11
RAVEN
I tipmy sunglasses and peer from above the rim as Alejandro rises to his feet and walks away from the table.
The meeting is over, and people linger on the terrace as the servers carry more food and drinks to the table.
Francisco looks at me––at last––and nods softly, no smile on his face. That’s a bad sign. I push the chair back, suck in a long breath, and stroll to them.
“Hi,” I say in a clipped voice, stopping next to them.
Alejandro picks up a condensed glass of juice from the table and shifts his eyes to me.
His gaze looks like a dessert.
“Hey,” he says softly, no reaction on his face as if it’s the same to him whether I’m here or not.
I move closer and stop in front of him, forcing him to raise his eyes to me.
“What’s going on?” I ask quietly just as more people come to the table.
He peers at Francisco and signals me to follow him to the handrail.
We come to a stop a few moments later, and it’s only us. Francisco hasn’t followed us.
He sets his drink on the concrete railing and swings his eyes to me, saying nothing.
“Alejandro?”
His eyes come to mine again and stay. He looks at me like someone stabbed him in the back.
“Honestly, I don’t know…” he says, breaking our stare and lifting his drink to his lips.
“Where were you?”
“We were out. Had lunch at a restaurant.”
“Where is Kai?”
“I don’t know.”
Our conversation is mechanical, barely informative, and nothing more. I detect no emotion in his voice.
“What happened to you?”
He stares at me.
“What do you think?”
Alejandro is mad. Mad at me? The thought makes my head spin.
“Nothing happened to me,” he murmurs.
His voice is dull and empty of emotions. Unrecognizable.
“Is this about last night?”
Of course, it is about last night.