Page 61 of His Secret

A tingling sensation at the back of my head tells me I’m wrong. She does have something to fear, and it’s probably worse because she’d never see it coming.

“Matías is here,” I blurt out, hoping that by being honest about this, I’ll feel better about the things I’m keeping from her.

“Oh, yeah?”

I nod. “Yeah.” Silence stretches. “You know, we actually knew each other in school.”

“College?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. Were you close friends?”

I scratch the back of my neck. “No…not really. We had a class together. He helped me out because I was notoriously late or absent.”

She chuckles a little. “Well, small world. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

I shrug like she can see me. “Didn’t really think about it. It’s not a big deal, you know? He’s just my boss now.”

She goes quiet for a minute. “Well, Dad wants to come out next month. The second week. Is that okay?”

I fail to hold in my sigh. “Do I have a choice?”

“Adrian, what do you expect me to do? Ignore my father for the rest of my life because he’s friends with yours? You know they only want the best for us.”

“Best,” I say with a sardonic laugh. “Sure. They want what’s best for them. My father doesn’t give a shit about what’s best for me.”

Her exasperation is released through a loud sigh. “Adrian, I know we didn’t come together on the best circumstances, but you can’t keep?—”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now. I have to go anyway. I’ll call you later.”

“Fine.” She exhales again. “Okay, fine. Bye.”

The rest of the day goes by at a snail’s pace. I’m frustrated over my call with Charlotte and the impending date of her father’s arrival. I’m annoyed that Matías suddenly started to ignore me, but seems to lament his attention on everyone else.

I want to go to the room, but I share it with the man I want and can’t have.

“You good?”

My head snaps up to find Matías at my side. “Oh. Yeah, mmhmm.”

He gives me a weird look. “Okay, well, it’s over, so I’m gonna head to the room now. You ready?”

“Yeah.”

Once again, the journey is silent and uncomfortable.

Inside the room, he speaks.

“I was planning on just ordering in for dinner tonight.”

“That’s fine.”

I go to my room to shower and change before flopping onto my bed. After a while, Matías knocks on the door.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

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