48. Epilogue Connor
“Ava Milton, you are in so much trouble, young lady!” Mary’s voice cuts through the low hum of servers like a knife, her heels clicking an angry staccato against the concrete floor as she storms into my office.
I don’t even have to look up from my screens to know she’s got that ‘I mean business’ expression on her face, the one that makes grown men quake.
Fuck, she’s hot.
I lean back in my chair, lacing my fingers behind my head as I take in the sight of my wife in all her furious glory. Even after nearly two decades together, she still takes my breath away. Especially when she’s pissed.
“What’s she done now?” I already pull up the tracking program on my laptop.
“She snuck out. Again.” Mary braces her hands on my desk, leaning over to glare at the screen. “I swear, that girl is going to be the death of me. Where is she?”
I type in the commands, watching the map zoom in on our daughter’s location. Or rather, locations.
The little red dot that represents Ava is blinking all over the place, jumping from one spot to another faster than I can keep track.
What the hell?
I frown, tapping at the keys with increasing frustration. This isn’t right. The system is glitching, the data scrambled and nonsensical. It’s like someone’s deliberately fucking with the signal, bouncing it off multiple towers to obscure her real whereabouts.
A slow grin spreads across my face. Oh, he didn’t.
“Connor?” Mary’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. “What’s wrong? Why isn’t it working?”
I school my features into a neutral expression, but I can’t quite keep the pride from my voice. “It seems our son has been practicing his hacking skills.”
Mary’s eyes widen, then narrow. “Nico did this?”
“Looks like it. Kid’s getting good.”
“Good? He’s interfering with our ability to keep track of his sister! This is serious!”
“I know, I know.” I hold up my hands in a placating gesture. “I’ll talk to him, straighten this out.”
“You’d better. I swear, he’s too much like you sometimes. ”
My boy, following in his old man’s footsteps. Chip off the old block.
“Stop looking so damn proud of yourself.” Mary swats at my shoulder. “This isn’t a good thing. We need to be able to trust our kids, not have them constantly trying to outsmart us.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” I stand, pulling her into my arms. She resists for a moment, still stiff with anger, but eventually melts into me, her head coming to rest on my chest. “I’ll handle it, okay? We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay. But I’m coming with you. I want to hear what our little genius has to say for himself.”
I press a kiss to her hair, inhaling the familiar scent of her shampoo. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Blue.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t implant a tracker in all of us yet.”
“Hypothetically speaking, how opposed would you be to that?”
“Connor.”
“Okay, sorry. Let’s talk to our little man.”
Together, we head upstairs, Mary’s hand clutched tightly in mine. As we approach Nico’s room, I can hear the faint clacking of computer keys.
I don’t bother knocking, just push the door open and stride inside. Nico regards us with a carefully blank expression. But I can see the glint of mischief in his eyes, so like my own.
“Hey, Dad. Mom. What’s up?”
Mary steps forward, her arms crossed. “Don’t ‘what’s up’ me, young man. You know exactly why we’re here. ”
Nico’s gaze flicks to me, a silent plea for backup. I just raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to crack.
He readjusts his glasses on his nose. “Is this about Ava?”
“You’re damn right it is.” Mary’s voice is tight with barely suppressed anger. “What did you do to the tracking system?”
Nico shrugs. “I may have made a few tweaks.”
“Tweaks?” I laugh. “Kid, you completely scrambled the signal. Bounced it off half a dozen towers. That’s more than a tweak.”
“Connor!” Mary glares at me. “Don’t encourage him!”
I clear my throat, trying to be appropriately stern. “Right. Nico, what you did was completely unacceptable and irresponsible. You can’t just go messing with the security systems like that.”
Nico’s jaw sets in a stubborn line, reminiscent of Mary when she’s digging her heels in. “Why not? It’s not like they’re foolproof. Obviously, they need improvement.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he’s got a point. Damn, I’ve taught him too well.
“That’s not the issue here!” Mary says. “The issue is that you deliberately interfered with our ability to keep your sister safe. Do you have any idea how worried I am that I don’t know where she is?”
Nico at least has the grace to appear slightly ashamed of that. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to prove that I could do it. ”
“Do what? Outsmart your father?” Mary shakes her head. “Congratulations, you’ve officially become a teenager.”
I snort at that. She’s not wrong. But still, I can’t let this slide completely. Time to play bad cop.
“Alright, enough beating around the bush. Where’s your sister?” I ask.
He hesitates, glancing between me and Mary. I can see the wheels turning in his head, calculating his next move.
“I might be willing to tell you for a price.”
“Excuse me?” Mary asks.
Nico sits up straighter, squaring his shoulders. “I want to build my own server farm. In the basement.”
I blink, taken aback. “You want to what now?”
“A server farm. For my projects. I’ve outgrown the setup I have now, and I need more processing power.”
Mary turns to me, her expression incredulous. “Is he serious right now?”
I rub a hand over my face, torn between frustration and grudging respect. Kid’s got balls, I’ll give him that.
“Nico, we’ve talked about this. You can use my servers for your projects. There’s no need for you to build your own.”
He shakes his head stubbornly. “Your servers aren’t secure enough. Obviously, if I could mess with the tracking system so easily, they need an upgrade.”
I grit my teeth, hating that he’s right. I’ve been meaning to overhaul the servers for months now, but something always seems to come up. Freelancing as a cybersecurity consultant doesn’t leave a lot of free time for tinkering.
Mary throws me a look that clearly says ‘this is your fault’. I hold up my hands in surrender.
“Alright, alright. We can discuss the server farm later. But right now, we need to know where your sister is.”
Nico purses his lips, considering. “She’s at a party. With her friends. ‘Blowing off steam’ were her words.”
“A party? On a school night? Oh, she is so grounded,” Mary says.
I frown. “Blowing off steam?”
“She broke up with her boyfriend. Jason. He was cheating on her.” Nico’s face shows no emotion.
Mary gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh, my poor baby. Why didn’t she tell us?”
I never liked that little punk. Always thought he was too smooth, too charming. Reminded me too much of a younger, stupider version of myself.
“Normally, people are embarrassed or hurt. She apparently really liked him,” Nico says.
I glance at Mary, seeing the indecision warring on her face.
“I’m sorry for my part in it. I just wanted to help her. Be a good brother,” he says.
Ava probably promised to leave him in peace for a month or cover for him .
Mary’s expression softens. “I understand, honey. But next time, come to us first, okay? We’re a team. We need to work together, not against each other.”
Nico resumes his typing. “Okay, Mom. I will. Can I go back to my project now?”
I clear my throat, getting us back on track. “Yes, after you stop messing with my system and tell us where your sister is. We need to go get her.”
Nico taps away. “There. That’s the address.”
A moment later, both our phones buzz with an incoming message.
Mary already heads for the door. “We’ll handle it. Thank you, Nico. For telling us the truth.”
He shrugs, turning back to his computer. “Yeah, well. You guys are alright, I guess. For parents.”
I ruffle his hair before following my wife. “Watch it, kid. You’re still in trouble for that little stunt with the tracking system. We’ll talk later about that server farm business.”
He grins up at me. “Worth it.”
Mary pauses in the doorway, turning back to level a stern look at our son. “And you’re grounded, young man. I think that’s what your father wanted to tell you.”
“Fine,” he says.
Mary grabs my hand and tugs me out of the room. As soon as the door closes behind us, she slumps against the wall, her head falling back with a thunk. “That boy… ”
I wrap my arms around her. “He’s just keeping us on our toes. Gotta stay sharp in our old age.”
She swats at my chest, but I can see the smile tugging at her lips. “Watch who you’re calling old, mister. I can still run circles around you.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” I dip my head, capturing her mouth in a slow, deep kiss.
She melts into me, her hands fisting in my hair as she parts her lips, inviting me in.
God, I’ll never get tired of this. Of her. My Blue. My little obsession.
I break the kiss reluctantly, resting my forehead against hers. “As much as I’d love to continue this, we have a daughter to retrieve.”
“You’re right. Let’s go be responsible parents.”
I take her hand and lead her down the stairs. “Responsibility is overrated. But for you, I’ll make an exception.”
We’re almost at the front door when Mary stops short. “You know, we could let Ava stay at the party. Let her have her teenage rebellion moment.”
“Oh? And what brought on this change of heart?”
She steps closer, trailing a finger down my chest. “Well, we have the house kind of to ourselves now. Nico is distracted by his project. Seems like a shame to waste it.”
Heat flares in my gut at the implication in her words. “You make a compelling argument, Mrs. Milton. ”
She smirks, her eyes darkening with promise. “I thought you might see it my way.”
I grab her by the waist, hoisting her up into my arms. She lets out a squeal of laughter, wrapping her legs around my hips as I carry her up the stairs to our bedroom.
“What about the server farm?” I ask between kisses, kicking the door shut behind us.
“Your decision.” Mary tugs at my shirt, impatient. “Now, less talking, more ravishing.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I grin against her lips, tumbling us onto the bed.
As I lose myself in my wife, all thoughts of wayward daughters and hacker sons fade away. There’s only Mary, my Blue, whose captivating eyes swept over me, capturing my heart that one afternoon, I had to opt for the cafe because the Wi-Fi at the frat house was down.
My waves, my love, my forever.