Page 18 of Suddenly Desired (APEX Billionaires’ Club #2)

BLAKE

Blake felt the subtle shift as they began their ascent. The polished steel walls reflected the two of them — Ellie standing beside him, her hands clasped in front of her, her expression a mix of curiosity and nerves.

“Nate’s a bit . . . unconventional,” he said, glancing at her reflection. “Just so you’re prepared.”

Ellie smirked, her shoulders relaxing slightly. “Unconventional how? Like, mad scientist vibes or eccentric artist?”

Blake chuckled softly. “Somewhere in between. Let’s just say he doesn’t exactly follow the corporate dress code.”

“I think I can handle that.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

He couldn’t help but smile. She had a way of making even tense moments feel lighter.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” she asked, her voice softening. “I don’t want to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding,” Blake said firmly. “I want you here. Besides, you’ve already been dragged into this mess — you might as well meet one of the few people who can help untangle it.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a small, reassuring nod, and Blake felt a flicker of calm in the storm of chaos swirling around him.

The lift slowed, the soft ding signalling their arrival. As the doors slid open, Blake stepped aside to let Ellie exit first, his hand hovering near the small of her back without quite touching. They walked into a short corridor lined with sleek, numbered doors.

The third door on the left was wide open, and Nathanial Parker was already leaning on the frame, one hand braced against the jamb.

He looked every bit as Blake had described — barefoot, wearing a Green Day T-shirt and a pair of bright purple boxer shorts that left little to the imagination.

His dark hair, incredible brown eyes and toned leg muscles shot a jealous streak through Blake that tore like fire, until he reminded himself that Nate was going to help him, not steal Ellie out from under him.

“Blake!” Nate’s voice boomed, his LA accent unmistakable. “Dude, you should’ve given me a heads up you were bringing royalty with you. I’d have put on pants!”

Ellie spluttered as Blake led her to the door.

“Please don’t bother on my account,” she said, and Blake’s jealous streak stepped up a notch.

“Nate, this is Ellie. Ellie, Nate. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m hardly royalty,” Ellie said.

Nate offered his hand, pumping Ellie’s with almost painful enthusiasm. “Hey, I say what I see,” he said. “And I see a queen. Come on in, coffee’s already on.”

The space was bright and inviting, with floor-to-ceiling windows flooding the room with light. With a cosy mix of tech chaos and homey touches, it was clear this was Nate’s kingdom — an eclectic blend of cutting-edge gadgets and quirky decor.

On one of the oversized sofas sat a woman with a colourful silk scarf wrapped around her head. She looked up as they entered, her face lighting up with warmth and affection. Standing slowly, she crossed the room and wrapped Blake in a gentle, motherly hug.

“Darling Blake,” she said, her voice soft. “It’s so good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Sophie,” Blake said, his voice losing some of its usual tension. “How are you feeling?”

“Wonderful,” Sophie said, her smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Still free and clear,” Nate chimed in, stepping behind his mum and wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

Blake beamed. “That’s great news.”

Sophie turned her attention to Ellie, her smile widening. “And who’s this lovely young woman?”

Blake’s lips twitched into a smile. “Sophie, meet Ellie. She’s been keeping me sane the last couple of days.”

“Sounds like a full-time job,” Sophie teased, extending a hand to Ellie. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Ellie said, her tone warm but slightly shy.

“Right—” Nate clapped his hands together — “let’s get down to business. Coffee, water, or straight to the good stuff?”

“Just water for me,” Blake said, sliding a glance at Ellie.

“Coffee for me, please,” she said, her lips twitching into a grin. “But thanks for the offer.”

“Suit yourselves.” Nate grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed it to Blake before pouring Ellie a supersized mug of coffee. “Let’s head to the lair. Time to fix this mess.”

Blake nodded, his jaw tightening. This was the moment he’d been waiting for — the first step towards reclaiming everything that had been taken from him.

And somehow, having Ellie by his side made it feel just a little less daunting.

He led them into a large office where three huge screens were sitting on a curved beech desk. Nate’s boxers were threadbare and the rear view of them left even less to the imagination. Ellie gave a little giggle and threw her attention deliberately in the other direction, which Blake was glad of.

“Sorry,” he whispered, and Ellie gave him a little grimace in return.

“Please, sit,” said Nate. “Make yourselves at home. I’ll be right back.”

He scampered from the room, and Ellie perched on an office chair. Blake sat next to her, running a hand through his mass of thick, dark hair. He looked almost pained.

“I forgot just how weird he was,” he said.

“They’re lovely,” Ellie replied. “Good people, you can tell.”

“The best,” said Blake. “Even though they don’t always wear trousers.”

“Good people without trousers are still good people,” Ellie said, laughing.

“Pants are overrated,” he said. Fortunately, he was now wearing some — green combat slacks with bulging pockets.

He slid into his chair, spinning it around so that he was facing Blake and Ellie.

His smile had vanished, and he looked dead serious.

“You’re in trouble, Blake. This whole business smells rotten. ”

“It is,” Blake said. “You know it wasn’t me who—”

Nate held up a hand. “I know, I know. Nothing in the universe would ever convince me that you had anything to do with this. I’ve seen few people in my life who treat women — who treat anyone — with the respect that you do. God bless your parents, they brought you up right.”

“Thank you,” said Blake.

“Which is why I was so surprised to discover that you did it,” Nate said.

Blake’s heart lurched, and Ellie gasped. Somehow, his hand found its way into hers and she held it tight.

“No,” said Blake.

“Not you, but your computers,” said Nate.

“That’s impossible,” said Blake. “The hack has to have come from outside. David says he’s looking at Eastern Europe, maybe Russia. Maybe even a fledgling social network looking to take down Heartbook. Maybe even some crazy . . .”

Nate was holding his hand up again, and Blake’s words petered out. Nate wheeled his chair to one side, showing them the TV-sized flatscreen. On it was a bunch of code, and Ellie scrolled through it. Some of it was familiar PHP and XHP, but most was too advanced for her to make any sense of.

“I got started as soon as I got on the plane,” said Nate. “I still have the old backdoor — Agnes and Maurice never knew about it. The servers record every post, every tiny piece of data entered into Heartbook — even data that you write and delete without posting.”

Blake nodded.

“Each post has a whole tranche of data attached to it. The date, obviously, the IP address, information about the device used to post, plus everything that Heartbook already associates with that information. It knows who you are, where you are, everything .”

“Scary,” said Ellie.

“Seriously scary,” said Nate. “But useful. Look, every single one of those horrific posts on your page came from you.”

Blake leaned in, feeling the colour draining from his face.

“From your phone, from your laptop at work, from your desktop at home. The devices match, the passwords match, the IP addresses match. Most importantly, the dates match. The first post is from eight months ago. The last was yesterday morning.”

“But it’s all fake — the dates have to have been manipulated,” said Blake. Ellie was still holding his hand, and he wasn’t making any effort to pull free.

Nate shook his head. “That’s impossible.

Whoever did this was smart. The time stamp on these posts is cast iron — it can’t be changed, not even by somebody with a Heartbook master admin account.

They’re real. They were posted in real time over the last few months, but kept private so that nobody could see them.

You probably never noticed them because nobody ever commented. ”

“And I never really used the site,” said Blake. “It was just for show.”

“Exactly,” said Nate. “They were like bombs which somebody left there, ticking away, and yesterday they set them all to public and lit the fuse. Kaboom.”

Blake pulled free, stood and paced down the office. “So, whoever did this was playing the long game,” he said. “They’ve been planning this for a while. But what about the addresses? They can’t have come from my devices.”

“They did,” said Nate. “I looked at them all. There is no way that information could have been hacked. Somebody used your machines to make these posts. But I did spot something interesting, something weird. Look at this one — uh, hang on.”

He scrolled through the code for a few seconds, then jabbed the screen so hard it wobbled on the desk.

“I quote, ‘Women should not hold positions of power. It diminishes the integrity of our democracy and undermines everything that generations of great leaders have built. Leadership is, and always has been, a man’s duty.’ ”

Blake felt his fury rising, hot and unrelenting, as he clenched his fists at his sides. It wasn’t just the humiliation of the fabricated remark, it was the calculated malice behind it — someone working to paint him as a man he wasn’t. The thought twisted like a knife in his gut.

A quick glance at Ellie only stoked the fire.

Her eyes burned with a righteous anger, her lips pressed into a tight line.

He knew she didn’t believe it, not for a second, and yet someone out there wanted the world to.

The injustice of it made his jaw tighten, and the muscles in his arms coiled like springs ready to snap.

“According to our data, you made this comment on the fourth of January this year, at 3.03 p.m., using your mobile from your office.”

Blake chewed over the thought, then looked up, frowning. “But I wasn’t there.”

“You weren’t,” Nate confirmed. “You were with me, in the hospital, waiting for Mom to come out of surgery.”

“That’s right,” said Blake. “I left my phone in the office. I completely forgot to take it because the call for surgery was so quick. I remember thinking I should go back for it, but I didn’t because I wanted to be there when she went in.”

“You were,” said Nate. “And you never left my side. Not for twelve hours.”

The room fell into an uneasy silence as the weight of the information settled over Blake like a fog. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor for a moment, his jaw tight, his breathing steady but shallow.

“That means somebody used my phone,” he said. “While I was with you, somebody went into my office, unlocked my phone, wrote this post and set it to private.”

Nate nodded sadly.

“All of these posts — somebody used my computers, my phone, when I wasn’t in the room.”

Blake sank back into his chair as if the air had been knocked out of him.

Ellie reached for his hand, her fingers instinctively wrapping around his in a firm, grounding grip. She could feel the faint tremor running through him, a physical manifestation of the storm brewing beneath his calm exterior.

Nate’s voice dropped lower, each word landing like a hammer. “These hacks came from inside your own building, Blake. From someone you know.”