Bartered Betrayal - The Billionaire's Wife 08 Read Online Free PDF Page B

well have dumped the sculpture on Anton's doorstep. That would just look desperate.
    “You think he'll figure out that you like him?” Sadie asked me as a cop car pulled up by the curb.
    “I don't know,” I said. “He seems a little dumb in the mooshy feelings department.” We watched as the cops got out of the car and began their investigation—namely, asking who was responsible for this. Fingers pointed at me.
    “Maybe you should have made him a mix tape,” Sadie said.
    “Maybe you should shut up,” I told her, and then I got arrested.
     
    *
     
    Okay, it didn't happen quite that quickly. First there were lots of questions and lots of pictures snapped by gawking bystanders, but the bottom line is that I ended up in cuffs when I refused to remove the 'illegal installation,' mostly because I really didn't know what to do next and getting arrested seemed like a good idea at the time.
    Sadie promised to keep my sculpture safe for me.
    “You better,” I told her as they shoved me in the back of the car. “That's what I pay you for.”
    She made a face at me as we pulled away.
    I got processed and put in a holding cell. My bail was set at five thousand dollars. I figured I was going to be there for a while and settled in, staring at the crude yet incredibly creative graffiti on the walls left behind by my fellow criminals. Some of them had been very good artists.
    I was in the middle of scratching out my own contribution to the communal artwork—a loving rendition of a butt in a cop hat—when an officer opened my cell.
    “You're free to go. You posted bail.”
    I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Really? The only person I could think of who would come get me would be Sadie, or maybe my mom. My mom really wouldn't like the idea of me sitting in jail. It would look bad. Worse than marrying for money or your husband losing all your money. Like, you'd just be formerly rich then. Not a filthy criminal. Having a daughter who was a criminal? Well then you would be a bad mother.
    I got up and followed the officer out of the holding cell. They gave me my shit—not much—and told me my court date, and then they escorted me to the front desk.
    Anton stood there.
    I stopped and stared. I hadn't seen him in almost a month. We'd been apart for longer than we'd known each other.
    He was still beautiful. Still magnetic. But he looked tired. His green eyes were lined, and his face drawn. His fluid dancer's stance was stiff, as though he were in pain.
    He watched me, and I watched him for a long moment.
    “Felicia,” he said. Then he seemed to stop, as though he didn't know what to say next. I'm sorry, or come home, or—anything. He knew he should say something.
    Finally he opened his hands, as though to show me he had no weapons. “Sadie told me you were in jail,” he said.
    God, he was such a dork .
    I ran forward and threw my arms around him, and it felt like waking up.
     
    * * *
     
    To be concluded in Bartered Surrender: The Billionaire's Wife, Part 9.
     
    Author's Note
     
    Felicia's art is based on the beautiful and amazing sculpture of Beth Cavener Stichter. You can visit her website here or view parts of her amazing “Come Undone” exhibition here . Felicia's paean to her relationship with Anton takes heavy inspiration from both The Question that Devours ( detail ) and The Sentimental Question ( detail ).