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“They wouldn’t have known anything was up if you hadn’t blown it at the end,” Justin pointed out. “Jared texted me last night, he wanted me to check in on you this morning. Make sure you were okay. Any reason he should have been worried about that?”
Well at least it wasn’t Olivia. She knew far more about what had happened than Jared did, and if Justin was in here questioning him then it meant she probably hadn’t shared any of it. Thank God. Adam hadn’t exactly explained himself to Patrick last night either.
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, and you look it too.”
Adam opened his mouth and then closed it again, frowning. He was about to ask Justin what he would do if he found out Jessica had lied to him or misled him about something important, when he remembered both Justin and Chris had done that to Jessica. They’d not only known who she was when she went to the Venus School, they’d used their connections to ensure they’d be there at the same time as her. And they’d known the entire time she was there that they’d be seeing her when they went home, since they all worked at the same company.
At the time, he’d thought their tactics amusing. But he’d known them for a long time, he knew Justin and Chris were trustworthy and they weren’t habitual liars.
Which was Angel? A liar who was possibly crazy, or a woman who had lied because she felt she had a good reason to but was usually honest?
Maybe he should be talking to Jessica.
“Why do you think Jessica forgave you?” he asked, finally. “For the Venus School.”
Justin’s brows rose. “Probably because she’s a heck of a lot nicer than I am.” He grinned. “Honestly, I was always surprised she didn’t make us crawl for it. But maybe that’s because she felt like she’d gotten to know us, and she’d put her trust in us enough times at the school that it was kind of like second nature. Also, once we started pursuing her in real life, we didn’t give her another reason to distrust us.”
The pen tapping started up again. Unfortunately, none of that helped him. He didn’t know Angel. The first time they’d met she’d lied. But he’d thought her responses last night were real. Honest.
“How much did Jared tell you?”
“I know that ‘Angie’ is really Mistress Angela.”
“Her real name is Angel.” Adam sighed. “She says she’s new to everything and she didn’t want to come to a club alone, so she pretended to be a Domme at Chained, thinking no one at Stronghold would ever know.”
“She knew she was submissive all along.”
“Yes. She flat out lied to me about it when I...”
“When you what?” Justin arched his brow as Adam’s voice trailed off.
He grimaced. “When I asked if she was a switch at Chained.”
“You tried to proposition her at Chained?” Chuckling, Justin shook his head. “No wonder you’re so pissy. We’ve been making fun of you for weeks now and it turns out you were right.”
Crap. He hadn’t even thought about it that way. Was part of his resentment towards Angel because of that?
“I didn’t proposition her, exactly.” Adam sighed, but the corner of his mouth turned up in a little smile. What Justin had said was true—he had been right at Chained. Something had been off and he’d realized it. So maybe he could trust his instincts after all. At any rate, Justin’s observation made him feel a little better.
“She was scared?” Justin said, although Adam could tell he wasn’t actually asking the question, he was repeating what Adam had said as he thought it over. Leaning back in his chair, Justin rubbed his fingers along his jaw and then through his thick, dark hair.
“Or she’s playing some game,” Adam felt compelled to point out. He wasn’t sure he believed that anymore, but it had been on his mind last night. Although, even if she was scared, he hated dishonesty and hidden motives.
Hm. Olivia might have a point about his issues over the way his mother left after all.
To his surprise, Justin grinned again. “You have it bad, don’t you?” He laughed. “Stop fighting it or you’ll end up like Liam was when he was trying to scare Hilary away, stressed and cranky. Although I’m not saying you shouldn’t punish her. I sure as hell wouldn’t tolerate Jessica lying, no matter her reasons. But Angel could still be worth getting to know.” Standing up he headed for the door, only stopping once he had his hand on the knob. “Are you coming to Stronghold tonight?”
“No, I’ll be there tomorrow.”
He needed a night away from the club and his friends to get his head on straight. Giving him a nod, Justin exited leaving Adam with even more things to think about than he’d had before.
Angel
Tonight’s theme was red.
It was a big departure from last night when she’d been decked out in all white, but that was the point. Angel needed armor in the form of a power color. She’d had to work herself up to get out of the house and headed toward Stronghold at all. Her corset covered her breasts completely and was made of a black and red brocade that went well with the short, pleated red faux leather skirt she was wearing. A red thong was under the skirt and her red crotchless fishnets slid into black pumps with a three-inch heel. A wider, much sturdier heel than the stilettos she’d been wearing the night before.
