Chapter 42
Luca
Pay attention to subtle hints in dialogues.
Sometimes important information is hidden in seemingly casual comments.
I try to memorize every tiny little feature of Lara’s face, like I might still lose her.
The curve of her lips, her long thick lashes, and the little mole on her neck right beneath her chin.
Her breath comes quietly and regularly, and her muscles have finally relaxed, no longer as tense as they were.
I feel the same since my warm shower. Staff are having our clothes cleaned right now, which reek of smoke.
While Lara was in the shower, I went to pick up some clean, comfy clothes from my room.
At the bar, it seems to be business as usual, like nothing happened—or at least that’s what it sounds like from the noise downstairs.
I didn’t go and look, because running into Hank is the last thing I want right now.
I’m sure Hank saw me run back inside when everyone was gathered at the assembly point.
And I’m sure that he saw me with Lara, but I don’t care.
Lara told me all about the supposed theft, and although Hank has the law on his side, he’s lost me.
His accusations don’t come from a place of feeling robbed or cheated.
No, Sophia bruised his ego. And Hank Bayford is not a man to take a bruised ego with grace.
He might seem all business at conferences, but he obviously has the emotional maturity of a temperamental toddler.
I’m fairly sure now that his crusade against Sophia was the only reason he even wanted to attend GameChanger.
Suddenly, all of his support for our game feels like a lie—it was all a means to an end.
And yet it was he who recommended I try to keep my professional and private lives separate. Oh, the irony.
I sigh, and Lara opens her eyes, a questioning expression in those deep pools of hazel.
I smile and shake my head as a silent sign that everything is fine, and she closes her eyes again.
But it’s not, of course. I know Mr. Crow asked Hank to deliver some form of proof.
If he does, PixelPulse will be excluded from the competition.
That piece of knowledge sits there like a big threatening elephant in the room, and it feels highly at odds with the posh, hushed ambiance.
Quiet music plays from Lara’s phone speakers, some rock band I don’t know, but other than that, the room is silent.
But my thoughts are racing. It’s nagging at me that I was so wrong about Hank.
Careful not to rouse Lara again, I reach for my phone and open my chat with Maleek. I’ve already brought him up to date.
Luca: Hey, you asleep yet?
Maleek: Sleep is for the weak.
Luca: If you keep up this nonsense, you’ll be starting a podcast about cryptocurrencies next.
Maleek: Haha no worries, I’m at Amanda’s :3
Luca: Pints are on me when I get back. And I want an update on your dating life.
Maleek: Yes, Mum. How are things on your end?
Luca: Weird. Can’t get over how wrong we were about Hank. And how he’d shaft someone like that for a stupid mistake.
Maleek: And I can’t get over the fact that Hank Bayford used to have a dating life. I can’t see him doing that somehow.
I pause. Something about Maleek’s message bothers me, but I can’t figure out what it is.
I try to recall the networking do on our first night here.
There’s Sophia’s face in a grimace of surprise.
And there’s the fact that she seemed really, really familiar, though I’m reasonably sure I’ve never met her. Something’s up. But what?
Luca: How long has Amanda been working for Bytes things have gotten too dire for that.
But that trust comes from a sense of community—I suppose it’s something we have less of at Bytes I have no doubt. But although I’ve dreamed of that prospect myself, I won’t sell my soul for it.
“I’m pretty proud of you,” I say quietly.
Lara laughs, and when that doesn’t end in a fit of coughing, the last bit of knotted tension in my body dissolves. Everything’s going to be OK again.
“You’re proud of me?” she asks. “I didn’t do anything. I’m just not running away when things get hard this time.”
“And that means you’re doing more than most people could.”
I brush my hand against her cheek, stroking it slowly, gently.
Her gaze falls on my lips, and right on cue, heat comes rushing through my body.
I swallow and hurriedly glance past her at the wall.
The path my thoughts are taking isn’t the most appropriate after today’s events, and I mentally count to ten in Arabic like Maleek tells me he always does when he needs to calm down in stressful situations.
I started doing it too at some point, and it helps.
Or at least it does until Lara snuggles closer and her breath tickles my chin.
“Thanks for being here.” Her voice is just a whisper now. I pull her closer again, and the sound of her calm breathing mingling with the quiet rock music is the last thing I hear before I fall asleep.