Page 33 of Love, Hate, Love

“Thanks, but I think I’ve got enough problems already.”

“You sure? I get good reviews.” He tilted his head with a devilish grin.

“Please. You don’t stick around long enough to know your reviews.” I dropped back onto my elbows, watching as the sky turned those beautiful colors of a spent day.

“That’s okay.” He laughed and bumped his arm into mine. “I wanted to keep my balls anyway.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just being silly.” He shook his head. “What I really want is to know what happened with that painting. I’m not buying the story I’m reading in the news, and the one I’m hearing sounds just as stupid.”

Gone was the flirt, who used his pick-up lines like armor, replaced by the man I knew was always right there underneath. The one who saw too much and always had.

If there was anything worse than going down for a crime I didn’t commit, it was having to convince the people around me that I was a lowlife scumbag that would steal a painting from victims of the Holocaust. In that way, Kade was easier. He’d convicted me of all wrongdoing before I said a word. When I’d gotten here, he hadn’t even asked me about it. And for some reason, Kade’s judgment hurt worse than anyone’s, like our prior relationship gave him a pre-targeted kill shot right to my heart.

“Do I really need to convince you I committed a crime that a jury has already convicted me of?” Alec needed to take the bait, because defending this lie was getting old.

He made an exaggerated face, as if he were contemplating it, before he said, “Yes, I believe you do.”

I laughed, the sound hollow even to my ears. “You should talk to your brother, then. I’m sure he could bend you to his way of thinking.”

“Is he being the same hardass he’s always been?”

“He’s definitely giving it his all.” The Kade I used to know had been the one I turned to when the rest of the world was beating me down. Now he was leading the charge.

“I won’t press you on it, but for the record, I know it’s bullshit. I just can’t figure out what happened. You’re too smart to get jammed up like this, which means only one thing—you’re falling on your sword for someone.” He was staring at me, watching for a reaction.

I sat up, letting my hair fall forward and do some of the heavy lifting instead of worrying about schooling my features. “I thought you weren’t going to push me?”

“I had to try a little bit. The suspense is killing me.”

“Then all I can say is I hope you have your affairs in order,” I said.

He smiled but let it go.

We sat there for another few minutes as the light began to fade. As it was, we’d probably be driving part of the way back in darkness.

Right before I went to get on my ATV, Alec said, “I know Kade can be rough, but he’s still the kid you knew. Those feelings run deep, no matter what stupid shit he says.”

“Deep as in fifty miles down? Because if you tell me he was born in hell,thatI could believe.”

He laughed again. “Okay, you two will have to work it out on your own. Let’s get back, though. You want to see brimstone? Let him not be able to find you tonight.”

I climbed onto my ATV. “Oh, I know. He spends all day waiting for me to screw up so he can make my life miserable.”

Alec squinted but didn’t refute what I said.

Chapter16

Kade

I was standingon the front porch, searching the horizon for Leah, when the sheriff’s car pulled up. It was in the contract that there would be periodic check-ins. I hadn’t studied every line the way Leah insinuated, but I did know what was in it, mostly due to my lawyer’s diligence.

Now here was Paul, on the one night that I had no fucking idea where Leah was. Luckily for everyone, mostly Leah, I’d had more than a few late nights with Paul before he joined the police force.

He got out of the car, leading with a friendly smile and nod.

“Hey, Paul, what can I do for you?”

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