Illicit Canvas: political romance and stand alone romance (15 page)

“Do you know him?” Gilbert asks.

“Yes, he’s my friend. We came together, but then he started sucking Valerie’s face off.” I giggle like crazy. Gilbert pushes Colin away when he tries to grab my hand. He needs to go home and sleep it off. I don’t want to deal with him right now.

“Calm down, mate. Arwen is all right with me and you’ve had way too much to drink,” he says, turning towards me.

I hardly realise what’s happening a second later. Someone shoves me away, and then I hear a roar. When I glance back, I see Colin punch Gilbert straight in the face. I start shouting at Colin to stop, but someone holds me. When Gilbert gets up, his nose is bleeding and he looks furious. Colin smirks, holding his fists up. He looks pathetic.
 

“She’s mine and only mine,” Colin rasps, breathing hard.

“Arwen can make her own decision and I suggest you get back inside.”

“Colin!” I shout, but it’s already too late. Colin attacks again and soon enough they both start whacking each other, then roll on the street in front of a crowd. It’s a long bloody fight and it gets worse when Colin picks up a small rock from the road.

Chapter Nineteen

The mobile is ringing and I don’t want to answer. It’s late. I don’t know what time I went to bed. My head pounds, and there is a vile taste in my mouth. I drank too much Scotch again last night. I really need to stop drinking in the evenings. I cover my head with the pillow, trying to sleep, but the phone keeps buzzing. I swear loudly and find the lamp switch next to my bed. I rub my eyes and glance at the screen, barely making out Arwen’s name. The clock shows two o’clock in the morning.
 

“Hello.”

“Ethan, Colin has been arrested and I’m at the police station.”

I sit down, wide awake all of a sudden. Did I hear her correctly? Did she say that my son had been arrested? I instantly think the worst.

“Arwen, what’s going on?” I ask, hearing a lot of noise in the background. Colin is intelligent enough to know this can ruin his future career. After a moment, she is sobbing into the phone and I start putting some clothes on, alerted that I’ll be leaving in a minute.

“We went out to the club and … I was talking to a guy outside. He was so drunk, Ethan, and then he started beating up that guy for no reason. Everything happened so fast.”

“Tell me where you are exactly. Which police station?” I ask sharply.

She might still be drunk because it takes me a while to make out that she is on the west side of the city, somewhere in Ixelles. My pulse starts racing when I have the address. Colin gets out of control when he drinks. This isn’t the first time that he has got into a fight with someone. In the past there have been some incidents. He always got off easily, promising to change. Why did Arwen go out with him in the first place?

Ten minutes later I get into the car and drive through the empty streets. I reach the police station several minutes before 3:00 a.m. I get to the desk, spotting Arwen on a bench nearby.

“I just had a call that my son was arrested. His name is Colin Rivera.”

The woman stops writing and types something on her computer.

“He was involved in a serious altercation. He had to be forcibly restrained when we brought him in, sir. You won’t be able to see him.”

“Do you know what’s happened?”

“No, sir. Your son was heavily under the influence of alcohol, so he will remain in custody until tomorrow. Witnesses said that he completely lost control.”

“Thank you.”

I clench my fist, breathing in and out. What the hell is wrong with Colin? This could ruin his life forever. Bethany mentioned that he has a lot of anger in him and he likes picking fights.

I walk towards Arwen, who notices me. Her makeup is smudged and she is wearing a ridiculously short dress. I thought that she was aware that her body could be tempting to guys her age. How easy was it for her to get into trouble?

“Come on, let’s get out of here. Colin is going to spend the night in the cell. Maybe this is for the best,” I say.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry, Ethan. It’s my fault.”

“Let’s just go. I can’t stand that you followed this fool here,” I mutter.

Arwen starts to protest, but I don’t want to listen. I can smell alcohol on her, and her explanation is not making much sense. She needs to sober up and get her thoughts together. “I’m taking you to my apartment, Arwen. We’ll talk later, come on.”

I’m so angry that I’m barely controlling myself. I thought that Arwen was responsible. I manage to get her into the backseat of my car. She mumbles something and then falls asleep. When I get home, I lift her and carry her upstairs and my anger eases off a little. I take her shoes and dress off without involving any of my emotions. Tomorrow morning I’ll know more details.

I’m tempted to call Bethany, but I don’t want to worry her. I need to know if he will get fined and cautioned or if this whole thing will be more complicated.
 

Arwen is in my bed. This is something that I have been dreaming about since we kissed. Exhaustion suddenly hits me and I go to the spare room and get into bed. Tomorrow is going to be a difficult day and I’m not looking forward to it.

***

I wake up at eight and check on Arwen. She is still fast asleep and she looks so peaceful, snuggled in the sheets. I’m less angry now, but I still don’t know what happened, so I can’t put the blame on her. I put some decent clothes on and head straight to the police station. There the officer at the desk informs me that Colin will get off lightly. The other guy hadn’t had any major injuries and he won’t be pressing charges, but Colin will have a mark on his record and probably a massive fine.

“He will be cautioned. This could have been much worse, Mr. Rivera,” says the policeman that made the arrest. “He picked up a rock from somewhere and he could have killed the other guy, if one of the bouncers hadn’t intervened.”

An hour later I meet him in the reception area. He has bruises all over his face and he looks like he had a rough night, which is a good thing. I wasn’t around much when he was growing up and his mother spoiled him. I feel like a monster, but I wish that he could stay in prison for longer. At least that would teach him a lesson.

“Dad, what are you doing here? How did you know?” he asks.

“Arwen called me,” I respond simply, doing everything I can to contain my anger.

“Dad … I’m sorry … I lost control.”

“Consider yourself lucky, Colin, because this could have been much worse. You will get a fine and a caution. In other circumstances you would be looking at a prison sentence.”

“All right, I get it. I drank too much and lost control. Please spare me the lecture.”

I clench my fists, breathing sharply. My son is a brainless imbecile. He doesn’t understand the seriousness of this situation.
 

“There won’t be any lectures, Colin. You could have killed someone last night.”

“I’m fine, Dad. Arwen didn’t have to call you. I screwed up with her and everyone.”

“She did the right thing,”

Colin is stubborn and still young. He always had freedom, but he doesn’t know how to act like an adult. When I drop him home, he complains that he is exhausted and is going to hit the bed. Sometimes I wonder if he ever takes responsibility for his actions.

Half an hour later I get back to my apartment. When I walk in, the kitchen and living room are empty. I take my shoes and jacket off and knock at the bedroom door. Arwen is awake.

“How are you feeling?” I ask, dropping into the chair on the other side of the room. This is wrong; maybe I shouldn’t have brought her to my place. She has a white shirt over her breasts, and her arm with that beautiful tattoo is showing.

“I have a stinking hangover. Where have you been?”

“At the police station.”

She sits down on the bed and I suck in a breath because she is so beautiful. She looks exactly how I imagined. Those dreams … I had many dreams of making love to her.

“How is Colin? Did they let him out?”

“Yes, he was lucky. They gave him a warning, but he will have to pay a high fine. You know my son. He wasn’t particularly worried,” I say. “Can you tell me what happened last night?”

Arwen bites her lips, looking down at her nails. Even with black smudges all over her face she is beautiful.

“There is something that I have to tell you, Ethan. Before we went out yesterday, I went to see Jules Simone with my friend Maja.”

Jules Simone ... this name rings a bell and within moments I realise that it’s another name from the list that Antoine gave to us. Arwen looks tense and I can’t quite believe that she went to see him alone.

“I see.”

“Ethan, don’t be angry. You can’t even imagine what was going through my head that day, but I wanted to speak to the next artist alone. It was something that I had to do.”

“And what happened?”

“Nothing. He hadn’t seen the painting and he doesn’t know my father.”

“Arwen, you can do what you want. I just offered–”

“I saw you last night in the restaurant with a woman,” she cuts me off. I look at her, remembering my date with Sylvie.

“You saw me?”

“Yes, after I went to see the artist. Me and my roommate were passing by and I saw you from the window. I wanted to say hi, but then I realised that you were with someone. I assumed that it was a date.”

I exhale, not being ready for this at all. What were the chances that she would see me yesterday?

“It was a date,” I confirm, knowing that this will hurt her, but I can’t lie to her anymore. It’s done. I’m moving on. She should too, but not like last night.

“Okay, well then, Colin suggested the party and I agreed because last time I bailed on him. He took me and Maja to that club. Long story short, we both got drunk. I don’t know what happened, but I met this guy in the bar downstairs. His name was Gilbert and he started buying me drinks. Then I think I had to get some fresh air, because I was dizzy. Anyway, Colin saw me with him and got really jealous.”

“So he got into a fight?” I ask through gritted teeth. Of course she would meet a guy. She is beautiful and talented. She did exactly what I did.

“Yes. He just started hitting him, then he reached for a rock and the bouncers intervened and restrained them. Then police came and they arrested them.”

I don’t know what to say or how to behave. I want to take her into my arms and kiss her, but I can’t cross the line.

“It’s not your fault, Arwen. You aren’t with Colin. He doesn’t have a right to tell you what to do.”

“Yes. Can you take me home, please?” she asks. “I think I’ve outstayed my welcome.”

I don’t move. She is upset, of course. I sense the tension in her voice and her body language tells me that she doesn’t want to be anywhere near me. “Arwen, are you upset that I went out on a date?” I ask her, wanting an honest answer. We are both adults and I will no longer see Sylvie if she doesn’t want me to.

She swallows slowly, then looks at me, not giving much away. “No. You’re single, Ethan. I have no right to tell you what to do.”

I say this to him, but deep down I’m dying inside. Desire drenches my body and soul, especially now when he stares at me with such intensity. No one says anything for a while and I don’t know how to act around him anymore.

“I would like us to stay friends, Arwen.”

“Our friendship isn’t affected, Ethan. I have some paintings for you. Three, actually.”

“I can’t expect you to just gift your work to me.”

“I want you to have them and I want to apologise. I needed to clear my head, to see if I can find my father without you, but I was wrong.”

“Wrong?”

I pause, wondering if this is the right time to share this with him. If I ever want to be in a relationship, I have to be honest.

“Yeah, we had an agreement, but I ignored it. I wasn’t one hundred percent honest with you. My father left my mother because of me.”

It’s time to stop the bullshit and tell him everything, the real truth.

“Arwen–”

“No, Ethan. He left because of me. I heard him many times saying this to my mother and I wanted to find him. I always felt rejected and unloved, and I thought that if I found him I could finally understand everything.”

“Men leave their wives for a number of reasons. Your father wasn’t happy. It wasn’t because of you.”

“You don’t get it, do you? I’m screwed up. My relationships with other men were worthless. I didn’t feel happy around them. And I never thought that my work was good enough, because I remember how he constantly criticised it. Everything that I ever painted wasn’t right. When he left I tried to forget about art, but it was always there in the back of my mind. Every boyfriend that I ever had adored me, and that’s was okay, but I always believed that I didn’t deserve their affections.”

I look down, wondering how long I’m going to keep the real truth away from him. “I want to find my father and ask him what his problem was, so I can finally move on.”

Ethan gets up and walks towards me. I can’t take being close to him now.

“You’re wrong. Stop telling yourself that you’re the reason. Children are a blessing and I saw what you created. You’re talented, brave and beautiful. I’m here for you, Arwen, and we are going to find him together.”

Then he hugs me and I know that underneath this closeness it’s probably killing him, but he breaks another rule for me and this feels good. In his arms I’m always better. I want to tell him that because of him I started to believe that I can be loved, but I know that this will only complicate things between us further and I can’t afford to lose him.