The Hunter(15)

“Lucas Hunter?” she said quietly, after a few moments, almost to herself. “If he owns that building, then he must be loaded, yet I have never heard of him.”



“Why would you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Surely you don’t know all the rich men who live in New York!”



She raised an eyebrow at me before her questioning continued. “How old would you say he is?”



I thought for a second and closed my eyes. “I don’t know. At first, I thought he was much older than me. But when his angry expression softened, I realized that he couldn’t be more than a few years older than me.”



Angel’s inquisition continued. “So, around thirty? Without waiting for my reply she snatched up her phone and began to dial.



“Who are you calling? You can’t tell anyone about this, not even Chad. No, especially not Chad.” I cried, hearing my voice going up at by least an octave.



“”Don’t be stupid,” she shot back. “Of course, I’m not calling Chad. As if he would have any idea who Lucas Hunter is.”



“Then who -” I stopped, suddenly realizing who Angel would call to find out more about anyone of significant social standing or financial means. This was confirmed a moment later.



“Hi, Mom,” she purred. “Oh, I’m good, really good. You?”



They chatted for a short while before Angel got to the point. “Mom, do you happen to know anything about a Lucas Hunter? All I know is that he owns the Orion Building where Issy’s office is.”



I finished my cocktail, whilst trying to eavesdrop on Angel‘s call, suddenly realizing that I did want to know more about this gorgeous, sexy, unnerving and, let’s face it, downright weird sounding man.



After what seemed to be an eternity, Angel tried to end the call, promising her mother that she would visit soon and that she would be sure to call if she needed anything at all. I had to resist the urge to grab the phone and end the connection myself. I waved my arms around to get Angel’s attention and made the universally understood gesture of dragging my finger across my throat. She rolled here eyes and shrugged.



“Well?” I demanded, more harshly than I intended, when she finally got her mother off the line.



Angel raised her eyebrows and folded her arms at my tone. Then she flopped down on the sofa and pulled me down next to her. “Sorry, honey, she doesn’t know anything about him. She thinks that she has heard the name but she can’t recall where or why. She even asked my dad, who couldn’t add anything.”



“Argh!” I said with a smile. “Can you do me a favor?”



“Name it,” Angel said sincerely.



“Make me another yummy cocktail, please?” I asked, giving her my best puppy dog eyes.



She laughed and rolled her eyes before she went off to make me my third cocktail that I just knew I would regret drinking when the morning came. However, my disturbed sleep and emotional phantom rollercoaster were taking their toll and I just wanted to relax and fall into a drink induced slumber.



Angel returned with a small cocktail for her and a large one for me. Just as we clinked glasses, there came a determined knock on the door. I thought it was odd because we hadn’t had a call from James, to inform us that we had a visitor.



I opened the door cautiously to find a very irritated Chad outside. “What’s happened to Angel?” he asked nervously.



I stepped back to let him in. “Nothing, she is fine. She said you weren‘t coming over tonight.”



“No, she isn’t fine. She has ignored all of my calls and texts!” he said, sounding wounded. “She’s never done that, even when she was ill.”



“I think it is my fault,” I said soothingly, rubbing his back. “She has been helping me all evening.”



“Helping you?” he sounded amazed. “What with?”



“Oh nothing,” I said carefully. “Just work stuff. Go on through, she’s in there - I will grab you a beer.”



I stayed in the kitchen to organize some food as we had missed dinner. Thankfully, Angel had picked up a tray of sushi earlier in the day and I grabbed it from the fridge gratefully.



Carrying it through to the lounge, I set it down on the coffee table. “Nice one,” said Chad, tucking in immediately. “You know, Issy, you can find out a lot of information about someone just a quick Google search,” he said innocently, as Angel shot him daggers.



“Oh god, what have you told him?” I buried my head in my hands, appetite forgotten.



“Just that you want to find out more about who owns your office building,” Angel said quickly. “What else is there to tell?”