Page 35

“Yeah, he never left. He still has the restraining order against him, but he lives on the other side of town working as an accountant for a furniture manufacturer. I’ve tracked his phone from time to time, and it doesn’t come within fifteen miles of us,” Ri answered.

Graham stiffened underneath me and I glanced at him, worried at the stormy look on his face. His focus was internal, and for a few minutes, I let him think through his idea. When he caught my gaze, I nodded, wanting him to tell us his conclusion.

“Has he been in a relationship since their breakup?” Graham asked.

“Two since Neko, but they didn’t stick around for longer than a month. The most recent ended this summer. Before you ask, no hacking involved. His exes were vocal on their social media about his out-of-control behaviors and that’s made him stay away from them.”

“Well, shit, not what I wanted to hear. He’s focused back on Neko. But since he hasn’t broken the restraining order and we can’t prove he created my fake account—”

“Yes, we can,” Ri said.

“Not by legal means, we can’t. If we report him and say we have proof, he’ll know where the information came from and expose you. Neko should call to report this incident, because it might violate his restraining order. But in the meantime, we need to document everything and if anyone were to come across him, call the cops and get somewhere safe.”

“How do you know so much about this?” Echo asked.

“I contacted a lawyer.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I was playing a hunch. He didn’t seem the type to be logical enough to move on, and he played his hand by posting about me and not Neko. I’m guessing, although I can’t verify, he found out about me, contacted the companies I worked with, which is easy since my work history is online, and gave them the information about my supposed ‘wife’ and the stream last night. Which means his obsession ramped up after learning about me. I’m a threat to his happiness.”

“Well, that’s fucked up,” Hensley said.

Finished talking about my ex and his motives, I stood. Today was my partner’s birthday, and I wanted to do something special for him.

“Mom, dad? Can I see you in the living room?”

Graham’s hold tightened until I leaned in and kissed him. “I’m fine.”

He nodded, blowing out a breath, and ran his fingers through my messy hair. He captured my mouth again and deepened the kiss for a moment, before he stood and said, “I’ll start the dishwasher.”

I walked up to mom and asked, “Can you take Graham out with you and the twins for some shopping? They want to dress him up anyway, and it’ll give me time to make a birthday cake and his favorite dinner.”

“Of course, Neko-Ren.”

“And dad, I know this is last minute, but there’s two stores in the mall that carry what I need. Can you grab several things for me there? Here’s my credit card and I’m texting you the list, and if you see anything else for the twins, add that too.”

“You’re a good man, son.”

“I didn’t know until last night it was his birthday. It appears he never celebrated.”

With a long hug from both of them, I put my phone back in my pocket and headed back to the kitchen and started the soapy water for the pans. Graham glanced over and raised an eyebrow, and I gave him a beaming smile. I hoped my surprise made celebrating his birthday a tradition from now on.

“Graham, let’s go.”

I loved that mom wasn’t giving him an option.

“Where are we going?”

“The twins and I are taking you shopping while Neko stays behind and grills Hensley for information about you.”

“Um.”

“I’ll lock up behind you and set the alarm.”

“And I have a butcher’s knife handy in case I have to stab someone.”

Graham grimaced and glanced at Echo. “Good, I guess. Okay then, I’ll get my shoes on and then I’m ready to go.”