“Nothing. Grandma has to fix it,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” She waved my apology away. “You didn’t do anything. If anything, you’ve been nothing but defending me the whole time.”
“You’ve been here for less than a week and have seen a dead girl, a séance with people dressed in blood, whatever was in Hex’s studio, and your ex-boyfriend drugged. This is a regular week for me, but you must be ready to race out of here on the next plane.”
She formed her lips into a smile. “You’re forgetting that I saw some of the most amazing art installations in the world, hung out at a marvelous party with magicians, circus performers, awesome jazz band, and mind-blowing fireworks. Hex inspired me the one time we painted and made me rethink what life meant to me. Don’t forget I met a spectacular man with two hearts and the need to give me one of them. This week has changed my life.”
I almost sighed, but instead I held it in. “A man with two hearts, huh?”
“Yes. I think he said he was Cuban.”
“Possibly. I’ve heard they have two of them.” I directed my gaze to the floor. “And what are you going to do with the man’s extra heart?”
“He didn’t give it to me yet.”
“Trust me. He did.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I—”
I should have let her finish, but I just couldn’t hear her back out of our relationship. “I don’t want a break or time out. I don’t need time to handle this stuff here. I don’t want you to leave without me or fix whatever you need to fix without me. I have to be with you. If that means getting on the plane with you tonight and leaving all of this behind, I will.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Who said you asked?” I touched my chest. “Not me. I’ve made my decision. It’s you.”
She opened her lips and then shut them as if unsure of what else to say.
“I love you, Elle.”
She looked down at the sleeping Michael. “You can’t love me already.”
“If I’m not in love, then I’m halfway there. It’s unavoidable now, like a hurricane spinning my way and there’s nowhere to run or hide. And you know what? I don’t give a damn if the hurricane carries me off to destruction.”
She grinned. “My love is like a hurricane?”
“Your love is bigger. I can’t even comprehend it.”
The door opened behind us.
“Hex! Let me go! I won’t fix him! He’s a bad man,” Grandma yelled as Hex pulled her small body into the room. “He wants to take her away from here and that would hurt Alvarez. I protect what’s mine.”
I jumped up. “Hex, go ahead and let her go. Grandma, what did you do? Black goo leaked out of his mouth, and then he shook for a while and passed out.”
Grandma huffed and rolled her eyes. “Is he taking her?”
“We didn’t get to that.”
“Then when he wakes up and decides to be a good man, I’ll give him the antidote.”
“You’ll give it to him regardless,” I demanded.
“Wait a minute.” Hex raised his hand. “Maybe he could sign a contract releasing Elle from her work with him.”
I waved him away. “You’d better be joking. We’re not going to bully a man into this.”
“Why not?” Hex shrugged. “He’s bullying Elle into not modeling. Why not seize the opportunity?”
I looked at Elle. “I can’t believe I’m even asking this, but what do you think?”
She faced Grandma. “Will whatever you gave him kill him?”
“Of course not. I’m no killer. I just gave him a basic potion. Whenever he’s being mean, it hurts him. It was supposed to take a while to work, but he’s so bad it probably triggered the magic inside of him.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Go get the antidote. This is ridiculous.”
“Even if I did make it, which I would have to do,” Grandma said. “It would take two days to process. I figured he would stay here and in that time we could convince him—”
“Stay here?” Rage bubbled inside me. “I thought I told you to consult me before you did drastic things.”
“Well, who knew this man was coming when he did? I had to be quick and act fast. He stays. I’ll make the antidote and will give it to him when he signs whatever contract Hex was talking about.”
Dear God. Will this craziness ever end?
“You’ll give him the antidote regardless.” I gritted my teeth.
Hex raised his hand again. “Maybe we should vote. I say yes to only giving him the antidote if he signs our special contract.”
I waved his ridiculous idea away. “We’re not voting. This is a man’s life we’re talking about, we can’t just—”
Grandma raised her hand. “I vote yes, too.”
Elle raised hers and displayed a weak smile. “Sorry, Alvarez. I vote yes also. He’ll hold that damn contract over my head for years. For now, all I have is modeling. If he wants to play dirty with me, then I’ll play dirty back. I back Grandma in this decision.”