More Exposed (Exposed 4)

"Why?" I freeze and turn to stare at her. "I'm going to talk to him."

"He won't tell you anything." She pulls her hands through her hair in utter frustration. "I've asked. He won't say."

"This is ridiculous." I almost chuckle at how ludicrous this is. My family knows important information about the child I live with and they refuse to tell me. "We're a family. I feel the need to point that out to my mother. "We shouldn’t have secrets."

She only shrugs her shoulders in response. "I don't know anything."

"I'm going to ask daddy." I turn on my heel again to march out of the room in search of my father.

"Maybe it's time you ask Zander," she calls after me. She was right. Maybe it was time I ask him what the hell was going on.

Chapter 12

I searched the house in vain for my father before finally waving the white flag of defeat and leaving. I spent all of the time on the bus on the way back to Hunter's apartment replaying that conversation with my mother over and over again in my mind.

I dial Hunter's cell as I walk through the door and there's no answer. I don’t leave a message because I know he won't want to talk about something so serious over the phone.

I glance at the clock on my tablet. It's just after eleven, which means it's only five in the morning in Paris. Alexa told me to call her whenever I needed her. I don't know if I've ever needed her more than I do in this instant.

I listen intently as her cell rings three times before she answers with a gleeful, "Bonjour."

I giggle inwardly knowing that she's spent the last half of the year struggling to learn even the simplest French phrases. It's not for lack of trying, but her focus seems to be centered on the men there instead of learning the language.

"You're awake?" Why does that surprise me? Of course she is.

"Wide awake, Sadie." I instantly feel comfort when I hear her say my name. I miss her endlessly and I've spent a small fortune talking to her each week. "What's up?"

"Hunter." I don't see any reason to tiptoe around the reason for my call. Alexa is bold, direct and isn't going to pull any punches when it comes to telling me what I need to do about Hunter.

"What's he done now?" I know she doesn’t mean it, but the disappointment in her voice stings tonight. When he kept his engagement to Christina a secret, it was enough to tarnish his image in Alexa's eyes for good. I'm not sure how she's going to react once I tell her that he's keeping something equally major to himself.

"I think he lied to me about Cory's dad." It's so foreign to hear myself say the words. Do I truly believe that Hunter lied to me about that? Would he do that?

"What makes you think that?" It's a logical question.

"My mom mentioned something about it and...." my voice trails as I recline back into the comfort of the couch. "He's just been acting strange lately."

"Zander's being weird?" The use of his legal name isn't lost on me. "That's hard to imagine."

"Funny," I say the word without any meaning. "I can tell he's holding something back. I'm not sure."

"Where is he? Why aren't you riding his cock right now?" I blush even though she's thousands of miles away from me. Her brash demeanor hasn't changed a bit.

"He's in California visiting Christina," I grumble. I hate that he went there without me.

I hear Alexa shuffle before she speaks. "Did he take Cory with him?"

"He did." I feel as though she's unintentionally rubbing salt in the open wound that is my heart. "Without me."

"How the fuck did that happen?" Her tone is raised now. I know she's mentally adding to the list of reasons why she hates Hunter.

I pull in a heavy breath. "He didn't ask me to go along. Actually, he didn't even discuss the trip with me."

"That's fucked." It's abrasive and it's unfortunately, completely true.

I wish she were here. I could use some quality Alexa time face-to-face. "How am I supposed to find the truth if no one is willing to tell me?"

"You've got to be straight with him." Her tone is more muted now. "Just tell him you know and he's going to cough up the details. Simple."