Sold To The Demon Alpha
Chapter 52

Aria’s POV

“If it isn’t Aria Ajello in the flesh after all this time. How have you been?” Daniel said, unable to hide his surprise beneath that smirk that he wore like a second skin.

Daniel Fernandez was attractive and he knew it. Knew how to carry himself in a way that made it easy for women to like him. There was a time when I was one of those women who thought he was the best thing after chocolate cake.

And even though I had been skeptical to date him because I didn’t know him so well and wasn’t ready for him to know that I wasn’t the perfect girl that he believed I was with a deadbeat father and load of debt, I had been flattered that he was interested in me.

But as I looked at him smiling at me now, all I felt was a realization of how much in love I was with Roma. I couldn’t help but compare the two of them. Couldn’t help but think about what Roma would be doing if he was in front of me right now.

Well, he wouldn’t even need to smile before my heart would start beating faster than normal.

I looked around, hoping that Scott was not on his way back because I was still cracking my brain, trying to figure out how to make sure that Daniel didn’t ask any questions about why I was here when I had said that I had moved away.

Ever since Nicole told me that he had been really nosy about it with her, I wondered if I was being paranoid by believing that he knew about the existence of werewolves and had somehow figured it out.

But looking at him now, he looked as clueless as ever as he waited for an answer.

“Pfft, I’ve been fine, Daniel. But you knew that already because we have been texting, haven’t we?”

“Yes, indeed we have. So tell me, have you moved back to town finally or what brings your beautiful face back her after leaving with no notice.”

“You sound like my dad. No notice” I mimicked his voice, hiding my shaky hands behind my back as I tried to remain calm.

He raised his eyebrows and opened his arms and when I raised my brows, he shrugged.

“What? I can’t get a hug from the girl that got away?”

Looking at his extended arms skeptically, I stepped into his embrace briefly and moved back immediately.

He looked at me with suspicion and I decided that this was the best time to walk away before I would crack under the pressure of his intense gaze and say something that I wasn’t supposed to.

“It was very nice to see you, Daniel but I must be on my way now.” I replied with a smile that I was sure was very fake.

I turned around, unsure of where I was going but deciding that anywhere was better than here. I would text Scott with my new location so that he’d pick me up when he was done.

Daniel grabbed my hand and turned me around to face him and I gasped at the strength of his grip. He was a footballer so I tried to rationalize that as his reason for such a tight grip.

“What do you want, Daniel?” I asked as gently as I could and he loosened the grip on my hand, an easy smile returning to his face.

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know about your aunt? Where you’re staying now? What town was it?”

My face paled as I tried to think about whether I had ever texted him on anything related to what he had asked and when I couldn’t even remember whether I had included any of that information when I was drafting my lie, I cleared my throat and placed a hand on my forehead.

“I should probably head back home now. I’m in town, visiting him and I wanted to get some drugs for himbut I just watched this medical show and it made me want to come to this store and check out what they got.”

“Alone? Or did you come with somebody?” He asked with his brows raised, listening attentively and I fought the urge to growl.

Looking around, my panic increased as he waited for an answer and I finally chose to nod.

“I was here with Nicole. Yeah, she has gone though. Had to do something at home, I guess.”

I made a mental note to text Nicole immediately I left Daniel because I was certain that he was going to ask her about it. But why?

Why was he so interested in what I was up to when we weren’t even in a relationship?

I knew I had made the right choice to mention Nicole because he nodded, looking almost relieved and his smile more genuine.

I didn’t know if Scott had seen Daniel around when he was in town or vice versa but it would have been too difficult to explain because Daniel would have asked more nosy questions.

Sophia would be proud of my ability to tell a lie at the rate that I was going.

“So, where are you headed now? Want me to drop you?” Daniel offered and I shook my head immediately.

“I’m just going to sight see before I leave town.”

“After you see your dad, right?” He added and I nodded.

“Yeah, right. His meds too. I should really get going. Talk later. ” I pointed towards the pharmacy again and before Daniel could say anything, I waved at him and entered the pharmacy again, heaving a sigh of relief when I watched him head to his car through the glass and drive off.

Quickly sending messages to Nicole and Scott that I had gone back inside, I was about to text Sophia when I saw a message notification from her.

Sophia: Salem just walked into the kitchen, acting like her husband died.

Me: but that’s how she does act, isn’t it?

Sophia: You think she had a beef with Roma and that’s why she’s acting like a serious snake crawled up her a*s and died?

I snickered, but then the smile wiped off my face as I remembered the incident at the study and my expression turned sour again. I hadn’t talked to Sophia on what happened because I could not bear to relieve the pain that I had gotten dumped before it even began.

“There you are? Why are you hiding here?” I looked up to see Scott looking at me with his eyes wide in surprise and I picked up a packet of vitamin c before allowing Scott to lead me out.

Sending a reply to Sophia, I looked around and entered the passenger seat, feigning a relaxed smile as Scott drove us back to the pack.

“I wasn’t hiding. I just needed to get this. Nothing is wrong.” I answered and popped one of the tablets in a way that made Scott chuckle but as I looked around to see if there was any sign of Daniel, I wondered if everything was truly okay.

And if I was just being paranoid.