Chapter 8
Raven tapped her foot in an even rhythm as she pressed the cell to her ear.
Come on, pick up. Pick up the phone, Tim. Let me know you’re working on the case.
Three rings. Four. By the fifth, she knew he wasn’t answering.
His voicemail played. She didn’t leave a message. She’d already left a million.
She hung up. Dammit. Why was he ignoring her? She needed him. He’d already been paid and she couldn’t afford to hire another PI.
She closed her eyes and inhaled long, deep breaths. It was fine. Everything would be fine.
Her eyes flashed open when the door to the community center opened.
A woman entered with a large tote bag strung over her shoulder, paint splatters dotting the beige material.
Under her arm was a folded easel. She looked to be in her mid-forties and wore a knee-length cotton dress with splashes of color.
Raven put on her best practiced smile as she closed the distance between them. “Hi. Mandy, right? I’m Raven.”
“Yes. Hi, Raven. It’s nice to put a name to the face.”
“I agree.” She turned. “Well, this is the space, and ticket holders should be arriving in the next half hour.”
She’d already set up a dozen tables in a big semi-circle, as per Mandy’s instructions. Participants would be standing, so no seats were needed.
Mandy stepped farther into the room. “This looks wonderful. I’ll just set everything up.”
“Great, would you like any…” The word help was on the tip of her tongue when the door opened again, and four people walked in—Polly, Maggie, Joel, and Ethan.
Her smile faltered. Why were they so early? “Excuse me.”
Polly smiled sheepishly when Raven got close. “Hi. Sorry. We’re early. But not the cute kind. The haven’t-given-you-time-to-properly-set-up early.”
“Oh no, it’s fine.” Not technically true; it was annoying. But hey, better early than not here at all. “Snacks, wine, and champagne are on the back table, and Mandy, our artist instructor, is just setting up.”
“You had me at snacks,” Joel said, as he crossed the space to the back table.
Ethan chuckled before following. “Thanks, Raven.”
Polly rolled her eyes. “Sorry, he hears the word ‘snacks’ and forgets his name, plans, and all dignity.”
“I suffer from the same illness.”
Both women chuckled.
“This looks great,” Maggie said, as she took in the room.
“Thanks. I can’t believe it’s going ahead. Connor really saved my ass on this one.” She wasn’t exaggerating. She’d started the day with just two sign-ups left, both contemplating cancelling, and finished the day with a full class.
Maggie cringed. “Sorry, we should have bought tickets earlier. We planned to, but…”
“Time got away from us,” Polly finished.
“You don’t need to apologize. You’re here, and that’s amazing.” Raven shot a glance over her shoulder. “I might ask Mandy if she needs help putting out the paint supplies before others get here.”
“Let us know if you need help,” Maggie added.
Raven spent the next twenty minutes helping Mandy prepare as more guests arrived. She’d just finished setting out the paintbrushes when Polly approached.
“Hey.” Her friend lowered her voice. “So, I’m not sure if you know, but I have this tiny little apartment over my garage. Honestly, it’s the size of a shoebox. But it’s got everything—a kitchen, bathroom, bed. And I’m not sure if you’re looking at the moment, but if you are, you’re welcome to it.”
She tensed. Did she know? How could she? “Um. Thank you. But why would you think I’m looking?”
“Oh, uh, well…Connor just mentioned you might need a place?”
Embarrassment crawled around her chest. Connor knew.
Of course he knew. He clocked everything.
At that exact moment, the door to the center opened, and the man himself stepped inside.
She was embarrassed, but she wasn’t sure why. Because the man she’d been crushing on for weeks had figured out she was homeless? Because while she’d been thinking about how beautiful his smile was and how attractive his laugh, he’d been feeling sorry for her and asking his friends for favors?
She swallowed the lump in her throat before looking back to Polly. “Thank you so much for the offer, but I’m okay.”
She wasn’t okay. She was homeless and desperately needed a place to live.
But she wasn’t a safe person right now. She had a dangerous ex and there was no way, absolutely none, that she was bringing that danger to Polly’s doorstep.
Sure, Joel was probably there a lot of the time, but not all the time.
And Polly had already been through too much.
Polly’s brows flickered. “Are you sure?”
No. “Yes.”
“Okay. The offers stands if you change your mind.”
“Thank you.”
She took a deep breath, praying her cheeks weren’t as beetroot red as they felt, before walking over to Connor, Ryan, and Zac. She only met Connor’s gaze for a second before looking at his friends. “Hey. Thank you for coming.”
“I’ve never painted before,” Ryan said.
Zac rubbed his jaw. “Me neither, but I have a feeling I’m going to be good at this.”
A small smile curved Raven’s lips. “Mandy’s our instructor tonight, and she’ll take good care of everyone. Help yourselves to food and drinks. We should be starting in about ten minutes.”
Ryan and Zac headed toward the food table, but when Connor didn’t follow, Raven had to force her feet to remain where they were, even though she had a strong and completely ridiculous urge to run. Hightail it anywhere but here.
“How are you doing tonight?” he asked, the rumble of his deep voice sliding over her skin like silk.
“I’m good. Sorry, I should get back to helping Mandy set up.”
She was two steps away before Connor appeared beside her. “I saw you talking to Polly.”
Heat returned to her cheeks, but she didn’t want to be embarrassed. Or at least, she didn’t want Connor to know. “Yeah. She, um, offered me the apartment over her garage.”
“When are you moving in?”
She stopped moving and forced herself to meet his gaze. “I’m not. I’m okay, Connor. I don’t need charity from Polly.” Part truth…part lie. She was surviving, which had to count after what she’d been through.
“The apartment’s empty. If you need a place to stay—”
“I don’t.” The lies just kept on rolling. “I told you, I’m fine.”
He inched closer. “Raven. There’s nothing wrong with accepting help.”
For a moment, she got lost in those moss-green eyes. They were soft and gentle, two things she was only just realizing Xander had never been.
Then, from her peripheral vision, she saw the door open and Lottie Fuller walk in.
What was she doing here?
“Excuse me.” Her next smile was possibly one of the most forced of the night. “Lottie. I’m sorry, you didn’t buy a ticket and the session is full.”
“I’m not painting.” She cast an assessing glance around the center. “I was just driving by, saw all the cars, and thought I’d pop in. You got quite a crowd.”
Yeah, despite your attempt to ruin me. “Yes, turnout is good.”
“Hm.” She looked back at Raven, not a single shred of friendliness in her gaze. “Where are you living?”
She tensed. “With all due respect, that’s none of your business.”
“Because I know my brother kicked you out after you couldn’t make rent.”
“Actually, he kicked me out after you told him I embarrassed you.”
“I didn’t tell him anything that wasn’t true. But in small towns, you do need to be careful who you piss off. Everyone’s connected.”
Her brows dipped. “Are you threatening me?”
A couple of younger women walked past, watching the exchange.
“Of course not, dear.” Lottie smiled, and it was the fakest thing Raven had ever seen. “But if I was, I certainly wouldn’t admit to it. You have a good evening.” Then she walked out, like she wasn’t the definition of evil.
“What the fuck is that?”
Connor frowned at Zac’s words and studied his painting. “It’s the damn frog holding a wine glass.” Not his choice. Mandy had demonstrated how to paint it, and he’d just followed her instructions.
Zac cocked his head. “He looks like someone stepped on him.”
“I doubt yours is any—” He gaped at Zac’s painting. “Why’s yours so good?”
“Because I’m good at this shit. I’m good at most shit.”
“Not humble though.”
“It’s called confidence, my friend.”
Zac’s painting was so good it was possibly better than the instructor’s.
Connor looked back to his canvas, and yeah…Zac was right. It was shit. If it didn’t have two big black eyes, it could probably pass as a patch of moss with legs.
He set his paintbrush down and glanced up at Raven. She wore an oversized linen button-down shirt with black jeans. She’d paired the outfit with heeled boots and a pink headband.
“She looks cute tonight,” Zac said under his breath.
Cute? That didn’t even begin to describe how Raven looked. She had the kind of beauty he couldn’t look away from. The kind that drew him closer because he needed to know if it truly existed or if his brain was playing tricks on him.
She suddenly looked up from where she was leaning over a woman’s shoulder. Their eyes met, and fuck if it wasn’t like a kick in the gut.
Her cheeks turned a pretty red before she quickly looked away.
Mandy clapped her hands from the front. “Okay, artists, brushes down. We are officially out of time.”
A few people kept going, trying to squeeze in a last bit of painting.
Not him. Anything he added would make his worse. There was no fixing this mess.
“Whatever you’ve painted tonight is yours to take home,” Mandy continued. “It’s a finished artwork, and you, my friends, are artists!”
Zac scoffed as he looked at Connor’s painting again.
Connor shoved his friend. Asshole.
Over the next half hour, people started packing up and leaving. Some stayed to finish the snacks—namely Joel. Others hung around to chat before eventually making their way out.
Connor didn’t leave. Not immediately. He planned to stay right to the end. Raven didn’t want to admit it, but she was sleeping here. And for some damn reason, she hadn’t taken Polly up on her apartment.
Why? Because she didn’t like accepting help? Surely, in this situation, she could acknowledge she needed it?
When it was just the two of them as she wiped down tables, she frowned. “You don’t have to stay.”
He grabbed a table and carried it to the back. His friends had offered to stay and help, but he’d told them to go home. He wanted some time alone with Raven. “I know. But who else is going to dazzle you with their wit?”
“I like that you think you’re dazzling.”
“You don’t?”
“I never said that.” She sprayed another table before swiping it clean. “It’s good that you know what you bring to the table.”
“Oh, I don’t just bring wit. According to my sisters, I have a beautiful smile. My mother also says I have wonderful manners. Though, I have recently discovered that I’m a terrible painter.”
“Your mother and sisters sound like very wise people.”
“They’re the best. All three sisters are fiercely independent and living great lives, and Mom is deeply entangled in her book clubs and ballroom dancing.”
“Ballroom dancing?”
Connor dipped his head as he lifted another table. “Oh, yes, my mother is quite the dancer.”
“What about your father?”
“He left when we were young.”
Raven paused. “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Everything he walked away from was his loss.”
Her small smile returned. “I agree. He especially missed out on seeing that amazing artistic talent of yours.”
Connor groaned. “You saw my painting?”
“I saw potential in that frog.”
“You must have been looking at Zac’s, because mine was a disaster.”
This time she laughed. The sound was soft and airy and stopped him in his tracks for a moment.
“I can’t believe he let you go.” The words just dropped from his mouth—and he instantly regretted them. Not because they were wrong, but because her smile disappeared.
“What?”
“Your ex. I can’t believe you agreed to marry him and he managed to lose you.”
A bit of color left her cheeks.
Shit. “Raven—”
“I’m going to take the trash out.” She was moving before he could stop her.
She’d just tied a knot in the trash bag when he caught up and took it from her fingers.
“Connor—”
“I’ve got it.”
She rolled her eyes before grabbing a smaller bag from the office. “Come on.”
“You know you’re kind of cute when you do that?”
“What?”
“Roll your eyes at me.”
She didn’t respond, but when they stepped outside, he caught the hint of a smile on her lips.
They were just walking around the corner of the building when he clocked the car. It was about a hundred feet down the road, parked beneath a large oak tree…and Connor could just make out the shadow of a person behind the wheel.
Instinctively, he inched closer to Raven. Was the person behind the wheel watching her? Or him? Were they waiting for him to leave?
She tossed her bag into the dumpster, and he did the same. As they walked back, he set a hand on the small of her back, mostly to keep her close and safe. Thankfully, she didn’t move away.
They’d just stepped back inside when he blurted, “I don’t want you staying here tonight.”
She turned, eyes widening. “I’m not—”
“Don’t.” He inched closer. “Don’t lie. Please. It’s not safe. This building is old and easy to break into.”
She swallowed, looking away. “I’d like you to leave.”
“Raven—”
“Now.” She marched to the front door and held it open. “Thank you for helping me, but I can do the rest alone.”
Fuck. He wanted to throw the stubborn woman over his shoulder and take her home. Keep her safe in his house.
But he couldn’t do that. And she clearly wasn’t going to listen to him. Not tonight.
Air hissed between his teeth. “Fine. Stay. But sooner or later, you’re going to trust me.”
Her chest rose on a sharp inhale, and he forced himself to turn. To walk away.
When he reached his car, he started his engine but didn’t go home. He took his Glock from the middle console, then turned the car around…and drove straight toward the Ford under the oak tree.
Connor’s brights were on, and when he got close, he slowed.
Dark hair. Wide shoulders. But shadows played over his face, making it impossible to see his features.
The Ford’s lights suddenly flicked on and the driver took off.
He was watching. Either Raven or the center or Connor. Why else would he leave?
For a second, he thought about following. He wanted to know who was behind the wheel. But there was no scenario in which he was leaving Raven in that building alone.
Instead, he parked back in front of the community center and pulled out his phone to call Ethan.
His friend answered immediately. “Hey, Connor, we just got home. Everything okay?”
“I’ve got plate numbers and a car make and model. You think you can tell me who owns it?”
“It might take me a day, but yeah, give it to me.”
He relayed the information. When the call ended, he leaned back in the seat. He’d get one of the guys to take over for him later. For now, he wasn’t taking his eyes off the center.
Raven had secrets. He didn’t need her to admit it to know they were dangerous.