Page 48 of Rebel
“When has the law ever beaten money,” I drawl. “We’re lucky the jury saw through her act and locked her up as it is. That might nothappen again.”
“I’ll call him and tell him to liaise with me.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not about to let her inside my head again.”
“She put you through a lot.”
My instinct is to lash out, but Colt isn’t my enemy. He’s trying to help.
“Do they know where you are?”
“They can afford to pay an entire army of investigators to find me. That isn’t what this is about. Her family knows she’s a fucking lunatic, they just want her out of that place. Detective Beaumont said if they push it too hard, they could screw her up even more and have her put in a real prison. You know, by proving she isn’t incapable of standing trial, then doing it all over again.”
“It’s worrying,” Colt says, squeezing my hand.
“If anything, I bet Eloise is against it. She’s smart and calculating, she’ll know this is a risk. Her family is doing this to save face. They think they can get her out.”
Colt frowns, but I ignore it. This was all supposed to be over. The first thing I did when I left Raven’s bar was go home and have more alcohol, then smashed the glass out of sheer frustration. I cut my hand in the process of cleaning it and bled all over one of my drawings that was on the table where it happened.
Another drawing of Rebel I shouldn’t be doing. I had stared at that, distracted from the current problem. Then I trailed my finger through the wetness, using the blood to create shadows on his face and throat, which is fucked up as hell.
“You can take his number, talk to him if you have to, but I’m not worried.”
His words don’t match up to the way he looks at me. “Whatever you feel is best. I’m here for you.”
“My head is in a better place.” I have half-convinced myself that is true. I want Colt to be at ease, not worrying about me all over again. “Being here helps.”
Reckless decisions have dogged my past, getting involved with stupid men and using sex to forget. At least I’m not like my mom and didn’t turn to drugs to cope with what Eloise put me through.
“The rain has quit. I’m going to get started on the mural.”
Colt wants to talk some more, but he knows me too well and heads out after he takes the detective’s number. I grab everything I need, glancing at the bloody portrait, then go outside.
I’ve already run the idea for the mural past Colt. At first, I thought he’d be against it, considering it depicts the garden where Lucifer first tempted Eve. It’s more subtle than the idea sounds, and he came around to it once I showed him a concept sketch.
My plan is to start on the lighter side of the mural, so it doesn’t get people’s backs up seeing the snake in the garden.
After a couple of hours it gets too dark to work, even with the light I’ve hooked up. I’m on edge after the call from LA and jump out of my skin when a woman approaches. I almost throw the spray can at her.
“Holy shit, it’s just me.”
“Katrina?”
“Yeah. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry. You snuck up on me. I get in the zone when I’m working.”
I set the spray can down and watch her staring at the wall. It’s hard to make out what it is right now, and her frown says she isn’t impressed. I get it, at this point it looks more like graffiti than a painting.
“Do you know what is going on with the bar?” She points across the street.
Instead of telling her Rebel made Raven close the bar because of the strange man I saw, I shrug my shoulders. If she’d called Raven, she’d know that, which means she is here for someone else. I should bow out of that mess.
She’s welcome to him.
As if my thoughts conjured him, the door to the clubhouse opens and Rebel walks out, looking all pissed off and sexy. So much for the idea of backing off. My pussy clenches at the sight of him. And as if some weird, un-nameable connection grows, his eyes find me.
The cut on my hand starts throbbing.
