Page 139 of Heart of Stone

“As enticing as that sounds, I can’t really ditch my own party before it even starts,” I declined begrudgingly. I pulled away to scan the crowd. “I’m not sure if anyone else is here yet, though. Let me go ask Will. Come on.”

I removed Alexander’s arms from my waist and took hold of his hand.

“Uh, no. Krystina, I’ll just wait –,” he started, pulling free of my grasp. His face looked conflicted.

“What is it?”

I watched his brow crease, until he seemed to come to a decision.

“Nothing,” he finally said. “Just lead the way.”

I frowned, perplexed over his hesitation, but then dismissed it with the thought that perhaps he was just tired from traveling. Pushing our way through the crowd, I stepped up to the bar. When Will eventually made his way over to us, I smiled at the pub owner.

“Hey, Will. How’s it going?” I asked.

“Why, hello there little lady,” Will greeted me with a smile. “I hear you’re the guest of honor at a party here tonight.”

“It’s just a small goodbye party with the people from Wally’s. Oh, and Alex too,” I said, turning around to motion Alexander forward. “Will, I’d like you to meet Alex.”

When the two men locked eyes, there was no denying that they already knew each other. I felt Alexander’s body stiffen beside me, almost as if he was bracing for a fight. Will’s eyes flashed with distinctive anger.

“Will,” Alexander said, reaching his hand across the bar to shake his hand.

Will simply nodded his response and returned the handshake. If I wasn’t mistaken, they both seemed to be squeezing hands a little too hard. However, to the average outsider, their exchange was nothing but cordial.

“Your party is waiting for you at your usual table, Krys. I’ll send Lisa over with a round of drinks on the house,” Will told me with a dismissive wave. And at that, he turned his attention to another patron that was waiting to be served.

I looked back and forth between Alexander and Will. It was probably the most bizarre interaction that I had ever seen between two people. As soon as we were able to walk out of earshot of Will, I pounced on Alexander.

“What wasthatall about?”

“What?” He feigned innocence.

“Oh, come on! You two obviously know each other.”

“Yeah, we do. He isn’t one of my biggest fans, I’ll say that much.”

“Will is normally so down to earth. I’ve never seen him act like that. What happened between you?”

“It doesn’t matter, Krystina,” he said with a shake of his head. “Let’s just go meet your friends.”

Another secret.

I felt my stomach plummet.

However, there was a certain amount of finality to his tone, warning me not to press the issue. I was contemplating if I should or not, when I spotted Melanie waving to get my attention. I raised my hand, signaling that I would be there in a minute.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but you seem uncomfortable. We can go if you want to,” I offered.

“Don’t tempt me, angel,” he said with a wink. “I believe that you still have a punishment coming to you.”

I knew that he was trying to steer me away from the conversation, to avoid giving me the truth once again.

“I’m serious, Alex. I’ll just make an excuse and we can go.”

“That would be foolish. These people are here for you, and we shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer.”

Alexander linked his hand in mine and led me towards the back of the restaurant, successfully drawing the matter to a close.

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