I forced myself not to run off by taking a step at a time and doing my best to control my breaths. “She stays no longer than a week.”

“That won’t do. I need her all summer. She’s my centerpiece in each work.”

It won’t matter if she’s dead.

But then I couldn’t tell him that. He’d seen enough dead girls in his life. I didn’t think he would be able to deal with anymore.

“She leaves after a week,” I said.

A bang sounded from behind me. No doubt, Hex slinging a can of paint to the ground or kicking a stack of canvases. “This is bullshit! Do I tell you how to run your side of the business? No! I do my part! You do yours!”

“You can do whatever you need to do within a week.”

“I can’t! I need three months!” Another bang boomed. This one came close to me.

“You can have two weeks.”

I’ll have to get tighter security. For all I know this death is unrelated to us all. It could’ve been a lover’s spat or maybe she had enemies. But what the hell did the cops see when they lifted her dress?

“I need more time.”

Hex and his models were always a constant headache. When they first arrived, they spent every free moment trying to seduce Hex, which was an impossible feat in itself. I’d never seen Hex with a woman or man in all of the adult years we’d lived together. Sadly, I didn’t think I would see him settling with anybody in the future. Once the models understood Hex was no option for a love affair, they always stalked after me. I had no need for models craving success or sexual partners hoping to get their greedy little fingers on the family money, so I found my pleasures in discrete places that catered to wealthy men like me.

Yet, models scurried around the property and left to do whatever they desired with my servants. Some were even bold enough to invite outsiders into the castle. Although Grandma reached barely five feet, she shut that misbehavior down by yelling out a few chants and waving a dead rat in their faces. Thankfully, the rat was a stuffed animal that just looked real.

No one else knew but the family.

“I need my model!”

Of course he did.

“My new collection is due in the fall!”

No one understood that better than me. I exhausted as many resources as I could so Hex could get it done. The fact always remained that his art kept the whole family eating fine foods and living in a lavish setting. Granted, grandma and I would’ve been happy in a small three bedroom house at the edge of a tiny country town. Hex wouldn’t hear of it. All of his childhood, he longed to live in a castle with a moat, so when the moment of the house purchase came, he’d begged and I obliged.

“Why can’t I just have her here for the summer? What’s the big deal?”

Guilt tugged at my core. Too much death and blood flooded Hex’s childhood. If I’d been around more. . .

Forget about it, just focus on the here and now.

“Al! Al! Are you even listening to me? Why are you just standing there with your back to me?”

“Because I don’t communicate with grown men who scream and throw things like spoiled children.”

Silence passed for a minute.

What is Elle’s reaction to all of this? She must think we’re crazy like all the tabloids have said.

I would’ve turned around, but feared my eyes would linger. Plus, I didn’t have the guts to face Hex with my deceit. With all the things I’d dealt with in life, lying to my brother still teetered on difficult.

“Al?” Hex asked in a calm voice. “Why are you all of a sudden limiting how long my models can stay here?”

The best method was to stay as close to the truth as possible. If not, then Hex would begin investigating. “I’m concerned with so many people being on the property. There are other family members we have to consider.”

“Grandma?”

“No.”

Did that get your attention?

I didn’t say the name, but Hex didn’t need me to. We were a family of only four. All the other relatives had either died, were killed, or still lived in Cuba.

“Did anything happen?” Hex’s voice lowered.

“Not yet, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe.”

With the way this conversation is going, Elle will probably leave the property herself.

It was in that moment, when she spoke, “I need this job to last as long as it can.”

I glanced over my shoulder. She sat up with her legs crossed and sprawled along the edge of the mattress. She looked professional in her lady-like pose, but sexy all the same. A scorching heat spread across my skin. She raised her arms and undid the bun on top of her head. “I’ll stay out of trouble and far away from any of your family.”

Tags: Kenya Wright Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net