Masquerade Read Online Free Page B

sticking up for your brother and all, but I’m not going to change my mind. I don’t play real well with others and I’m pretty sure you caught from the beginning of the conversation that Maddox and I working together could be a little awkward.”
    “Do you care about him?” she whispers.
    Oh shit
. “No. I don’t
know
him. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, if you catch my drift. It didn’t mean anything and it’s not something either of us plan to do again.”
    She frowns, making me see that even though she knows what I mean, she doesn’t get it. She’s the kind of girl my parents deserve.
    “Then what’s the problem with him working here? You’re both adults. Maddox is good at keeping walls between himself and other people. It shouldn’t be hard for you guys to keep it professional.”
    It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask her
why
he keeps those walls, but that would require me to knock down one of my own, and I don’t plan to do that. “Again, I think it’s cool you came over here for him, but it’s not happening. If you’ll excuse me, I need to close my shop for lunch.”
    Stepping around the counter, I head toward the door. My hand is on the handle and I’m pushing it open when she softly says, “Please.
Please
. He would kill me for saying this, but he needs it. He needs something to help him find his way through our past.”
    Her words hit me right in the chest. They’re honest and raw and painful. She’s really worried about him, and even though my brain is screaming at me that it isn’t my business, I stop pushing the door open. Still, I don’t move.
    Laney speaks again. “I’m not sure this will help, but I don’t know what else to do. I want my brother back. He hasn’t really wanted anything for himself in so long and he wants this so badly. He’s spent years dealing with painful things and taking care of me. Maddy needs this for
him
.”
    Don’t do this. Walk away. It’s not your business
. Instead of doing that, I close the door again. What would I have done if the Professor hadn’t given me a chance? I wouldn’t have Masquerade and I wouldn’t be Bee. I would be even more lost than I am now, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, I
saw
that in Maddox. Saw that he’s drifting alone in the world. It’s probably what made me go to the hotel with him in the first place, rather than dealing with someone easy like the pretty-boy bartender. But no, I knew he would get me, and here his sister is opening herself up in a way I could never do.
    Because she loves him?
    “I can’t help him if he’s not any good.”
    Her face instantly brightens. “He’s good. I didn’t even know he could draw until recently, but he has books full. I took one from his apartment for you to see.”
    That makes me chuckle. She obviously takes things into her own hands. I can respect that.
    Laney reaches into her purse and pulls out a black book. After grabbing it from her, I sit in one of the chairs by the door and open it.
    My eyes scan page after page, soaking in each and every line and curve of Maddox’s work. He’s got talent, that’s for sure, and he’s different. His drawings have a rough, raw edge to them that doesn’t look unpracticed but… rough in the way that you want them to look. Like somehow his pictures have seen and been through a lot but came out of it in the end. Even if it is with frayed edges and hard lines, they made it through.
    I know that’s a crazy way to explain drawings, but it’s all I can think of.
    And they’re beautiful. If he could transport this onto someone’s skin, it would be a waste not to share it with the world.
    My hands are actually shaking when I hand her the book back.
    “I have his number on my machine,” I tell Laney. “I’ll call him.”
    Her eyes pool. “Thank you. That means so much to me. I hate to ask you another favor, but could you not tell him that I came down here?”
    I open my mouth, almost telling her I didn’t do it for her