Tragically Flawed Read online

  “Stop the car.”

  “Huh?”

  “Stop the damn car. NOW!”

  Riviera stopped the car and pulled to the side of the road.

  “Benjamin Shandon told you he was in love with you? As in, ‘Riviera, I love you’?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “And you didn’t say it back ’cuz you’re afraid?”

  “Yep.”

  “What the hell, Riv! Why are you afraid?”

  “I can’t do this. What if something happens?”

  Amie huffed. “So what? Are you gonna go through the rest of your life, in love with Shan, but alone because you lost the most important thing in your life due to the fact that you were worried about something happening? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “It is not!”

  “Is too!”

  “Is not!”

  “Whatever. It’s your life. If you want to be a lonely old maid, go for it.”

  Riviera pouted.

  “Don’t you dare stick that lip out at me when you know it’s the damn truth, Riviera Benson. I think you need to see Dr. Ashworth and let her smack some sense into you.”

  Riviera groaned. “You’re right, I’m sure. All I know is that this whole thing scares the hell out of me.”

  “So, how many times did you all do it?”

  “Do what?” Riviera asked coyly.

  “Ha ha. You know damn well what.”

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  “Why the heck not? I’d tell you!”

  “Okay. Tons. And every time was spectacular. Every damn time.”

  “How many?”

  “Jeez, Ames. A lot. And he’s unbelievable. I mean, I never knew it could be so … well, so great. I really need to quit talking about it because it makes me want to do it!”

  “Stop! You’ve got to be joking, right? Talking about it gets you primed?”

  Riviera made a goofy face and said sheepishly, “Yeah.”

  Amie slapped her knee and yelled out like a wild bull moose. Or at least that’s what she called it—her wild bull moose holler. Riviera laughed until her sides ached.

  “I am so jealous of you, girl!”

  “Yeah, well, you won’t be for long if we don’t get a move on and find some dresses. I’ll end up wearing some old sack or something.”

  “You’d still look awesome,” Amie said.

  They headed over to a consignment shop called reDress on the outskirts of Edwards. Riviera had her doubts about whether she’d find anything. While Amie had the perfect figure, petite and well proportioned, Riviera felt like her curves worked to her detriment.

  “Relax, you’re gonna kill it, Riv.”

  “I’ve never worn a gown before, so this is a little nerve-racking.”

  “Listen, your junk’s in all the right spots, so don’t worry.”

  “You’re the one with the perfect figure.”

  “Shut the hell up already. I’d kill to have your body. I look like I got squashed by the Whack-a-Mole hammer.”

  Riviera let out a bubble of laughter. “You do not. If that were true, you’d look like a square.”

  “Haven’t you noticed the resemblance?”

  “Nuh-uh. Right.”

  “So let’s get back to the slick ride here.”

  “He got upset when I didn’t want to take it. He’s worried about me driving around in my POS.”

  “Well, I guess when you have the best, a fifteen-year-old Camry is a bit hard to digest.”

  “Yeah. So I agreed to drive it until I could afford a new car.”

  “Good call. Because now your roomie gets to ride in style! There it is on the right,” Amie pointed.

  Riviera spied the reDress sign and pulled into the parking lot. “Well, here goes humiliation and degradation.”

  “Quit with the negative comments already. You're going to find something awesome. Let’s go.” Amie was like that. She had a knack for telling it like it is, but she also made Riviera feel good about herself.

  They walked into the store and it was huge …by consignment shop standards. Evening gowns lined one entire wall with four other racks spaced along the shop’s midsection.

  “Wow. This is great!” Riviera exclaimed as she headed for her size.

  “Okay, you hunt yours and I’ll hunt mine and then we’ll get each other’s opinions in the dressing room,” Amie decided.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  They ended up with a dozen dresses each to try on. Riviera was hopeful she would find something that would make her feel good about herself.

  The girls were next to each other in the dressing room. Amie laughed when Riviera complained, “Dang, these suckers are heavy. And hard to get into.”

  “Yeah, the zippers can be tricky. Let me know if you need help.”

  The first five were disasters. “Oh good heavens. If all of them are gonna be like these, my boobs are gonna be flying down the mountain without me,” Riviera cried out.

  Amie laughed. “Even mine are trying to make an appearance and they aren’t nearly as adventurous as yours.”

  “For Pete’s sake. Who wears stuff like this? I mean, come on,” Riviera complained.

  “Let me see,” Amie said.

  “Okay. You asked for it.”

  As Riviera walked out, Amie opened her door, her eyes popping. “Holy wow! If you wear that, no one will bid on the house.”

  “Look at these puppies,” she said, pointing to her breasts. The amethyst dress had a deep V extending nearly to her waist and a halter-style bodice. The top barely covered her ample breasts.

  “You are a sexpot in that thing.”

  “I look like a hooker trying to make a living.”

  “No, you don’t. You look like a million bucks. If you wore that dress, Shan would … Whoa! I would love to see the look on his face if you walked out in that.”

  Riviera’s mouth turned up into a sinfully sexy smile as she thought about him.

  “Oh dear, I can see where your thoughts have gone,” Amie said.

  Riviera immediately turned a fine shade of scarlet.

  “I’m changing. This dress spells trouble in uppercase and italics.”

  She took it off but secretly wished she had the nerve to wear something like that, just for Shan. What fun their night would be, she thought.

  The next dress was a gorgeous shade of icy blue. A heavier satin, it too was a halter, but not quite as exposing. As soon as she put it on, she knew it was the dress.

  “Amie, what do you think?”

  One look from Amie sealed it. “It’s you. The color, the style, everything. It shows off your body perfectly. The highlights in your hair accent it too. It’s beautiful. And did you look at the back? It crisscrosses. It’s amazing!”

  Riviera walked to the three-way mirror and inspected herself. “I feel like a princess in this dress.”

  “You look like it. You know something else. That dress totally matches Shan’s eyes.”

  Looking at it again, Riviera swallowed as she realized Amie was right. “Oh, Amie, it really is perfect. You think silver sandals?”

  “Yeah, and some diamond earrings.”

  “I don’t have any.”

  “I do. They’re fake but they look really great.”

  Amie settled on a strapless, empire-waist scarlet number that went great with her dark hair and dark eyes. The dress’s cut made her look much more endowed in the bust than she actually was.

  “You look awesome, Ames,” Riviera told her.

  “You think?”

  “Oh yeah. All the single men will be all over you. They won’t be able to keep their hands off.”

  “I wish I had a date, though.”

  “Do you want me to ask Shan if he knows anyone?”

  “No! That would be so embarrassing. I’d just as soon go alone and then when my duties are over, if the party is miserable, I can slip out and no one will notice.”

  “Sounds like a good ide
a to me.”

  They made their purchases and headed home. Riviera packed a bag and drove back to Shan’s. She called him on the way to give him a heads-up.

  Chapter Twenty One

  Sabotage

  The tense look on Shan’s face let Riviera know something bad had happened. He was trying to be upbeat about it, but he knew he was failing miserably.

  “Go ahead and spill it.” Her tone didn’t give him any room for argument.

  “They figured out what happened with the alarm system in the auction house. Someone tapped into the electrical circuitry and cut the wires. They knew exactly what they were doing, Riviera.”

  “But why would they want to do that? I don’t understand.”

  “I don’t either. It has to be to get at me somehow. But I’ve been racking my brain and the only one I can come up with would be Todd. He’s the only employee I’ve fired recently who would have a grievance with me. But Phil checked and Todd left the area right after I fired him, probably because he knew he wouldn’t be able to get work with any other contractor. So I doubt he did it.”

  “What about Marsha Sue?”

  Shan shook his head. “There’s no way she’d risk losing me as a client. She knows I’d ruin her name across the entire state of Colorado.”

  “That’s a good point. And there’s no one else you can think of?”

  “Not one damn person. How much do you have left to paint in there?”

  “Just one more mural. Why?”

  “I don’t want you in there by yourself. How long will it take you to finish?”

  “Maybe six hours.”

  “Can you do it tomorrow?”

  “That was my plan.”

  “Good. I’m going with you. They’re fixing the wiring, but the alarm system isn’t operational yet. I’m not comfortable with you in there alone.”

  “Okay.”

  *****

  On the way to the auction house the next morning, Shan programmed Riviera’s phone into the car’s Bluetooth system and explained how to use it. Riviera called Amie to test it out and Shan laughed as she tried to figure out where the microphone was.

  Riviera liked having him there. It made carrying all her supplies in that much faster. A few times during the early afternoon, he stopped in to watch her, but then they started doing other things. She finally had to shoo him out of the room, promising she’d make it up to him later. When she finished, she called him in so he could give her his two cents.

  When he saw the final product, he picked her up and swung her in a circle. Riviera painted the view of the Gore Range from Shan’s deck, but added a fantastical twist to it, mixing in mythical creatures and greenery. It was perfect, and Shan loved it.

  They packed her things and as usual, she was careful with her brushes. They were putting everything in the trunk when Riviera pulled out an old towel and wrapped it around herself.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Oh, I don’t want to take a chance and get paint on the seat.”

  Shan shook his head. “It’s not a big deal if you do.”

  “Well, it would be to me.”

  “You know, this car is very inconvenient for you, isn’t it?”

  “Not any more than mine is.”

  “Yes, it is. It’s okay, Riviera. You can tell me the truth.”

  “Okay, then, yes. It makes me so nervous that I’ll mess it up. I didn’t have to worry about getting paint or anything on my old hunk of junk.”

  “What you need is an SUV.”

  “Yes, but I’d rather have an old beater.”

  Shan laughed. “Then you wouldn’t have to worry, huh?”

  “Exactly! This hoity-toity thing makes me nervous.”

  “Hoity-toity?”

  “Yeah. Seriously, Shan. How much did this car cost?”

  “That’s inconsequential.”

  “It isn’t to me. Will you answer the question, please?”

  “Around two hundred K.”

  “That’s my point. Don’t you see? I would save pennies, Shan. This car could’ve supported me for at least twenty years the way I used to live.”

  “I get it, Riv. I just want you to be safe so you have to get my point too.”

  “I do. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Okay, may I make a proposition?”

  “You may, but I can’t guarantee I’ll accept it.”

  “Good enough. Will you let me buy you an SUV and then when you have the money, you can make the payments to me?”

  “No, because you won’t take money from me.”

  Shan laughed. “Riviera, I’m a keen businessman. I will most certainly take your money.”

  She looked at him skeptically. “If you can promise me that, then yes. But I’m warning you right now—if you renege, I’m going to be hell in those wheels.”

  “I believe you. It’s a deal, then.”

  *****

  Two days later, Shan presented Riviera with a shiny new black Toyota Highlander. It was luxurious yet rugged and had a great cargo area where she could haul all of her equipment. The interior smelled of leather and new car.

  Once again, Riviera eyed him skeptically as she inspected the vehicle. “How much did this cost, Shan?”

  “Not nearly as much as the Mercedes.” He grinned at her.

  “Ugh. It was expensive, wasn’t it?”

  “That depends on what your definition of expensive is. For the time being, it’s listed as part of Shandon Homes. As soon as you decide on a name for your business, I’ll transfer it to you. We’ll set it up as a business expense because you’ll be driving it almost exclusively for that anyway.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know you could do that.”

  “Yeah, and as soon as you have a name, we need to set up your LLC. That’s so you’re protected against lawsuits or bankruptcy and such. Besides, you’re going to do really well, so you’ll need that for tax purposes.”

  Riviera grimaced as she ran her hands through her hair. “This is way over my head.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got you covered.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So? A name? Have you given it any thought?”

  “Yeah. I was thinking about calling it A Range of Color. I got the idea from the Gore Range.”

  Shan beamed. “A Range of Color. I like it. Has a nice ring to it.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah. But are you sure you don’t want your name in it? Like Riviera’s Range of Color?”

  “No! I really want to keep my name out of the public eye. I don’t want Jasper to ever know where I am. Shan, if he ever found me, he’d kill me for the way I left him.”

  “No, he wouldn’t. I won’t ever let him get close enough to you.” Shan put his hands on her hips and pulled her close. “If he even so much as tries, I’ll make him sorry he ever laid eyes on you in the first place.”

  Riviera wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her body against his. “Thanks for making me feel so safe.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Babe, why didn’t you ever press charges against him or go to a safe house?”

  “I was too afraid. He would threaten to kill me. He would strangle me and while I struggled to breathe, he would tell me I would die if I ever told anyone.”

  Not comprehending how someone could be so cruel to another human being, Shan squeezed his eyes shut as he wrapped Riviera in the shelter of his arms. An urgent need to protect her flooded his soul. Shan remembered how his mother once defended him against a group of older boys pushing him around when he was only five years old. He thought back to how angry she was and that’s how he felt about protecting Riviera. He would tear that Jasper fucker up if he so much as touched a hair on Riviera’s head.

  “Shan, all my life I wanted to feel like this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She looked up at him. “Safe. I wanted to know that I had somewhere to go where I wa
s safe. I never had it when I was young. I used to pray that I would die in my sleep.”

  Shan’s gut churned at the thought of a young Riviera having to live like that. “Listen, Riviera, your parents should be in fucking prison for what they did to you.”

  “I know. I feel safe for the first time in my life, and it’s very liberating. I know I can be myself with you and that you won’t ever judge me.”

  “Judge you? I love the hell out of you. The only ones I’ll judge are the assholes who fucked with you.”

  She reached up and brushed his hair off his face. “Have I ever told you how much I love your long hair?”

  “I don’t think you have, so tell me again.”

  “I love your long hair.”

  “I think you need to kiss me to prove it.”

  “Only if you promise to cook me dinner.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  It was quite a while later, but Shan finally made good on his promise, though only after he showed Riviera that the Highlander was more than just a vehicle to transport her equipment. It came in quite handy for other heated activities as well.

  *****

  At the end of the week, Shan called Riviera to let her know the wiring in the auction house had been fixed and the system was up and running. All checks had been completed and they were all meeting for the walk-through. They agreed to meet at the house at four.

  She pulled into the driveway right behind Marsha Sue. They got out of their cars at the same time. Marsha Sue’s eyes narrowed as she saw Riviera get out of the Highlander.

  “Who’s car is that?” she asked snidely.

  “It’s mine. Nice to see you too, Marsha Sue,” Riviera smiled sweetly.

  “Yours? How did you afford that?”

  “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

  As they walked toward the house, Marsha Sue was relentless with her nosy questioning.

  “Well, not many people of your standards can afford a car like that,” Marsha Sue huffed.

  Riviera decided to ignore her comment. They walked into the foyer and Riviera’s eyes landed right on Shan. He was wearing her favorite faded jeans. They were snug and rode low on his hips with a few tears on the knees. His navy shirt was also tight and he had his sleeves pushed above his elbows. A pencil sat tucked behind one ear and he carried a clipboard in his left hand.