Page 4 of Sins and Secrets

A new dread sinks in my soul.

Me: Who?

Angie: I told Lukas it could be his wedding gift.

The vomit crawls up my throat. My fingers shake as I type.

Me: I can’t.

Angie: Girl, I love you, let me help.

Me: I’ll find someone else.

Angie: As good as my brother?

Shit, no one is better than Lukas.

Angie: He says he has an opening in a few weeks, which gives you plenty of time to heal before the wedding.

Me: No thank you.

Angie: Girl, let me fix it, or step down as my maid of honor.

Wow, not a card I thought she would use. In a room full of underworld crime lords, my best friend is the most.

Uri looks over my shoulder and exhales. This house is filled with people who can keep a secret, but Uri’s the only one here who knows why I’m panicking. He presses his lips to my forehead. “It’s going to be alright, Wave.”

Me: Set up the appointment.

ChapterTwo

Waverly

Nothingabout this is what I expected. I imagined men with giant arms, naked women, and a plethora of hedonism. Instead, I got a large lobby, black leather couches, framed artwork, and screens scrolling through the artists’ portfolios. It has the sophistication of an art studio with a burst of color.

The girl behind the counter looks up from her phone. Her hair fades from navy blue to teal to green in perfect ringlet curls. Two dragons fight across one of her arms, one breathing fire and the other some sort of blue liquid. She has more jewelry on her ears than I have at home. And her black tank top and black choker make all the other colors more vibrant. I wish I had hair I could dye and change without everyone screaming, “Why would you destroy such a pretty natural color?”

She’s stunning.

And she knows I don’t belong here.

Her voice is light and welcoming, like she’s talking to a lost kid or puppy. “Hi, sweetie, can I help you?”

I swallow the saliva building in my mouth before it chokes me. “I have an appointment with Lukas.”

She raises her metal-clad eyebrow. “Um, today he's in the office, he doesn't have any appointments booked. Are you sure you have the right day?”

My appointment was supposed to be three weeks ago, but life happened. “Yeah, I had to reschedule.”

“Ohhh. Lukas hates rescheduling. Hope you had a good reason.”

I really didn’t want to go into all the details, but I did, in fact, have a very good reason. “It was an emergency.” An emergency in the form of the Mastodon Security building blowing up, sending three of my friends to the hospital. I’ve been trying to get them back on track ever since.

I give the receptionist a half smile. “It’s been a crazy month. But things are getting back to sort of close to normal.” I check my phone and nod. “Yeah, his sister Angie told me to come today.”

The receptionist frowns and types on her phone. “Just texted him. He should be out soon. Go ahead and take a seat.” She points to the couches like I was going to sit on the floor or something. “Grab a tablet and start scrolling through to see if anything catches your eye.”

I’m already well versed in Lukas's portfolio. There isn't much he can’t do—simple outline, watercolor, hyper-realistic art, tribal, and the thick lines of the America style of the fifties—Lukas is a master artist. I’m not going to say I stalked his work over the years, but, I might check on his Instagram page every morning while I’m drinking my coffee.

---