Chapter 16
Eli
We hit the ground running the moment we touch down at La Guardia.
It’s Saturday morning in the city, and I have to get to work even if I don’t really want to—which I make very clear to Lex when I drag him and his suitcase up to my bedroom.
“But you love working,” he reasons with an adorably confused frown and head tilt.
“I do, and I also think it’s going to be good for you to spend some real quality time with the whole parental unit before Patrick gets here on Tuesday and you have to start actually working. I’ll set an alarm, though. For dinner.”
The smile and easy goodbye kiss he offers me is the most perfectly domestic thing that we’ve ever done, and I never want it to end. I never want to know another reality.
He goes right over to start unpacking his suitcase. We don’t even discuss if he’ll take over part of my closet, and I’m thankful that like me, he feels we don’t need to.
During the flight, he told me he plans on renting or maybe buying a house near the training facility outside the city, which is also closer to the airport for pure logistical purposes, and that’s where all his furniture from LA will eventually go, but before I could spiral into a sudden depressive episode at the thought of not seeing him every day that he’s not on the road, he asked me to help him look for places.
I agreed immediately, of course.
The prospect of spending hours with him on a research binge into what kind of houses Lex likes or sees himself living in is exciting enough, but the fact that he wants my input is what really makes me feel like nothing in the world can possibly bring me down.
It makes me think he might want me to spend considerable time there, right?
I also guess he’ll spend plenty of nights in the city—at home—whenever he has home games and doesn’t want to make the long drive to Jersey. Barclay Arena is only seven blocks away from the brownstone after all.
I snap out of my love-filled thoughts when the door to my office is suddenly in front of me. It’s time to use my brain. I put in the security code for a full lockdown on my office, then get to work.
First order of business is catching up with the office, and that means an hour-long call with Stella, Franco, and Dario.
Sure, it hasn’t even been two weeks since I last saw them, and I did have to spend more than a few hours working while I was in LA.
I even stayed in touch while Lex was in the hospital.
But since we’re working on getting the servers ready for the first data dump from Wall Banking—yes, Shirley decided that I’m the person she wants to trust with her bank’s most sensitive information—it’s necessary to stay on top of things.
“I’m available to help in any way I can, guys,” I try to press. “Please don’t wait too long to call me if you have any questions or . . . anything.”
I really don’t want to fuck this up, but I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on my team. I mean sure, they’re well aware of who Wall Banking is, who Shirley is, so there’s gotta be some pressure to get this done perfectly already. I don’t need to add to it no matter how anxious I am about it.
“We’ve got this,” Dario says confidently, and I can see his face set into a determined frown on my monitor. “But if we need anything, we’ll reach out.”
I exhale and nod. “Thanks.”
“You also need to get back to work, Eli, so let us do the same,” Stella says in her perfectly efficient and calming tone.
We all sign off with goodbyes and promises to talk soon, and instead of trying to get a few hours of coding in, I start off with the unofficial work.
There’s an encrypted message from Seamus waiting for me, so I check there first.
The text is only the eyes emoji, and then there’s a document attached. When I open that I see it has a link to a chatroom on the dark web.
I know instantly that it’s filled with the worst of the worst.
People, hackers, teaching each other how to build secure websites for all kinds of depraved shit, including but not limited to . . . human trafficking auction websites.
I go back, back, back, trying to find what I know is waiting for me.
There.
November twentieth.
The last time tgr81gotcha sent a message.
Bragging.
Fucking scum.
But just like I suspected they would when I first came across their name, they’ve been silent ever since.
Whoever this is, they’re not stupid, sadly.
I flag the chat, and set my software loose on it so I can hack into the backend of it, try to find the information it’s designed to hide—a simple IP address is all I need.
While that works, I make myself read the chat, see if anyone talks about them, and a few of them ask about tgr81gotcha.
One message catches my attention.
Dodge:
he’s bankrolled now
Just like I’d never heard of Gotcha, I’ve never seen Dodge anywhere either, and if what they’re saying is true, it implies they might have a close relationship with Gotcha.
I set up a wide search for Dodge, and go back to reading messages, to see if there’s any other little morsel of information I can find.
That message came through mid-December, so I guess the asshole landed on his feet—he’ll be off the internet for good soon enough if I get my way.
If Gotcha really has been bankrolled, then that means he’s now probably working for a criminal organization. I really doubt he’d be into working for something above the law.
I also have confirmation now that they’re a man, at least a very strong clue, which just goes to figure, of course they’re a man.
I bet he’s white, straight, and was rejected by the popular girl in middle school and never let it go.
Whoever he is, I’m gonna make him pay.
I surface back to the world of colors and nonbinary things when the alarm on my phone goes off.
Springing up from my chair, I hurry to shut down, make sure the progress on finding IP addresses for both Gotcha and Dodge are still going, grab my personal tablet, then lock the office and head down the stairs in search of Lex and food.
I find him sitting on the cloud couch, watching Oceans 11 with all the parents, with Lyla’s hand gripping his arm like she’s scared he’ll disappear into thin air.
“You’re here.” Dad’s voice drags my eyes away from the tender scene. He sounds surprised, and I don’t really blame him.
“I’m hungry and done with work for the day.”
“That’s great,” Lyla says, jumping up and clapping her hands.
Her joyful smile wants to make me feel guilty for how many dinners I normally miss, but I make a mental promise to myself to get better at that even when Lex isn’t here, and follow everyone into the kitchen after greeting Lex with a soft kiss.
Dinner feels like a true family affair, with Ruko and Lyla playfully grumbling about each other, and Dad looking on with a smile so content that the internet would probably explode if I posted a video of it.
I’m thinking of doing just that when Lex interrupts his parents.
“All right, knock it off,” he snaps at them—somehow in a fond if exasperated way. “Can’t believe you two are supposed to be the parents. I want to talk to you about . . . everything.”
He has everyone’s full attention instantly, including mine.
“What’s up?” Dad asks easily.
“I want to find a place in or near Irvington. Probably to rent, but since I have two more seasons on my contract and the Demons absorbed the no-trade clause, I’m pretty sure buying wouldn’t be the worst idea. If it gets out, it could also help with the narrative.”
Everyone nods along, but I don’t understand what narrative needs helping?
I keep quiet for now, determined to once and for all ask Lex about this and his reaction to the trade when we’re alone.
“So, finding a place is top priority,” Lyla surmises.
“I can help with that,” I pipe up as Lex nods at his mom.
“Thanks, angel,” he says sweetly and grips my hand, bringing it to rest in his lap. “I’ll go to Irvington on Tuesday with Patrick to finalize any paperwork and let the trainers and their doctor take a look at my face. When they give me a timeline of recovery I’ll know how urgent the house is.”
“I think this might be a good time to bring something up,” Dad says, and he sounds a bit awkward, way too diplomatic, but he meets Lex’s eyes.
“What?” Lex asks Dad softly.
“I understand why you were against it while you were at Richester, and when you moved to LA, but living in the city and with everything going on with the trade, I think it’s time you hire security.”
The last words hang in the air above the kitchen table for a long moment, almost echoing.
Lex groans and lets his head fall until his forehead almost touches his plate. I lunge forward but there’s no need. He remembers he just had surgery on his face just in time to stop and sigh. I’m pretty sure he’s disappointed that he can’t even show his frustration the way he wants to.
“It’s for your own safety,” Lyla says, trying not to but still sounding like a total mom.
“I know,” Lex mumbles, and when he raises his head, he even smiles at Dad, and it’s not all fake either. “I appreciate you caring, Michael, I really do.”
“I know,” Dad says softly.
“I can ask Austin, to see if he has any recommendations. Someone who’s cool so you won’t hate every second,” I propose.
“That’d be nice, thank you,” he murmurs. I get lost in his eyes for a long moment, like time stops. We stay right there, just looking at each other, smiling, happy, content.
“I can help too, while I’m here,” Ruko offers, and snaps us out of whatever that was. “It’ll be hard to find someone who looks more like a bodyguard than you do on any given day,” he says with obvious pride ringing in his voice.
That has us all chuckling, and the little tension that built is dissipating.
The rest of the night is spent discussing the roster of the Demons—Ruko is pretty sure the two guys they sent to LA to get Lex were assholes, but he texts Vinny and a few other people to ask. Then we veer into Lyla’s work, to the spring collection she’s releasing, which she’s beyond excited about.
Once we’re done clearing the table, I hold my tablet up to Lex.
“I brought this so we could start looking for places for you.”
“Thank you,” he says, so sincerely it melts me. “Can we go up, though? I love them,” he whispers, motioning to my Dad and his parents. “But they’ve been a lot all day.”
“You got it.” I smile up at him, then grab his hand and start pulling him to the stairs. “Good night!” I shout, and don’t give them another second to steal from us.
I throw myself on my bed and sit cross-legged, then I open a basic browser and start searching for realtor pages online.
“This is interesting,” I murmur.
“What?” Lex asks, sitting down more carefully next to me.
“There are some properties that haven’t been developed at all in this neighborhood.” I point at the area marked off in the map view. “You could build there if nothing is exactly what you want, and rent in the meantime.”
“Huh,” he says, tilting his head. Though his eyes stay on the screen, I’m pretty sure he’s got a million things passing through his mind. “I’d still need to rent a place,” he points out after a moment. “Let’s see what’s here to buy or rent.”
One hour later, as Lex swipes through the photos of a beautiful five-thousand-square-foot home built at the turn of the century, I admit that he’s found the one he wants.
“It would need so much work, though,” he grumbles to himself, but it’s something we’ve both been saying since we found the listing.
It reminds me.
“You know who just finished doing a full renovation on a brownstone only a few blocks away?”
He looks up, eyebrows scrunched up.
“Who?”
“Tucker,” I tell him, and though it’s a bit ridiculous, I jump slightly on the mattress, feeling triumphant.
“He did?”
“Yeah.” I nod quickly and take the tablet back from him, opening a new tab to see if I can find the street view of it from a few months ago to now so he can see the difference.
“We can go talk to him about it. I know it took longer than he wanted to, but he was super happy to wait so it could be exactly the place he wanted for himself. And also, we should actually get you two to reconnect now that you’ll be working together, and especially after he somehow pulled off the whole getting-you-traded thing. ”
I don’t realize how icy cold the room goes until it’s too late.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
The clipped, quiet question puts me on alert, and when I turn, I see something I’ve never witnessed in Lex’s eyes when they’re aimed at me.
True anger.