Page 78 of The Renter

61

Thursday, July 21st

She feels so far away. Since May, I haven’t been more than a few miles from Dani, and I don’t like this—her being in Wisconsin and me stuck in Chicago. I stayed in the city for two days to have a few meetings while she went back. I don’t like being apart.

Greg, Declan, and I sit in my office, regrouping after Summit and hashing out next steps. I’m supposed to be fully focused, but Dani keeps slipping into my thoughts.

“Did you get any names for political consultants?” I ask Greg.

“Yeah. I’m working through understanding each of their experiences. You’ll see my thoughts by the end of the week.”

“Good. Declan, let’s assume two things will happen.” I lean forward, trying to get a grip on the situation. “First, you’ll have to turn Cryptoball’s entire user database over to the government. How can we preserve anonymity?” I pause, remembering how the initial beauty of crypto was its freedom from regulation. But, of course, nothing that good lasts. “Second, if this unrealized gains tax somehow fucking happens, how can I—andeveryone else, for that matter—not report my holdings to the government?”

“Both questions have the same answer,” Declan says calmly like he’s got it all figured out. “The safest place for crypto is offline—not on any platform.”

“Transfer thirty percent of my assets offline for safety. Erase all traces of the original records.”

Declan nods, tapping something into his phone.

“If this gets more traction nationally, then I think we slowly roll out the news to preferred parties—to go offline. But it’s going to be such a dance. We can’t have the public getting scared and pulling all their money out of Cryptoball.”

I think it’s a good plan. People always panic when they feel vulnerable—when they feel like they’re losing control.

“Greg, I want you to stay in the weeds on this. Keep an ear out for what’s going on in other states. I’ll focus on having the governor shut the fuck up about pushing this rule change forward. It’s like he forgot who his donors are.”

The guys get up, ready to leave my office. “Declan, stay back for a minute.” Greg glances at me, already annoyed, intuitively knowing why I’m asking Declan to stay behind. I’ve never been one to let my home life mix with business, but here we are.

“While I have you. Dani won’t be doing any more Cryptoball projects,” I say a bit abruptly.

“She said that?” he asks, insinuating something more.

Taking a deep breath, not letting him rile me up, I nod. “Declan, do not test me. Also, stop talking to her like she has a drinking problem. Really, stop talking to her.”

“Stop talking to her?” he repeats, mocking. If only I could throw this conference phone in his face.

I take a step closer, feeling the heat rise in my chest. I’m not backing down. “You heard me.”

62

Sitting here, in the room of my childhood memories, I know my time here in Wisconsin is coming to a close. I’m so ready to leave and get back to Chicago.

Looking at my inbox, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of press releases and ghostwriting I need to do for clients, and I am happy to be able to put in crazy hours without Adam distracting me.

Although he is … even at a distance. I keep daydreaming about our future together. I’m getting nervous, though, wondering what our life will be like outside of the summer love bubble with both of us back in the city, working full time.

“Dani.” Mom peeks her head in my bedroom door. “How was the conference?”

“Amazing! Lots of networking,” I answer as she walks in. “I met dozens of CEOs and people at huge companies.”

“That’s great.” She smiles, staring at me. “You seem good.”

“I am.”

“When do you think you will be moving out?”

“Are you kicking me out?” I giggle.

“No. But I’m confirming you’re still on track to move out at the end of summer.”