Page 64 of Devious Secrets

“Are you sure this is all right?” I question Elana for the third time since we left the house. She reaches across the back seat of the SUV we’re being driven in and squeezes my hand.

“Of course it is. You’re with me.” She smiles. “He never told me I couldn’t take you out for lunch.”

The emphasis on the word lunch sends the little hairs on my neck standing and I check with the driver to see if he noticed the change in tone.

He doesn’t seem to be listening to us at all.

“Going all the way into the city is a long way to go for a sandwich,” I point out, looking out the window as the skyscrapers of the city come into view. Now that there’s light, and I’m not stuffed into the trunk of a car, I realize where I’ve been staying. Twenty-five minutes outside of downtown.

Even if I had managed to get myself to a main road the other night, I never would have made it home. Not on foot with the way my ankle was swelling up.

“It’s fine,” she says again and drops my hand.

“So, you don’t go to school here?” I question.

“Oh, I do. I go to Northwestern.”

“That’s not too far away. You don’t like it?”

“Oh, it’s fine. I have my own place on campus with some friends.” She lifts her shoulder. “It’s not the city though, you know. Too far out.”

“Yeah.” I’ve never been outside the city other than on short vacations when I was little. One week every summer my parents rented a small cottage on some obscure lake, and we’d just hang out swimming and fishing.

Elana swipes her phone alive and starts tapping away on the screen.

“Is that your brother?” The urge to lean over and see what he might be saying tugs at me, but I manage to keep myself in check.

“No. Just a friend.” She grins at the message on her screen, and I get the sense it’s not just a friend. After a soft sigh, she types one last message and puts her phone back in the small purse she has strapped across her chest.

The driver flips on his turn signal and we’re exiting the expressway. Familiarity relaxes my muscles. I’m almost near my apartment building. If I can get out at the next light, I can grab the bus and in twenty minutes I’d be home.

And then where would I be? Alexander would come looking for me. I’d never be able to hide from him in my neighborhood. Leaving the city is probably the safest thing for me. Away from Alexander and away from Marco. Maybe he’ll give up when he realizes I’m gone.

Foolish thoughts, I know.

“You need to relax.” Elana taps my leg when the silence stretches between us. “You’re with me. We’re getting lunch.”

“Yeah.” I open my purse and pull out my wallet to be sure I still have my insurance card stuffed inside. Without having gone to work in the last few days, I’m sure I’m out of a job, and who knows if the policy is even still going to cover this.

“Just park here, Gregor. We’ll walk.”

“Elana. I’ll pull up to the restaurant,” he counters and she sighs.

“Fine. Whatever.” She rolls her eyes and sinks back in her seat. I watch as our actual destination passes my window. It’s only a block away from the deli Elana lied about us going to, but still, watching it slip away makes me worry.

As soon as the SUV pulls into an open space, Elana jumps out and I reach for the door handle. Gregor groans and mutters something in Russian as I pop open my door and hop down onto the sidewalk.

Elana slips her arm through mine and pulls me toward the door of the deli.

“He’s going to park around the corner; let’s just wait until he drives off.” She keeps her voice down and casually glances back. “Okay, he’s gone.”

She tugs on me, and we turn just as we reach the door and hurry down the street to the doctor’s office we’d passed. By the time we get inside, we’re both out of breath and have to give ourselves a minute before hitting the elevator button.

“I need to start working out.” I laugh as I hit the number three for the office I need.

“Same.” She leans back against the wall of the elevator as it takes us up to the right floor.

The office is bathed in soft lighting and soft-yellow wallpaper. Chairs line the walls. Half of them are filled with pregnant women.

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