Chapter 15
I’m brushing my teeth when I get an alert for a new notification from HimLock. The unprompted messages feel… Normal. At least, now they do… Because I’m pretty positive this app is more than a clever AI.
Locke:
I want you to feel safe. I’m sending someone over to install cameras.
I freeze mid-motion, toothbrush still in my mouth. This is exactly what I need to start poking holes in the well-crafted lie. I’m just not sure how I want to play it yet.
Eris:
What do you mean you’re sending someone to install cameras?
Like… At my home?
Locke:
The technician was pre-screened. He’s discreet.
And he’ll be there at 3 p.m.
I spit, rinse, wipe my mouth on the edge of a towel, all while I glare suspiciously at my screen. Did I even finish brushing my teeth? I can’t remember. The HimLock app stares back like it expects gratitude I’m not willing to give.
Eris:
That’s… fast.
Locke:
You deserve fast.
Something twists low in my stomach. Not fear or even comfort. This is something between the two, clouding my instincts with intrigue.
How did it—this person?—get my address in the first place?
I don’t know how to reference the app and-or person behind the app, so… HimLock is all I’m going to call it. For now. I think…
HimLock knows Eris is my legal name, not just a username. And it’s got a camera on my front door. And now it’s putting cameras inside my apartment?
Am I really going to let this happen?
I set the phone down and look at myself in the mirror. Really look at the details. My eyes are tired, jaw too tight. Don’t even get me started on my hair. It’s barely convincing me I brushed it today.
I don’t recognize this version of me… The woman playing pretend again but using someone else’s rules. Or the woman who lets others dictate what safety looks like.
Especially when that decision is made by a shadowy figure who may or may not be a person.
And yet, I’m not going to stop it.
But that’s because where there’s a connection, there’s a trail leading to the other end… And also, because I’m clearly losing my mind.
I’ll keep playing this game until I grow bored or HimLock stops getting in Daniel’s way without me lifting a finger.
At 2:58, someone knocks on my front door, which means they’ve got access to this building, either by resident fob or service work keycards from the reception desk.
I check the peephole and cringe.
Of course… Because why wouldn’t this be the kind of day I’m having?
He looks ordinary, like he could belong in anyone’s doorway with his black zipper hoodie and perfectly faded jeans.
There’s a tablet under his arm and a duffel bag hanging from his shoulder.
But it’s the casual way his sleeves are pulled up to expose his muscular forearms that brings me back to the night I spent with him.
The moment I open the door, recognition sweeps through all my senses… Clean and immediate. Dirty and delayed.
Jace.
“Camera install?” he asks, voice lower than I remember.
I nod and step aside, not trusting what will come out of my mouth.
There’s no smiling or flirting. He just moves past me into the apartment, scanning corners, angles, and sight lines like he’s tracing imaginary images onto my walls. Like he’s done this a thousand times.
Like he can’t acknowledge that he’s been inside me.
Or maybe he doesn’t remember…
I stay behind him, arms crossed over my chest, pretending it’s curiosity instead of calculation. Stalking each individual movement as though it might give me some insight.
Is it him?
Does he know who it is?
Jace works quietly, his hands steady, clearly not a stranger to precision. Every movement is measured in a way that would keep me transfixed if I weren’t trying to glean some knowledge from this… Like how to disengage each camera he plans to mount.
“Did you just start doing this?” I ask casually enough to sound like I’m not dissecting every word.
He glances over his shoulder, then back to the wall where he’s marking for holes. “Side job.”
I snort and try to cover a sarcastic laugh. “Do you know why they picked you?”
His hands still, then continue pulling a cable he doesn’t connect to the camera he’s working on. Interesting…
“Because I’m good at disappearing,” is all he says in response.
I hold in a second snort. He’s better at disappearing than he is at hiding the lie he’s currently trying to sell me.
If the cameras aren’t wired into the electrical, then they’re Wi-Fi with a battery life… Which means I’ve got a deadline. My guess is it’ll be a lot sooner than the expiration date this visit alludes to, if HimLock even expects me to notice what’s happening.
I don’t call attention to the discovery, just in case…
He crouches by the door, unzips the duffel, and opens a black case. An assortment of tools glints under the overhead light, but his focus never wavers or wanders toward me.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he says quietly, catching me off guard.
I quirk a brow. “I’m not.”
“Even when no one’s around, someone is,” he murmurs without looking at me. “Watching over you.”
“Someone’s always watching,” I reply, tone flat. “That’s the fucking problem.”
His mouth twitches like he’s fighting a smile, though it doesn’t last more than a second. He stands, finishes syncing the first camera, and moves to the next room like he’s got somewhere else to be.
And maybe he does…
Jace works fast. Efficient. Each sound of his drill bleeds into the next, creating a rhythm that screams competence. It’s clear to me that he’s done this before… The question is, was the recipient willing?
I follow him with my eyes, not my body, trying to ignore how familiar he feels. Trying not to wonder if that familiarity is his fault or mine. I know what happened between us was a one-time hookup, but why exchange numbers if you weren’t at least contemplating doing it again?
I wouldn’t say no…
I mean, I might say no right now. But later? I’d change my mind.
That’s why I don’t ever swap contact information.
He steps away from the new camera in my living room, straightening as he wipes his hands on his jeans like they’re dirty.
You know what’s really dirty?
A camera in my fucking bedroom.
But I don’t say anything.
Not yet.
“You’ll get a notification once the feed is active,” he informs me, tidying his tools and shit. “Everything runs through an app, and you should get an invitation to download any minute now.”
Jace doesn’t wait for a thank-you, or ask if I have any questions. He just gives a nod and a tight smile before he leaves. The lock clicks into place behind him, and I glare at a spot on the wall like I can produce fire from my eyes alone.
Silence fills the apartment.
And when I finally relent, coming to terms with the fact that I lack superpowers when I need them most… I grab my phone and open the HimLock app to a waiting message.
Locke:
How is the work going?
Eris:
Everything is done and secure.
I think he did good work.
But he looked familiar.
I almost type more, though I decide to leave it at this for now.
Locke:
People often do.
My thumbs hover as I contemplate my response, but I hit send before I can overthink it.
Eris:
Let me rephrase…
Do I know him?
There’s a longer than normal pause.
Locke:
Would it change anything if you did?
I stare at the words until the screen dims.
The answer hums on the tip of my tongue and at the edge of my fingers, quiet and certain.
But I don’t type it.
Because I don’t know how to admit that maybe, just maybe, I like being seen by whoever this is.
Even if it means I can’t get a single thing done in this apartment until I get rid of those goddamn cameras.