AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We?” Henry stumbles back. “What do you mean ‘we’? You didn’t do anything.”
My gaze drifts guiltily away.
“No.” Henry’s mouth spreads into a grim line. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“I had to distract him.”
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking my best friend needed me and I had to do something.”
Henry backpedals. I didn’t believe his face could get any paler, but he manages it. His long, lean body folds and he sinks into a crouch.
I set a hand on his shoulder.
“I can’t breathe,” he signs with one hand.
I hurry to get him some water. He takes it from me, his arm shaking so much most of the water leaves the cup.
My phone buzzes while I’m trying to keep my best friend from hyperventilating.
Deej:When you’re free, meet me at the cafe. We need to talk.
I pocket my phone and help Henry stand.
“Feel better now?”
“Not particularly.”
His shoulders are slumped so he looks like an old man. Guilt is torturing Henry the way Richard Sullivan is torturing me. I’m not sure which of us is in the more precarious position.
Oh wait.
Yes, I do.
It’s me.
Henry will learn to deal with his guilt. He can control it eventually. But me? There’s no telling what Richard Sullivan will ask me to do as his girlfriend. No telling whether or not my traitorous body will like it.
He’s hearing. Therefore, a non-option. If he wasn’t so attractive, it would have been easier to ignore him.
“I have to go,” I sign. “Deej wants to talk to me.”
Henry nods.
I wait until he looks at me to sign intently, “I’m handling the situation. Don’t do anything crazy, okay?”
He doesn’t respond.
“Okay?” I insist.
He gives me the sign I’m looking for. “Okay.”
Satisfied, I slip out the door and head to the café. There are two burly Asian security guards waiting outside. Sazuki’s security team.
Inside, people sit in booths, sipping caffeine like it’s their life blood. The scent of chai fills the air. My sister is flitting back and forth from the customers to the expresso machine.
I tap my hand on the counter to get her attention.
