Page 89 of Hacking His Code

“Look, maybe we can get over this. Maybe we can’t,” I say. “I just need time.”

“I understand. I promise I won’t tell Hunter about your pregnancy.”

“Thank you.”

“But you should tell him.”

“I didn’t ask for your advice.”

“I know, but you’re going to hear it. You and Hunter are fucked up in weird and similar ways. You both don’t trust people and have yet to develop significant relationships outside of one another. You found each other like magnets, blindly pulled in each other’s direction. Don’t fuck this up.”

Without another word, Neon exits my apartment, closing the door behind her.

I’m left reeling from her confession, something I should have suspected from the moment she knocked on my door. I guess I was so desperate for a friend, I threw logic out the window.

On the bright side, I look amazing, and I fully intend to meet up with Remi and her crew, even if I am going alone. Now that I know I didn’t, in fact, kill my mom, I’m going to start living my life without any guilt or reservation.

And I’m going to do it one-hundred-percent on my own terms.

Fuck Hunter for buying me a friend, and fuck Neon for pretending to be my friend.

At least I was able to secure a job without his help.

I look at myself one more time before heading out for the night, excited for new possibilities.

Hunter

The last thingI expected was for New York City’s elite to be hanging out in a dive bar such as Kent’s, but here I am, walking through the rickety door to meet up with Cassius and his crew.

“Hey!” Gabriel holds his drink up, signaling for me to make my way over.

Just as Cassius suggested, I dressed down and no one gives me a second glance as I cross the room. My parents would have a heart attack if they knew I was in a place that didn’t have their own security team, but I brought my own detail, and I wave my bodyguard over to sit with the others.

Alistair Whent, a man I’ve met and purchased a jet from, rises to meet me.

“I never expected your uptight ass to meet us here,” he jests.

“I bought a large share of Lysol’s stock in anticipation of this endeavor.”

The table breaks out in boisterous laughter, and Gabriel calls the waitress over and orders me a beer.

Cassius stands to address his friends. “Everyone, this is the elusive Hunter Davies. Hunter, this is Gabe, Zev, Alistair, Sven, and Elric. Drake is supposed to be here, but something came up.”

I wave to the crew, most of whom I recognize, then take a seat and join in the conversation.

Sven is angry his sister tried to get him disinherited, though tabloids show he’s earned the title ‘Train-Wreck,’ so I’m not entirely sure his anger is well-placed. Elric has broken away from his family business and has started his own in communications, already launching a social media app and a magazine.

Each of them have so many shared experiences that I feel misplaced, though they do their best to welcome me while taking jabs where they can. I roll with the punches, but when the conversation shifts to my love life, my anxiety spikes.

“I much prefer that Hunter stay single,” Gabriel says. “My mother would be livid if Ernestine were to become a grandmother before her.”

“About that,” Zev says wryly. “Fiona says Remi is drinking water.”

Gabriel casts him a caustic look.

“Is Gabriel gonna be a daddy now?” Alistair says. “The fatherly type, not the perverted kind.”

“You guys are crazy!” Gabriel takes a long pull of his beer.