“What? Did you expect for him brag about the fact that people think he killed her?” Kell scoffed. “Why would he bring something like that up? He’s not an idiot.”
“No, I didn’t expect that, but this killing her thing sounds really far-fetched! He’s good to me, Kell. He’s a great guy. Why would people say that about him?”
“Like I said, her case had too many holes. Her car supposedly rolled off a cliff only a couple of miles away from the mansion he owns in Colorado. They found her body in the lake and when they did, they saw she had fresh bruises on her thighs and arms, as well as cuts on her wrists. Like she’d been abused or beaten prior. They also found heroin in her system.”
“What?” I wheezed.
“Yes. That’s part of the reason I’ve been trying to reach out to you, Samira. I wanted to see you and check on you after last time, yes, but then I saw the articles about you and Roland Graham and I couldn’t believe it. There’s no way in hell I could just let you be with him without saying anything.”
“You could have called!”
“You weren’t answering!”
“Well, then you should have sent it in a text to warn me!”
“First of all, you wouldn’t have believed me, and this isn’t something I wanted to risk texting you about. I didn’t know when you were around him. What if he’d seen my message to you? What if he hurt you too because of it?”
“I doubt he would have done anything to hurt me, Kell. He is such a different man compared to the other guys I’ve dated. He’s kind and patient with me. I’ve never even seen him get upset about anything while we’ve been together. I like being around him. How can anyone think he did something like that to his wife?”
“A lot of people out there think he did it, Mira. Just do your research. Read about what happened with him and that case. All you have to search for is ‘Roland Graham wife murder’ and it’ll show up. And after you do, cut him off and lose his number because he’s no good for you.”
“But I have a date with him tomorrow,” I told him, lowering my gaze to the pink gift bag.
“Then cancel it, Mira. Look, you can’t go out with him anymore, okay? Even if he is innocent, which I doubt he is, it’s not a good look for you. And now that I know you don’t know about his past or the stories with his wife, it’s also clear to me that he’s using that to his advantage. He wants the world to think he’s a good guy who has moved on and is happy, so he’s doing all these things for the public eye, like taking you out on dates, buying you expensive things, walking the fucking beaches of Miami. He wants people to see you two together. It makes him look better.”
“No.” I shook my head and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to believe Kell about any of this. Roland was good. He was sweet and witty and giving. He liked me and I liked him. We had a spark—a connection I had never felt before. There was no way he was a murderer.
“He’s using you, Samira.” Kellan’s voice was firm enough for me to pop my eyes back open and look at him. “Like I said, I know publicity and I’ve worked with my share of celebrities. Stunts like this are a part of my job and clearly his agent has him doing this to rebuild his reputation as this nice guy, and he can do that all he wants, but I won’t let it happen with my sister. So cut it off now while you’re still alive and breathing and everyone sees you, ’cause I’ll be damned if anything happens to you while you’re with that demented motherfucker.”
CHAPTER NINE
As soon as my little meetup with Kell was over, I drove to my apartment with a knot in my stomach. We didn’t stay at the coffee shop long. I grabbed a coffee and bagel at the counter but couldn’t stomach it after the newfound information on Roland.
How was it possible that he was involved in something like that? Better yet, why the hell didn’t I think to dig deeper into his past? It made sense that Roland would use a woman who didn’t know much about him to his advantage if there were dangerous stories and rumors floating around about him. No wonder he was giving me funny looks in the guesthouse bathroom at the party, trying to see if I was serious about not knowing who he was. He saw an opportunity and ran with it.
“Ugh. I’m so stupid,” I muttered, climbing out of my car and locking it up. I headed to the front door, keys in hand, peering over my shoulder.