Restless (Element Preservers, #4) Read Online Free PDF

photograph of me. He could take one from the net though, but maybe his painting skills weren't good enough to make a realistic portrait from a photograph.
    "Don't you sit in your office for hours? I could work on your portrait and you wouldn't even know I'm there."
    Alarms went off in my head and I frowned at him. "You'd be distracting me from my work. I can't stand it that someone looks at me all the time." He wanted to get inside of my office. Sneaky. I was now more sure than ever that he had a hidden agenda.
    "It's ok if you don't want to do it." Disappointment flashed through his eyes, but he quickly masked it.
    "Maybe you'll have an exposition one day in a gallery and I'll come to see your work." What if I was too paranoid? It was quite possible that I was jumping to conclusions and Ethan wasn't a threat, but how the fuck was I supposed to find out the truth?
    "I don't think so." His face fell, and I wasn't sure whether I'd said something wrong.
    "Why not?" I wasn't an expert on paintings, but if my grandma could have put her crappy paintings in a gallery, I couldn't see a reason why Ethan couldn't. Lily's techs told me Ethan's family had more than enough money. He could always pay someone to exhibit his paintings.
    "My family would never allow it." He chewed on his lip. "They don't really approve of my hobby."
    "So?" I scowled. "You're eighteen. You can do whatever the hell you want. If you want to put your painting as a billboard in the middle of the city, go ahead. There's nothing to stop you."
    "I know." Amusement filled his eyes. "But I don't want to upset my father. He's not been feeling well lately."
    "I'm sorry to hear that." I'd have to remember to ask Lily to find out more about Ethan's father. "You could still have the exposition under a fake name. Your parents would never know."
    "That's not a bad idea." Surprise flashed across his features as if he hadn't expected me to suggest such a thing.
    "Well, it was nice chatting with you, but I have things to do." I got up, glad that I could use my job as an excuse to run away from Ethan.
    He got up too, nearly toppling over the chair. "I hope we'll get another chance to talk. Would you mind if I joined Paula and you for lunch tomorrow?"
    "I... No." I couldn't come up with a reason for him to stay away from us, aside from telling him I wasn’t in the least interested in him, but somehow I believed that would only make him more persistent and I didn't want any scandals.
    As I walked down the hall, a thin layer of ice covered the sleeve of my shirt and I spotted Adrian in the far corner as he was leaning on the wall and sulking. I winked at him, shaking off the ice, and continued down the hall.

Chapter 06
     
    "I see you like it here," Oliver said, pacing up and down my office. When my secretary had told me my brother was waiting for me, I nearly called the security, but it appeared Oliver only wanted to talk. His dark hair was messy as usual, his brown eyes cold and piercing.
    "What do you want, Oliver?" I still had to email my idea for an elemental competition to the TV house that was willing to air such a show, but my brother's presence was highly distracting.
    "What do I want?" He laughed bitterly. "Really, sis? Did you hit your head and get amnesia? I want your job."
    I placed the pen I'd been holding on the desk and glared at him. "No, you don't. You want the power, but can't you see that it's not that simple? You want to start a war you can't win."
    "And what do you know about that? We're element preservers. We're better than all of them. If we got united, no one would be able to stop us, not even the government's army." He slammed his fist on the desk and I jumped. "You're trying to play nice with them, but that won't work! The more knowledge they gain about us, the easier it will be for them to hunt us all down. I can't believe Lily and you came up with the moronic idea to tell the world about us! And you didn't even tell me about your plan!"
    "Yeah, because