Love, Art, and Murder – Mystery Romance

He moved his lips from mine and ambushed my ear and neck. I arched my back in defeat. There was no fight in me when it came to pleasure. I yearned for it too much, and there it was all over my skin in moist laps of his tongue and nibbling of hard teeth.

“Can I take you upstairs to my room?” he whispered. As if to not give me too much time to think about it, he assaulted me with sweet and long sugary kisses all over the tops of my cleavage. My nipples pebbled at his attention. My breasts begged to be released right there on the dance floor in front of everyone.

“Come with me.” He clutched my behind some more. “God, I’ve got to have you tonight. Please.”

But before I could answer, someone screamed.

It wasn’t the type of shrill sound that one could hear at a party where someone let out a loud yell of enjoyment. It wasn’t a cry of excitement. It sounded like fear. The noise cut through the air and delivered cold shivers up my spine.

The person screamed again.

The music stopped. Chaos ensued as people scanned the bustling crowd.

Oblivious to the commotion, Alvarez tightened his hold on me. “Let’s go. I don’t even want to know what is happening. For once I’m going to let someone else deal with it.”

“She’s dead!” A woman in a teal satin gown pushed her way onto the dance floor. Blood dripped from her hands. “Patricia’s dead! Somebody help me!”

“What?” I opened my mouth in shock. “Patricia?”

Alvarez released me and rushed to the woman with bloody hands. “Who died?”

I went over to them.

“Patricia, my friend.” She sobbed and wiped those bloody hands on her dress. “She said she was going to the bathroom for a minute and would be right back. She was gone for a long time. I went off to go find her. I saw her purse near the garden by the east entrance and bent over to pick it up. That’s when I saw her. She was stiff and . . . dead.”

Four huge men dressed all in black barreled onto the floor. They stood by Alvarez and searched the area with their gazes, skittering past every face on the dance floor with suspicion. Alvarez signaled for one of them to take the girl somewhere. For the rest of the guards, he took them to the side and spouted out orders that I could barely make out due to the noisy crowd around me.

This isn’t some fluke occurrence at a party. Another girl was killed by the same person who killed the other. It had to be, because if not, then there were two killers around the property, which was even worse.

Alvarez took out his phone, tapped in some numbers, and continued to spit out more orders. Guards appeared out of the shadows of trees and bushes. They’d been hidden well. There must’ve been fifty that chose to reveal their hiding spots.

How many more guards are out here?

They escorted people off the dance floor, disbanded the musicians, gestured for all the amazing performers to pick up their equipment and leave, as well as crowded around Hex on the stage. I glanced over my shoulder. Three of my own guards stood behind with their gazes locked on me. One of the three was the guy who had burst through my room before.

“Thank you so much for coming, but due to serious events I must say that the party is over.” The woman I knew as Reece and Alvarez’s personal assistant held the microphone and waved her hands in the air to get everyone’s attention. “Please grab your items and go directly to the front gates so the valet can return your car. There are party bags that will be handed out at each exit. If you are a guest for tonight, please take out your identification in order to gain access back into the house.”

Alvarez closed his phone, marched off, and combed his fingers through his hair.

I hurried his way. “Wait a minute, Alvarez.”

He didn’t stop.

“Alvarez.” I grabbed the back of his shirt. “What’s going on?”

“Someone else died.”

“I got that. I think I know her. But who did it?”

He spun around and glared at me. “How would I know? I’ve been with you most of the night. I’m trying to handle this one problem at a time. First I need to find out who this girl was and why was she over by the garden and—”

“I’m going with you. The girl said Patricia. I know what Patricia looks like.”

“No. I can get someone else to identify her. You’ll only distract me.”

“No. I won’t.”

“You’re distracting me now.” He shook his head. “Stay with your guards.”

“You don’t get to order me around. If some sick person is hurting people around me, I want the direct line of information at the time it’s given. And if I don’t feel safe, I’m leaving. And if I know the person who was killed, then I—”