.”

“And I get to dress you.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Interesting. Okay. Let’s do it. You dress me and I dress you.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“And then the day after tomorrow.” He grabbed our wine glasses and poured us both a drink. “Then we’ll sacrifice. But, we don’t have to think about that now. Tonight, we’ll go to the opening of X-lab and tomorrow night we’ll have a crazy party. I’ll have to call up Reece and get her to bring in more entertainers and guests. Let’s do something huge.”

I grabbed my wine glass and tapped it against his in a gesture of cheers. “Let’s do it.”

“Then the day after tomorrow’s huge party we’ll start our journey down the rabbit hole.”

“Alrighty, let’s just make sure we take some of this wine with us.”

“What will you wear tonight?” Hex finished this glass in one swoop.

Whoa. Maybe I shouldn’t have started him with drinking.

“What’s happening tonight again?” I asked.

He held his hands out to the side in a grand gesture. “Tonight is the huge opening of my new art gallery X-Lab. Well, it’s not just mine. At least fifty other artists, curators, and filthy rich bastards invested in this. X-Lab is going to be amazing. It’s going to blow everyone in the art world’s mind. I’m talking no one will have seen anything so awesome. There’s nothing like this anywhere in the world. Only experimental stuff will be there—performances, mind-boggling videos, and interactive installations.”

“Whoa. I love installations, especially the ones where you can climb in and interact with them somehow. They’re like adult playgrounds for the artfully inclined. They bring out the kid in me.”

“That’s the exact feeling I want people to experience and so much more—joy, thrills, fear, pain, regret, triumph, hope, and anything else.” His eyes glittered with excitement. “I can go on and on about this, but I’d rather just let you see X-Lab for yourself.”

“Why haven’t you ever done installation art?”

He shrugged. “It’s difficult. My ideas are too big at times and in the end Al wouldn’t be able to stomach them. However, for this new collection I’ve been working on something. Maybe you’ll be able to help me out with it later. It’s sort of installation art in its grandest sense, bigger than anyone has ever imagined.”

“I’ve never been involved with any type of art besides different forms of paintings, so this should be interesting. How far have you gotten with your installation?”

“Pretty far.”

I waited for him to say more. “That’s it? Pretty far. Come on. Tell me about the process.

How does one even do an art installation?”

“First you have to make a mini model of it to help you plan how it will look and

experiment with the size. Once you have the model then. . .” He paused and shook his head.

“You know what? It’s better if I just show you everything later. For now let’s focus on tonight.”

“Your gallery opening?”

“Yes.” He grabbed my feet and slipped off my shoe. “I want to dress you tonight, too.”

“Oh goodness. Should I be worried?”

“Definitely.”

“Well, if you dress me, then I’ll dress you. What’s the theme?” I relaxed as he massaged the heel of my foot and didn’t even think to ask him why he was doing it. Maybe the glasses of wine finally entered our scene.

“Theme?”

“It’s fun to have themes when you do events. My . . . ex-boyfriend and I would come up with a theme and dress like it for an opening, just for fun.”

“Hmmm.” He kneaded his knuckles against the ball of my foot. “Androgyny. That’s the theme. We’ll combine masculine and feminine features into one look.”

“My goodness. I meant more like flowers or a particular color—”

“Too safe. Let’s go with androgyny.”

Chapter 6

~Alvarez

Nothing went as scheduled. The shipment of Hex’s
Zombie Series
never made it to the art museum in Paris. I exhausted close to two hours calling around and searching for it, only to discover that the damn collection still sat in our own warehouse in Florida. Then there was the police. They questioned me longer than I appreciated, combed the property, scared the servants, disturbed the flowers, and put Grandma on edge when they came near her cottage. I ended up walking with them the majority of the time, just so she wouldn’t jump outside and curse them.

Later I sat through several web conferences of companies hoping to get Hex’s name on their products. One offered to create an entire line of differently shaped paint brushes with his signature on the stick and the bristles dyed in his hairstyle pattern of black and white. Other companies constructed several demo products that looked more like trash than profitable objects—Hex dolls, iPod covers done in his
Morbid Series
, fridge magnets with my brother’s pictures and the ridiculous comments he made to the press, a cartoon where he constantly saved the world with his art while secretly promoting slyly placed consumer products, and the worst of them all, glow in the dark underwear with images of his sculptures plastered over the groin area.

I only approved the paint brushes as well as the iPod covers and said no to the rest.

While sitting on the phone for an auction of Hex’s paintings in Tokyo, I reviewed the house budget for the month. We hired new servants for the party tomorrow night and many more groundskeepers to save the rotting earth. I cringed at the total cost for just one month of all of our living.

I’ll have to convince Hex to sell this stupid castle. It’s costing us a fortune.

By the end of my meetings, I raced to my bedroom to shower and change with no time

for a nice shot of brandy or a large cup of coffee. I ended up missing the limo ride with Elle, Hex, and Reece to the opening, but thankfully had my own driver get me there a good thirty minutes before the doors opened. It was important for me to see as much of everything as possible before people walked in. Only God knows what Hex could have snuck into the approval process without me noticing.

Once I arrived at X-Lab, the tension in my shoulders subsided an inch or so while I browsed the interior of the gallery for the first time.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

White paint covered the large walls, high ceilings, and floors. This was the perfect space for art. My footsteps echoed through the area. According to the schedule my assistant Reece sent to my phone, all of the participators, investors, and showcasing artists met on the third level in an intimate reception before the gallery doors opened. I rounded the corner toward the installations.

They were all on the lower level.

The first art installation I approached consisted of thousands upon thousands of colorful rope woven into circular patterns and attached by thin wires that connected from the floor to the ceiling. The ropes formed into sort of little swings that seemed to be held up by only the air, but a closer look showed that thin wire was attached. There must’ve been thirty swings hovering over me. A stack of ladders rested on the floor, probably for the audience to set them up, climb to the swings, and enjoy.

I glanced at the information card on the side wall. Pictures of people swinging filled the card and nothing else. It didn’t seem shocking in any way.

“The swings are pretty neat. Aren’t they?” That smooth feminine voice sounded behind me. Elle’s voice.

I turned in her direction and was shocked at what I saw. She wore high heels and a

tuxedo similar to mine. Her hair was slicked all the way back into one long braid hanging over her shoulder. Someone had drawn a tiny mustache above her lips. She held a top hat in her right hand and a cane in the other.

I cleared my throat. “You look enchanting.”

She winked at me. “Thanks, but I’m going more for androgynous.”

I allowed my gaze to comb over her body. Although the tuxedo had tried its best, there could be no denying that a curvaceous body lay underneath the material. The jacket and shirt molded against her breasts. The pants showed off the slender curvature of her legs.

“What do you think?” she asked. “Did I hit the androgynous look right on the mark?”

“No. You look like a beautiful woman with a tiny mustache on her face.”

She grinned. “That sucks. What do you think would’ve helped? Was it the heels? Maybe I could’ve worn some flat shoes.”

“No. You’re just as feminine as they come.”

“I’m not sure about that.” She headed over to the ladders. “You should see Hex. Next to him, I look like a man.”

Awesome. Hex is wearing a damn dress again. Hopefully, he’s figured out how to walk in
heels. Last time, he was in bed for a week due to that sprained ankle.

“Have you tried the swings yet?” She pointed up to the closest ones.

“No.”

“Why not?” She took off her heels, kneeled down to the first ladder, and tried to pick it up.

“I’ll hold it for you.” I took the ladder from her and put it up myself. “Here, I’ll hold it while you climb up.”

She did. Her ponytail brushed against my arm, and as she rose I gained an excellent view of her behind.
No, sweetheart. There’s nothing androgynous about you at all. You’re all woman
right now.
I removed my attention from her and back to the ladder. “Be careful.”

“And if I don’t?” She hopped on the swing.

“Then you’ll be in trouble with my brother,” Hex said from behind me. “Are you going to jump on a swing too, Al?”

“Of course not.” I remained near the ladder, just in case she lost her balance or something weird happened with the swing. It had been made by an artist, not an engineer. Who knew if it was truly sturdy enough? I glanced over my shoulder at my brother. Hex wore a mini zebra print dress. Ostrich feathers trimmed the hem and shoulders.
Dear God.
The heel on his shoes must’ve reached at least six inches. I’d seen exotic dancers with less heel than his. Pink lipstick painted his lips. Turquoise powder adored his eyelids. Meanwhile, he wore his black and white hair the way he usually did, hanging to his shoulders in mad scientist disarray.

“You look lovely as usual, Hex,” I said.

“I try.” He wagged his eyebrows at me. “But stop trying to get me off the point. Are you going up there or what?”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” Elle opened her mouth in shock. “You’re not going to climb on one of them, Alvarez? Where’s the fun in that?”

“I’m having fun watching you swing.”

She pumped her legs back and forth, gaining a nice rhythm as her swing traveled through the air. “But this isn’t the main attraction. You need more than one person to see the real effects.

Didn’t you read the title, ‘It Takes Two’?”

“It takes two for what?” I raised my eyebrows. “Hex, why don’t you get on one?”

“Nope. I’ve already climbed most of the installations with Elle. Why don’t you do this one? Elle has dragged me all over this level. At this rate, I won’t get to see any of the video on the next level before everyone comes in.” He pulled out his cell phone and checked it. “Hurry, Al. We don’t have all day.”

“I’m not getting up there,” I protested.

“Come on.” She gestured to the lowest swing further away from her. “If you’re afraid of heights then try that one.”

“I’m not afraid of heights.”

“Sure you aren’t.” She winked again.

“Show her you’re not afraid,” Hex egged me on. “Show her how brave we Castillo men

can be.”