Page 33 of Deadly Secrets

“Why does he hate you so much?” he probed.

“Honestly? I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Ander.”

“Well...he definitely crossed the line the other night. We briefly talked about what went down at my birthday party this morning, but he kept dodging the issue about why he’s acting like a jerk.”

“Now that you talk about crossing lines…Look. Maybe you thought it was a romantic gesture, but it wasn’t. So maybe we need to set some boundaries. If you want to buy me flowers, just do what every other guy does and get them delivered to my dorm. But please, don’t break in again because it almost gave me a heart attack. That shit is only romantic in books and movies.”

His brows drew together, his jaw tightened, and his mouth set in a hard line.

“What are you talking about?” he replied.

“You know, the black dahlia and the note you left on my bed,” I explained.

“That wasn’t me. I’ve never been inside your apartment. I don’t even know what a black dahlia looks like.”

A wave of terror overtook my body. If Noah didn’t break into my apartment…who the hell did? I was so sure it was him that I never called security. I couldn’t stop shaking. Someone touched my bed sheets, my things. Maybe they went through my drawers and touched my underwear.

Oh God.

Shaking my head, I exclaimed, “Noah, I’m dead serious. Promise me it wasn’t you.”

“I swear to God, Sienna, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he insisted.

“Someone was in my apartment today. When I got there, my door was unlocked. Shit, shit, shit.” A tingling sensation began in my shaking hands, followed by palpitations.

Sensing my unease, Noah stood, held out his hand, and said, “Okay. Let’s go. We’ll call security on our way to campus and get an emergency locksmith to change your door lock. I’ll stay over tonight.”

* * *

“I don’t want you to leave.” Ander looked frustrated.

“I don’t want to either, but my father won’t change his mind. He says I should stay away from you and your family.”

Ander and I had secretly met at Jay Estate Gardens. I was leaving in three days, and every time I had asked my father to drive me to the Scotts’ house to say goodbye to Ander, he refused.

He looked sad, but so did I. I didn’t want to move to Switzerland.

“This sucks.”

“Are you going to miss me?” I asked.

I wasn’t sure if he would miss me, but I was certain I would. He’d been a constant in my life since we were babies, and although we didn’t go to the same school, I saw him almost every week.

“You’ll probably forget about me. You’ll make new friends, and you won’t remember me.”

“How can you say that? You know how important you are to me,” I responded.

My feelings for Ander were strong, but they’d morphed from an innocent friendship into something different. His jokes were now more flirtatious, and I’d noticed how he looked at me when we were alone. How he was looking at me now.

“You’re important to me too, Sienna. I… I…”

“You what?”

“I’ll write to you. I promise.”

“I’d love that.”

The sun was setting, and I knew our goodbye was approaching.

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