Page 12 of Seductive Secrets

The woman smiled wanly, her features turning pink slightly as she herded her toddler back inside and closed the front door.

They headed silently back to his car, neither speaking until they were inside the vehicle.

“The neighbor didn’t describe your friend, did she?”

James shook his head. “No, Mark is a couple of inches shorter than I am and he has dark hair. I guess it could be considered brown, but I suspect that the woman would have remembered if it had been Mark.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

James started the engine and they drove away, both lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, he said, “How about if we grab dinner and talk about what we know? I know it’s early, but we both skipped lunch today.”

She nodded. “That sounds good. I could use a glass of wine too.”

“Perfect. I know of a great Italian place.”

As they drove through the city, Angela wondered why she hadn’t told him to take her back to her hotel. They’d spent the whole day together. Shouldn’t they separate? Why wasn’t she itching to get away from him? Normally, she limited her dates with men to only an hour or two, three if they were having a good time. But never, not in her entire dating experience, hadshe spent eight whole hours with a man. Well, besides her guys. Callum, Marco, Dash, and Kasim didn’t count though. They weren’t dating material. They were her “brothers”. The five of them spent whole weekends together when their schedules allowed.

But dinner that night was nice. Exceptionally nice. The Italian restaurant he took her to had soft music playing in the background, the food was excellent, and he chose a bottle of merlot that was absolutely wonderful. The conversation flowed like water. They avoided any speculation over what Mark might have been doing with the blue powder, or even what the powder was. He’d suggested dinner to go over what they’d learned, but instead, they talked about themselves, their likes and dislikes, their political views and hobbies. She learned that James loved to cook and she admitted that she existed on takeout and frozen foods that could be microwaved. She admitted that she loved to shop and he laughingly explained that he had a personal shopper that delivered complete outfits to him every few months.

“So, how did you meet Kasim?” he asked.

She pressed her lips together and put her wine glass down, about to tell him that she couldn’t discuss that.

But he interrupted her before she could speak. “I know that you can’t tell me everything. I completely respect your privacy and even understand it. But since I already know the details of the latest, botched attempt to assassinate Kasim, maybe you could tell me an abbreviated version of your first meeting with him?”

Angela sighed. “You’re right. Sorry,” she replied, cringing. “Force of habit.” She paused and took a long sip of her ice water, then carefully set it back down on the table. “I metKasim when I was in my early teen years. Someone had tried to kill him in almost the exact same way as last fall. He escaped that time as well, obviously, so that was one of the reasons we were all so surprised when it happened a second time. You’d think that his uncle would have been more creative the second time around, right?”

James laughed. “One would hope so.”

“Kasim escaped that time, hiding out in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. The same warehouse where Callum, Dash, and Marco were also hiding out, although for very different reasons.” She twirled a bite of her pasta on the fork, but didn’t eat it. “The other three had been there for a while though. They weren’t hiding out. That was their home.”

She’d managed to surprise him. Angela bit her lip, hoping that he wouldn’t reveal that information to the world.

He must have read her thoughts because he said, “Nothing you tell me will go further than this conversation. I promise.”

Her shoulders dropped with relief. He was an honest person. Rosalee had vouched for him, so Angela decided to trust him. “Anyway, I needed to hide as well, and the warehouse seemed like the perfect spot. The rest is history.”

He lifted a dark eyebrow, sipping his wine. “I doubt that. I’m sure that the rest of the story is just as interesting. Why did you choose law school?”

Angela sighed with relief. There was a lot more to the story, but it wasn’t something she was willing to share with anyone.

“The guys had started their businesses during those early days. Kasim paid for our college expenses, but we each workedseveral jobs, not allowing him to pay for everything, even though he wanted to.” She smiled faintly, gazing thoughtfully into her water glass. “He’s a very good person. We wouldn’t be where we are today without his help back then.”

“He’s a generous ruler. I’ve invested in several companies in Alistar.”

She blinked, startled by that news. “You have?”

He nodded. “After meeting Kasim, I trusted him. That’s a prerequisite for my investment advice and backing. I only invest in ethical companies.”

She smiled, liking him even more. “I guess Mike made the cut too?”

“Absolutely. He’s one of the best.”

She doubted it. He didn’t know her guys very well. Of course, she didn’t know Mike well either. “Anyway, fast forward a couple of years. I graduated at the top of my class in law school and passed the bar the first time around. I had several job offers and took the most lucrative. That allowed me to help Marco, Dash, and Callum jump-start their business. We all shared a small house in downtown Pittsburg and every cent of extra money we earned went into their businesses. We went without coffee and beer, grew our own vegetables in the backyard, and even had a few chickens.”

James chuckled at that. “Marco helped with the chickens?” he asked.

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