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Remington shrugged, putting his hands in his hoodie pocket. “The wife and kids wanted to see New York. Seemed like a good opportunity.”
“Your kids are here?” I asked, looking around.
“Well not here,” he clarified with another smile. “Although, we’d love to have you come meet them.”
“Not a good idea,” Kael cut in, his voice clipped. “Being around us is a bit of a hazard at the moment. But I appreciate it all the same.”
“Right,” Remington nodded with forced seriousness. “Hacker spy shit.”
“You’re the hacker spy,” Kael reminded him with a crooked grin.
Remington returned the expression. “Yeah, whatever. It’s been kind of fun. Don’t tell Lachlan, because he did move there to be close to me, but Idaho is boring. It’s cool to do something useful.”
“What did you find?” I asked with greedy curiosity.
“Not here,” Kael reprimanded with a scowl.
Remington laughed. “Juicy shit. SynthoCare is a sitting duck. I think they might actually be feeling invincible or something because they didn’t even try.”
“Okay, time to go,” Kael said in a clipped tone.
I snickered. “I can’t wait to see their faces.”
“Ooh, record it for me,” Remington said with a bounce of his dark eyebrows above his glasses.
Kael steered me away. “We’re going now. Stay safe.”
“Wait,” I looked between them in confusion. “Weren’t you supposed to… I mean, he was carrying—”
Kael pulled me down the path. “Enjoy New York, Remington.”
“Thanks!” Remington gave us a winning, panty-melting smile, gave me one last wave, and then continued on his jog.
Kael yanked me in the opposite direction. “We have what we need. Chill.”
“How?”
“He gave me the thumb drive when we shook hands, okay?”
“Oh,” I gusted out. “Right.” Kael shook his head, muttering something about Siberia.
By the time we made it back to the apartment building, I found a gloom settling over my head again like a storm cloud. And to make matters worse, Kael couldn’t hold my hand or comfort me. He had to stay three paces behind me, arms folded and imitating the appearance of an aloof bodyguard.
We took the elevators to the penthouse, and Kael whispered to me just before the doors opened. “One more day.”
I fought a smile. One more day. And then what? I frowned as that question settled over my thoughts uncomfortably. What do we do when I’m free of them? Or is there a “we” in the future at all?
Assuming things did go well. Granted, there was a variable I still couldn’t bring myself to tell Kael about. But it was a non-issue. It was in the past. No matter what my parents meant for this party to be, Kael and I were putting a stop to it. It didn’t matter what Jonathon thought he was owed when I was shutting down SynthoCare anyway. He wouldn’t want to make a deal with my parents worth millions if their business was in ruins… even if he did want me.
Like my thoughts had conjured a dark spirit, I felt an unusual chill in the apartment when the guard opened the door for us. It might have been the thin film of sweat that had gathered under my baby blue athleticwear outfit, but I shivered as I walked into the foyer. Somehow, I thought something might be off. When my mother emerged from the study in a black and white, floor-length designer dress and her hair perfectly swirled away from her neck, a prickle of dread stung my skin like spitting flecks of grease from a hot pan.
“Matilda!” she smiled brightly. Her velvet brown eyes, so devoid of warmth, latched onto me, and she flared her faux lashes with pleasure. “I’m delighted you’re keeping your figure in mind, darling. Exercise is a fantastic habit. Hurry and wash up, love.”
I glanced down at my willowy frame. I resolved to eat more sweet potato chips as soon as possible. “Wash up for what?”
“We have a lunch date,” she smiled meaningfully. “With Jonathon. Isn’t that exciting?” She said this with a piercing, hard look that told me I had better be excited.
Mindful of Kael and his responsibility toward me, I plastered a smile on my face. “Oh. Nice.”
