He took a breath and looked down at the ground. “I didn’t say anything because I’ve been really trying to keep my home life separate from our relationship. Really trying.”
“Two things,” I interjected. “Number one: when’re you gonna stop thinking that you have to protect me from everything? I’m not a baby! I’ve asked you from day one of…of…whatever’s been up with you, to be honest with me! The lies? The secrets? It makes me feel like you don’t trust me.” He tried to interrupt me, but I talked over him to finish what I had to say. “TWO: stop trying to mix the two issues. You and this girl have nothing to do with whatever is going on with you and your dad.”
“That’s what you’re not getting! The two issues are one in the same!” AJ yelled back. He fought to wrangle in his frustration, lowering his head to his hands while I watched him, unsure of what to believe and what not to believe.
“Sam…you’ve been my only constant for a while now, my escape from the hell that I’ve been living with all these months. The only reason I haven’t been straight up with you is because…I don’t want things to change. I don’t want you feeling sorry for me, or worried about me, or…scared to be around me.”
Scared? When I frowned, he explained.
The pained look on his face softened me up a little, but I folded my arms over my chest to keep him from seeing it. “You and I both know the type of man my father is – greedy, selfish, manipulative.” AJ paused to shake his head. “He got himself, and the business, into some trouble. He made some moves with the wrong people, apparently didn’t hold up his end of the bargain, now they want what they’re owed plus some. And seeing as how my father thought he could get over on them like he does everyone else…he doesn’t even have the means to pay.”
I blinked a few times, gauging his expression. “How much?”
“More than we’d have if we sold our house, everything else that we own, and probably a few organs,” was his answer. “It’s just…bad.”
I didn’t say anything. Couldn’t.
With a sigh, AJ admitted to something that I already knew. “The man in the hallway outside our hotel room in New York, I do know him. His name’s Vick. My parents pay him to keep tabs on me and to intervene if…if the need should ever arise,” was all he said, but I knew what he meant. My heart sped up.
“Has anyone tried to-“
“No, but there’ve been threats.”
I stared at him.
“And that look…the one on your face right now…that’s the reason I didn’t want you to know any of this.”
Clearing my throat, I tried to fix my expression.
“And the girl someone saw me with is the daughter of the man my dad’s relying on to bail him out of this mess. They’re old friends and he invited his whole family up over break to discuss business. There’s a merger in the works that could change everything.”
“Is it gonna work?” I asked as calmly as possible.
When AJ shrugged, I didn’t know what to think. “I suppose if Mr. Tanaka is able to act in time. My dad hasn’t told him why he’s been pressing things along so urgently, but we’re basically at a standstill waiting for him to make a decision.”
Anger subsiding, I sat beside AJ on his bed.
“My mother came to me and asked that I take the guys’ daughters out of the house for awhile because they were going stir-crazy. One of them slipped on a patch of ice and I helped her the rest of the way to the door. That had to be what someone saw, because, other than that, I didn’t touch either one of them.”