Secrets by Raven St. Pierre Read Free Book Online Page A

if he heard me yelling his name telepathically – which I was totally doing, AJ lifted his head.  His steps halted when he glared over my shoulder at the man.  Neither one exchanged a word, but I got the distinct feeling that they weren’t strangers to one another.  I looked back just as the man trudged away slowly with a sly grin still on his face.  AJ’s eyes followed him until he disappeared around the corner and then he turned to me and asked, “Did he say anything to you?”
    My only response was to shake my head ‘no’.  Something was definitely going on and I wasn’t sure that it wasn’t linked to whatever was bothering AJ.  This made me reconsider my original theory about marital problems between the Hahn’s.  This seemed much bigger than that.
    I looked into his eyes and wanted to blurt out all of the questions that were jumbled in my head, but he seemed so guarded that I couldn’t even get up the courage.  Without another word he took my hand and led me toward the elevator.
    “Where are we going?”  I asked.
    “Isn’t Angel supposed to be meeting us at eleven?”  He glanced down at his watch.  “It’s 10:58 already; I’m sure she’s here.”
    I was startin g to get upset by this point, noticing his attempt to dismiss my suspicions without an explanation.  “She is, but…..don’t you think we should talk about what just happened?  Do you know that guy?” 
    “W hat?”  He chuckled and turned on the charm, trying to throw me off with an incredulous gaze – like I was making this all up in my head or something.  “Of course I don’t know him.”
    My breath hitched in my throat.  This moment marked the first time that I absolutely, 100% believed AJ was lying to me.  I knew that he probably thought he had good reason to, but there was no way I was going to believe that he and the stranger in the hallway had never met.  I continued to stare at him, trying to figure everything out on my own since he wasn’t offering up any information.  His expression gave away nothing.  When the elevator doors opened, Angel was standing in the lobby leaned up against a wall.  Her face lit up as she ran in my direction and threw her arms around my neck.
    “Sammy!!!  Took you long enough!” She screeched.
    I did my best to hide the frustration that I felt, but probably not very convincingly, though.  “Sorry about that.  We just got held up on my way down.”  I shot AJ a menacing look as I spoke.  He smiled and ignored my comment.  Angel released me and hugged AJ briefly.  I couldn’t help but to do a quick scan of the lobby for the big, Italian man who’d stopped me in the hallway.
    “Ok, now that all that’s out t he way, let’s eat.  I’m starved,” Angel remarked.
                  We paced toward the restaurant and she must’ve noticed that I was quieter than usual.  “What’s up with you this morning?”  She asked.
                  “Nothing, I’m fine,” I lied.  AJ squeezed my hand a little and smiled weakly.
                  Once we were seated I tried to let it go and enjoy the little time that I had with Angel.  I hadn’t seen her since my birthday last November.  She put her hand on my chin and lifted my face as her eyes wandered over my skin.   I wasn’t sure why until I remembered that she hadn’t seen me since the accident.  Immediately, I became self-conscious and shifted my eyes down to the table. 
                  “Sammy, it doesn’t even look bad.  I was expecting it to be way worse.  Only a few of the scars are even visible now.”  Even without Angel telling me, I knew that I’d gotten off easy compared to Leila when it came to that tragic accident.  But I was still impatient for the last remaining dark marks to vanish so that I didn’t have them as a constant reminder of what happened.
                  The waitress came to take our orders just as Angel was releasing me.