Page 86 of Love, Hate, Love

“The shipper’s information was completely made up and the person who brought it was wearing a delivery outfit with a hat, sunglasses, and a surgical mask.” I took another long sip of whiskey, thinking back to all that had transpired.

“But it was Edwin’s package?” Kade asked, daring me to deny it. “Why didn’t you tell them it was his?”

“I didn’t know that at first. As soon as I got out on bail, he was obviously one of the first people I asked, as he is in the art field.” The more I talked, the less I cared what I said. I didn’t even try to deny it anymore. It felt so good to tell someone the whole story that I found myself digging up details I’d never thought I’d share.

I walkedinto Edwin and my mother’s Upper East Side apartment, where Edwin was waiting for me.

“Did you send that painting to me? Did you set me up?”

“If you try to blame me, it won’t work,” he said. “I have witnesses that will testify to meeting you and negotiating the deal. The only thing you’ll do if you try to blame it on me is cause inconvenience. Can you imagine what else they might find if you don’t keep your mouth shut?

“Nobody will believe you anyway. I’ll just have another painting show up in a warehouse with your name, and then another. There’s no way out, so you should just accept it.” He shrugged. “They’ll probably go easy on you. I’ll use my influence to get you a soft sentence.”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“I needed somewhere to park the painting for a few days and you weren’t even supposed to be home. It would’ve been gone before you came back.”

“Do you care nothing for what you’re doing to my life?”

“Why? We’re nothing to each other, remember?” he said, a dark glint in his eye.

I shivered,the memory all too vivid.

“I didn’t even have a chance to put my bags down. They arrested me in the lobby as my neighbors walked past.” I stopped talking and looked at Kade, my skin flushed with the remembered humiliation. “There it is. The whole ugly truth and sordid details. So you see, there’s nothing you can do to help me. If you do anything, it will just get worse. You don’t understand the kind of person he is. I mean, he’s so twisted that he read my diary when I was a kid.”

“Did you put what I told you about the loan in your diary?” Kade asked.

“Yes. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about what I was writing.”

“You shouldn’t have had to,” he said.

His hands were clenched in front of him. He wasn’t saying anything else, or doing much of anything. He just sat there, barely moving.

I got up, making my way to the kitchen to put some more ice in my glass. There was no way I was sleeping tonight without a lot of help. The options were passing out or no shut-eye at all. While I was preparing to drink myself into oblivion, Kade was still sitting on the couch.

He was too still, too quiet, and adding to my need to drink. His stillness was coming from his helplessness, reminding me of my own.

When he finally moved, he turned toward me, a raw, feral look in his eyes, like he were an injured animal that wasn’t used to feeling pain.

“I wish I had known.” His voice was raw.

“You couldn’t have done anything.”

I didn’t move as he got up and headed toward me. Every step closer made me positive he was going to kiss me. I shouldn’t want him to. I shouldn’t be staring at his lips as if they didn’t meet mine in the next minute I’d stop breathing. It was just a remnant of a childhood crush. That was all. They say you never forget your first love. That’s all this was.

He stopped beside me, so close I could feel his heat. If I leaned an inch in his direction, we’d be touching.

His eyes went to my legs, lingering at the hem of the t-shirt.

He pulled the stool out from the island and took a seat.

I was able to breathe for a second before he grabbed the hem of my shirt and used it to slowly tug me in between his legs.

I shouldn’t have moved, I could’ve pulled away, except my legs and body weren’t agreeing with what my mind was telling me. I was undergoing a mutiny where the crew had decided that my brain should no longer be in charge.

“I could end up in prison if we mess around.” My brain thought that was a really solid argument. The crew didn’t agree, as my nipples hardened and my back arched.

“No one is taking you anywhere,” he said. He sounded as if he actually had a choice in the matter. “Not a court, not a judge, and definitely not that bastard.”

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