Page 103 of Hacking His Code

“Yeah…about that—”

“So, you told him how you felt?”

“Yeah, and as it turns out, we both kind of suck at this sort of thing.”

Ernestine smiles. “It gets easier. Once the love is established, it grows, multiples, and eventually, there’s three.”

I smile, excited to tell her about her first grandchild.

“I have some matters to attend to, but I look forward to seeing you again,” I say.

“Same.”

My mind goes to the emails Hunter has been receiving, but this isn’t just a threat to his family now, not when I’m carrying his child.

I have to see what I can do to help Hunter, whether he wants me to or not. And this woman is my best chance at getting to the bottom of this.

“You remember what I was researching?” I ask.

She exhales a sharp breath. “Yes.”

“I made a break in the case. A biiiig break.”

Her brow shoots up in surprise. “Oh?”

“The kind of break that blows the whole thing wide open.”

She blinks back at me, mulling over my words.

“Fortunately, we’ll have plenty of time to discuss my findings,” I say. “Just the two of us.” I give her a wink.

The unmistakable look of fear lights her eyes. “I look forward to it.”

My heart races as I walk past her toward the elevator.

In no way did I want to come across as abrasive, but if anyone can help me figure out who’s been sending the emails, it’s her. And now that I have a good idea of what might have happened to Lucy, I might be able to help Hunter.

I catch a bus to my apartment, arriving home just before noon. Luckily, I still have the boxes from my move, and all I have to do is pack the important things I intend to bring with me.”

I wonder what my mom is going to think, waking up from her coma to not only me having a boyfriend but a baby on the way.

Of course, she’ll want me to finish college. I don’t know if I want to, though.

Remnants of Neon scattered around the room needle me with guilt. After I’ve settled in with Hunter, I’m going to have to fix what I truly believe was our budding friendship. It’s not that I didn’t have the right to be mad, but I should have seen things from her perspective.

I go into the bedroom to start in on my wardrobe and flicker on the light. I know Hunter would very well buy me anything my little heart desires, but I hate being wasteful, so I start separating the piles into the takes and the take-nots.

A rustling sound alerts me to a presence.

“Did Hunter send you?” I sigh, turning to see a black figure rushing toward me.

“Hey—”

A cloth bag is shoved over my face. I struggle to free myself, but all I succeed in doing is falling to the floor. Something presses against my mouth. I scream, claw, kick upward into a solid mass, but my efforts prove futile, and I fall into blackness.

Hunter

With Arinessa away,it’s impossible for me to get anything done, so I head to the family gym to sweat away my stress.