Chapter Thirty-five — Trinity #2
I sat at my desk, not really seeing through my eyes. Memories rose to the surface of my brain like carbonation. Fizzing and zapping me with things I hoped I’d forgotten, but never would. Like when Dad missed my eleventh birthday and sent a gift instead.
The music blared from the new boombox as I danced around the room and sang at the top of my lungs. I loved this song. Couldn’t get enough. In a few days, when I’d played it three hundred times, I’d be sick of it, but right now it was all I wanted to hear.
This was the best birthday present ever. Dad sent it. He knew exactly what I wanted, because I’d been asking for it since right after my tenth birthday last year. It was perfect.
Energy coursed through me. I couldn’t shake it. The bed was the perfect bouncing place as I screamed the lyrics out the open window. I should make up a dance to this song. I could show Dad whenever he got back.
My door flew open with enough force to make it hit the wall. I fell onto the bed, startled. Val charged over to my dresser and turned off the music. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m going to make up a dance for Dad,” I told her. “I’ll show him when he gets back in a few days.”
“You will do no such thing.” She reached behind my dresser and yanked out the plug to the boombox. “We can hear this horrendous song through the whole house, and I’m not going to listen to it on repeat until Cecil decides to show back up.”
“Hey. You can’t take that.” I ran after her, and she placed a hand on my chest, keeping me far enough that I couldn’t reach my boombox.
“I can, and I am. You’ll get it back when Cecil’s home.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair is what I say it is. Now keep yourself quiet. We’re watching a movie in the living room.”
I swallowed, trying to keep the tears out of my eyes. “Can I watch with you?”
“No.”
She slammed the door behind her.
Those tears came hard and fast. I buried myself in my pillows and let the hurt flow over me. I hadn’t even done anything. Why was dancing and singing wrong?
I never listened to that song again.
The sudden flashback had me on my feet, pacing. This wasn’t what I wanted. It was why I hated thinking about it. Once I started thinking about one thing, my brain wanted to think about everything and it was too painful.
I found myself walking to Edgar’s office with absolutely no plan of what to say. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay here right now. What I really wanted was to be at the apartment with my Alphas, where I could be comfortable and there weren’t as many things to remind me of the past.
“Edgar?” I rapped my knuckles on the frame of the open door.
“What’s up?”
“I wanted to ask you…” How did I even word this?
“Um, you know about the break-in at my apartment. But I have some other stuff going on in my personal life right now. Mostly good. But I was wondering if you’d be okay with me working from home for a while?
Like I did right after Tracy? I feel like I’ll be able to focus better. ”
He glanced up at me for a second. “Yeah, that’s fine. You did some great work the last time you worked from home. I trust you. Just let everyone know where you are in case they need you. And send me your draft.”
“Thanks, Edgar, I appreciate it.”
“Show me that appreciation by writing the best article you’ve ever put on paper.”
I smiled then. “I’m working on something that might make you happy.”
“Good.”
Home. I wanted to be home. I could work there, but I felt fucking claustrophobic in this building right now.
I opened the apartment door and realized I’d gotten all the way back without being conscious of it. It wasn’t often I zoned out enough to forget I was moving, but it happened sometimes.
A text chimed on my phone.
Aiden
Come to my room.
I went, leaving my shoes in the entryway. “I’m still not recovered enough for you to pleasure me into oblivion.”
He didn’t look away from his monitors. “That might be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’d love it if I did.”
“True. What’s up?”
That made him look over. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just a long workday. How did you know I was here?”
“Door sensor,” he said without apology. “And sorry if this makes your workday longer.” A few tapped keys made windows pop up on the screen. “Cracked the flash drive. Most of it. There are a few files in here that are double encrypted, which is overkill, by the way, and that’s coming from me.”
“What’s on it?”
Spinning his office chair to look at me, his face was serious. “Seems like a lot of records. Environmental tests, the kind where you check for toxins. Some of the documents seem to be conflicting. What is this?”
I moved closer and sat on the floor, crossing my legs. “Like I told you, my boss, Tracy, died in a car accident a few months ago. I found a file of hers, and I reached out to her source. He gave me that.” I pointed to the flash drive.
“And?”
“She claims that some of the companies that signed onto a local environmental project are actually using that project as a cover for pollution. I need to look at the documents, but I’m hoping they’re copies of the falsified environmental reports.”
“That is what they seem to be.”
I grinned. “That’s amazing, thank you.”
“Are you sure this is something you want to pursue?” He asked. There wasn’t judgment or dominance in the question. “Companies like this don’t fuck around if they find out they’re about to lose millions of dollars. Or if their company is about to be destroyed because of public opinion.”
“Yeah, I know. But if this is true, I can’t just let them get away with dumping shit straight into the ocean. I thought the break-in might have something to do with the drive, but nothing else has happened, so it was just bad timing.”
“Break-in?”
My mouth opened, and I closed it again. The problem with the whirlwind that brought all six of us together was that not everyone knew everything. So I told him. “Brooks mentioned wanting to help me clean it up yesterday after everything. I’ll be lucky if I get any of my security deposit back.”
“Your apartment was trashed the day after you received this?”
“I’m unlucky.”
Aiden shook his head slowly. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“You either? The guy who gave me the drive said that too. Clearly, I need to bring more coincidences into your life because I promise they do exist.”
Clearing his throat, Aiden leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “If I promise you that I won’t take any action without you, will you be all right with me looking into all of this? I’m probably going to do it anyway, but I’d prefer your blessing.”
I noticed he used the word blessing and not permission. “Into the companies?”
“Into everything. The companies, your boss, the break-in.”
“If you really think there’s something to find, I’m okay with that.”
He tugged me off the floor to stand between his knees.
“I have no idea if there’s anything to find, but I already told all of you.
I don’t fuck around with the people I care about.
And I’ll be accelerating the security upgrades for this place.
” He laughed when he saw the look on my face.
“No, I’m not going to install explosives in the walls. ”
“Well, that’s relieving.”
“This place still needs better security. And,” he slid his hands up the backs of my thighs, “I’d like it if you shared your location. I don’t want to track where you go or what you do, but if something were to happen?”
“That’s fine.” I shared my location with Isolde and Ocean. With Dad too, but I checked his more than he checked mine. When I was younger, I used to look at his location when he was supposed to come home. It usually told me he wasn’t.
I opened my phone and shared it with all of them.
“I’m careful, you know.”
He smirked at that. “I do know. I’ve seen your work, and you are an excellent reporter.”
“You looked me up?”
“You could say that.”
It was probably the tip of the iceberg, given the amount of tech at his fingertips. “I’m not going to ask what you found. But I am going to change out of these jeans. Can you email me a copy of the stuff that’s decrypted?” I assumed he still needed the drive for the rest of that.
“Will do. Wait.” Aiden snagged me around the waist and pulled me back to kiss me. “Welcome home.”
Maybe changing my clothes could wait. Instead, I just kept kissing him. With my Alphas, it was easy to forget.