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“Um, no, you won’t.”
He narrowed his eyes. “They need to know they aren’t to yell at you.”
She laughed. “Good luck with that. Those guys have been all up in my business since we first met. They’re closer than friends. They’re my family.”
“Then I will definitely need to meet them. Where are they?”
“In Tennessee,” she said guardedly. “And I think it’s better you don’t meet them.”
“Names.”
She pressed her lips together.
Something icy filled his face. What was going on with him? Why was he acting strange?
“You don’t want to tell me? Why not? What are you hiding from me, Catherine? Or should I say, Catarina?”
She stiffened. Fuck.
How had he found out?
40
“Was it one of your friends who helped create a fake identity for you?” He moved closer and her gaze moved around the room, searching for an escape.
“You know who I am?”
Fuck. She didn’t want to tell him about her friends’ involvement. She had to protect them.
“I know your true name. And age. What I want to know is why you lied to me. What are you really doing here, Cat? Are you hiding from someone? Is someone threatening you? Does it have to do with your mother’s disappearance? Is that why your apartment was broken into?”
Jesus. She couldn’t breathe.
This is what she got for not thinking things through. Sampson had warned her that Alejandro wouldn’t be happy if he discovered who she was.
“Who are you hiding from?” The words were clipped, but not loud.
He looked . . . coldly furious.
And that was kind of terrifying. He moved closer, standing on the other side of the counter from her. His eyes were intent as they stared down at her. A deep, dark brown that she couldn’t read.
What should she tell him?
She swallowed heavily. What if she told him the truth and he reacted badly?
Could he really react worse than this? She hated that he was angry with her. It was one thing to sass and annoy him. But it was a whole other thing for him to be truly mad at her. She felt like crying.
Be tough, Cat.
There was a chance that he wasn’t the man she thought he was.
However, she thought over everything he’d done for her. Maybe right now he was scaring her half to death, but that was the exception, not the norm.
Alejandro took care of her. He gave her what she needed before she even knew she needed it.
He’d never harmed her. She knew that deep down. She sucked in a deep, calming breath.
And the truth had to come out sometime. She didn’t think she was going to get the answers she was seeking any other way.
“I’m not hiding from anyone,” she whispered.
“No? Then why would you need a fake name and background?”
“Because I didn’t want you to know who I am.”
“Why not? Why are you here?”
“I . . . I needed to find some answers to something, and I was hoping that you might have them.”
He stared at her, and she could sense that his big brain was working. “And to find these answers, you needed to get close to me? So was that all a set-up with Vince? To get my attention?”
Shock and horror filled her. “What? No! How could you think . . . I wouldn’t arrange to be attacked just to get close to you. I couldn’t have known you’d come back and help me.”
He frowned. “That’s true.”
Now came the tricky part. She was either all in or not. “But it isn’t a coincidence that I got a job at Michelle’s. Or that I had to fill in for Starla. I . . . I set that up. I arranged for her to get sick so I could take over as a server to the back room. Because I wanted to get your attention.”
He froze. She didn’t even know if he was breathing. What was he thinking? Was he upset?
Of course he’s upset, Cat. You idiot.
How had she imagined this going? Had she really thought she could hold on to this secret? Suddenly, he moved, making her jump. He walked around the counter.
Oh God. Was she wrong about him? Would he hurt her?
She felt ill.
This is what happens when you lie . . . it always came back to bite you in the ass.
Or in this case, it was likely going to be his hand on her ass.
“Come.”
“Where are we going?”
He just shot her a look and then took hold of her wrist, tugging her off the stool and pulling her behind him.
“Oh God, please don’t tell me you have a secret dungeon,” she cried. “I don’t think I’d do well in a dungeon. I like the sunlight. Does it even have a toilet? I refuse to use a bucket. I’m going to get all blocked up and you don’t want that on your conscience, do you?”
