Love, Art, and Murder – Mystery Romance

“Has there already been a dead girl on this property?”

He waited for one long silent and uncomfortable minute before he answered, “Yes.”

“Do you know who killed her?”

“No. I found her near the garden. There’s a police detective assigned to the case who’s waiting for me in my office to figure out who did it.”

“Did you know her?”

“No. I barely saw her around the grounds. Hex loves to invite many writers, artists, and models here. He calls it a colony for creative thinkers. I tend to keep my distance from his guests.”

“What did she do?”

Again, he hesitated before admitting, “She modeled for Hex and had been done for a while. I’d checked her model schedule and realized that she, along with several other models, were complete and just hanging out in the castle for fun. My assistant notified them that it was time to leave and booked them all flights for this morning. All of them left but her and a few others who remained.”

“And now she’s dead.”

“Yes, but I can guarantee you’ll be safe.”

“Why, because your grandma will be stewing hearts and doing black magic in her rotting garden?”

He grimaced. “It’s not black magic and the hearts aren’t . . . just never mind about all of that. I’m going to have a bodyguard follow you around. He’ll keep his distance to not get my brother’s attention, but he’ll always be around to protect you.”

I relaxed a little and didn’t think having a bodyguard around would be a bad thing. There was Michael after all. I didn’t think he would come at me with violence. He’d never physically hurt me, but then I’d thought that he wouldn’t take all of my money and he did. What else would he do? I’d picked working for Hex for a reason. Michael depended on my loyalty. While he knew that his cheating and blatant disrespect of our relationship had pushed me away, he probably figured I would drag myself back, like all the other times, either due to my love for him or the fact that I couldn’t survive financially without him. I always came back and hoped for a change that never occurred.

Michael would never think that I would be bold enough to model for anyone else, especially not his arch nemesis.

That’s what Michael called Hex all the time, his arch nemesis. Michael avoided him as much as possible, so Hex’s castle would be the last place he would look for me as long as Alvarez didn’t call.

“How much did my brother promise you?” Alvarez asked.

“Five thousand a month as well as my food and lodging paid for.”

“I’ll pay you ten thousand a month and give you a weekly allowance of five hundred dollars.”

“And a bodyguard?”

“Of course.”

“If someone else is killed and I’m scared, then I leave with whatever I earned.”

“Understood.” He extended his hand out to me. “Do we have a deal?”

I gave him my hand. “I want the truth and no more lies.”

“No problem.” He wrapped his fingers around mine. His coarse skin rubbed against the pads of my fingers and delivered a shock of heat that drummed into me. My legs wobbled a little. My pattern of breathing increased. Where his grandmother’s hands froze me cold, his melted my core. The urge to tighten my hold surged within me. I’d never been that warm before, not even when I lay on the beach in the direct rays of sunlight or rested near the roar of a fireplace. I was comforted by his heat and didn’t even know I’d been so cold. I heard an intake of breath from him as he stared at our linked hands.

Did he feel the same thing I felt, this weird electric charge between us? Was I imagining this, like his grandma’s weird eyes when she touched me?

“Who is the guy that my grandma saw in her vision?” He gazed into my eyes and I looked away.

“That’s not something I would like to discuss.”

He traced his finger along the inner part of my wrist. I shivered in response. This was so inappropriate on so many levels, but I relished his touch anyway. It had been so long since anyone had placed their fingers on my skin for more than just to pose me for a painting.

“Should I have two guards watching you?” He stopped moving his finger, but didn’t release me.

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t want you to be hurt.”

“This guy has already hurt me as much as he can. He can’t do any more.”

He raised the right side of his lip into a sneer. “Is it Michael? Did he do something to you?”

Rage blazed in his eyes. If I hadn’t seen it for myself and someone just told me that Alvarez could look that angry, I would’ve thought they were liars. Fury radiated from him. I let go of his hands and inched back. There was no way I would tell him about how Michael treated me. I got the feeling that if I did, then Alvarez would do something bad.