Page 93 of Hacking His Code

Exhausted from a long week, I grab my purse and turn to Remi. “Thanks for inviting me out. Your group is wonderful, all of them.”

“Why don’t you come back to the tower with us? I’ll have a car take you home later.”

The excitement I feel from being invited to hang out with her crew overcomes any tiredness I previously felt. After seeing how the group of friends interact, I’m dying for more of it. To be included in their special circle.

“Okay!”

Hunter

Lounging around Gabriel’s penthouse,I can’t help but notice how tame they are. Not long ago, they were making tabloid headlines for their antics. Now, they’re tired after a night out.

“Ladies will be here shortly,” Gabriel says, pouring a round of drinks.

My stomach twists in knots, but it’s not from nervousness. I’m quite charming around women, and they tend to adore me. The problem is, there’s only one I wish to see.

No one ever tells you the exact moment you’re going to fall in love, so I had no warning. I so badly wanted to tell her, and almost did as my head laid on her thighs, but the phone rang, forever changing my relationship with Ari.

She didn’t yell or scream. It would almost be easier if she had. Instead, she simply walked on past me, out of my life.

Afterward, she proceeded to erase all parts of me from her existence, returning the college tuition I had paid off and reversing the bank transaction. She tried to return all the gifts, but Neon convinced her to keep them.

Now, I get to hang out with Gabriel’s crew, seeing them dote on the women in their lives, while I have none.

I accept a shot, drinking it down quickly.

“So, give it up.” Zev glares at Gabriel. “You can’t hide it forever.”

“Whatever are you talking about?” Gabriel says with an arched brow.

“Remi isn’t a huge drinker, but she always has a daiquiri or something fruity,” Zev returns.

Gabriel glares at him. “Maybe she’s eating ‘clean’ as they call it.”

Zev takes a long pull of his drink. “Not with the cheese fries she was eating.”

“Are you stalking my wife?”

“No, but my wife certainly is.”

“Well, I suppose you can ask her about her diet when she gets here.” The look Gabriel gives Zev tells me that there will indeed be an announcement made.

My mom’s going to be pissed that Scarlet Primrose beat her to becoming a grandma. There’ll be no end to the jabs and dejected looks.

Fuck me.

Gabriel glances down at his vibrating phone. “They’ve arrived.”

Zev sighs. “Please, dear God, say that Sari isn’t with them.”

If there were a polite way to leave at this point, I would. The last thing I want is to be subjected to happy couples staring lovingly at each other, reminding me of what I can’t have. Part of me is angry with my mother and father, but that’s unfair. They may have made me this way, but it was out of love and their desire to protect me.

The door to the lounge opens, and a handful of chattering women come pouring through.

I recognize Remi instantly as she’s been on numerous magazine covers. Fiona is easy to pick out as well with her bright red hair.

A blonde and brunette enter, chatting with each other in what sounds like snarky tones. Trailing behind them, I see Cassius’s now-wife, Sadie, who is enormously pregnant but still light on her feet. My eyes don’t linger on her, though, as it’s the woman next to her that grabs my attention.

It’s Arinessa.