Hacking His Code (Beguiling a Billionaire Book 7), page 17
Hunter: Nah, I’m good.
* * *
Gabriel: You can’t say no because you owe me. I’ll text you the time and location as we get close.
* * *
The last thing I want to do is surround myself with men in happy relationships, but as he said, I owe him. Big time.
* * *
Hunter: I can hardly wait.
Arinessa
I pick up the phone on the third ring.
* * *
Nurse: Hello, Arinessa, it’s me, Nurse Agnes.
* * *
Arinessa: Hello?
* * *
My hand is trembling so violently I can barely hold the phone up to my ear.
* * *
Nurse: I’m calling to tell you that we’ve made a discovery regarding your mother’s condition.
* * *
Arinessa: Oh my God—is she going to be okay?
* * *
Nurse: What we believe happened is this: your mother discontinued treatment some four months before she began the trial. During that time, she refused everything except palliative care. There were no tests and no monitoring done.
* * *
Arinessa: Oh-kay…
* * *
Nurse: Because of that, we believe she developed a comorbidity that went undetected. The good news is that LaviTech’s treatment did exactly what we expected it to, and her primary condition is cured. The bad news is that she has a new and unrelated condition.
* * *
This was one of the many theories passed around, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but it still feels like a gut punch.
* * *
Arinessa: She’s already been in a coma for nearly three weeks. What’s going to happen?
* * *
Nurse: We’re confirming the diagnosis with a specialist. Once we do, we will pull her out of her coma and go over treatment options. The doctor thinks that will be Monday.
* * *
Arinessa: Holy fuck—we’re going through the same shit all over again, but with something new?
* * *
Nurse: Actually, the situation looks a lot more promising this time around. Cassius has ensured she will receive the best care, and the doctors suspect that this new ailment will be far easier to treat.
* * *
A flicker of hope tries to ignite within me, but I know better than to kindle it.
* * *
Arinessa: When can I see her?
* * *
Nurse: You can be here when we wake her. I’ll give you a call shortly before we start the process.
* * *
Arinessa: Thank you.
* * *
The phone goes dead, and I stand there, trying to process the information.
“You okay?” Remi asks.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you need some time off?”
“No. It’s actually good that I’m here so I can keep busy.”
“Do you want to share anything?”
“It’s just that my mother’s primary condition has been fixed, but she may have a completely different condition that caused her new problem. It sounds horrible, but it might be easy to fix.”
“That’s great news…I think,” Remi says with a confused look.
Tears spill down my cheek. “I feel like this is all my fault.”
“Oh, honey—you had nothing to do with your mother’s illness.”
“It’s not that…”
Remi pulls me over to a couch, forcing me to sit. “I want to hear everything.”
Her concern touches me. Remi may be reticent, but she is kind and genuinely cares for her staff and friends.
“It’s so stupid, but I met this guy, and I began working for him. He was able to get my mother on this new drug, and I made her agree to it. While she was receiving the treatment, I was elsewhere. I should have been by her side.”
“Ari, you couldn’t just stop life and sit at the hospital twenty-four-seven. You had an apartment, college—”
“I was fucking the guy that hired me! That night, as she was in pain and being put into a coma, I was…I was—”
“Shh-shh-shh, it’s going to be okay,” Remi whispers, pulling me to her shoulder.
“Obviously, I left the position, and before you guys poached me, I was seriously formatting ebooks and looking to go back to skip tracing.”
“Well, it’s lucky that we found you.”
“And for once, I actually met a man I trusted. Now, I’m destined to be alone.”
Remi pulls back. “Did the guy hurt you?”
“No…”
“Then what happened between you two?”
“Because I was with him while my mom was being put under, there’s no way I can allow myself to continue it.”
“I have a feeling your mother wouldn’t want you beating yourself up like you are. You should give him a call.”
I downcast my eyes. “I can’t. I really let him down. He did so much to help me when I was supposed to be helping him. I left before the project we were working on was complete. He has every right to hate me.”
Remi looks at me with sympathetic eyes. “One thing I’ve learned from my limited experience with men is that there is no real logic to their thought process when it comes to women. The only way for you to know how he feels is for you to ask him directly.”
I snicker. “That’s a tall order.”
“It’s better than wondering what could have been.”
“Well, right now I need to focus all my attention on my mother and getting my life in order.”
Remi frowns.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“My friends and I are having a girls’ night tomorrow. Why don’t you come with?”
“A girls’ night?” I exhale in distaste. “No, thank you.”
“Ah, come on. It’s a great group of women, and I think they’ll like you.”
“You do realize I have no real girlfriends, don’t you?”
“That, I cannot understand.” Remi smiles at me. “What’s not to love? You’re smart, good at your job, and really likable, despite what you might think.”
I have to admit, it’s tempting being allowed into the exclusive places women go together, and certainly better than spending another evening alone. The friendships forged from shared life experiences are something I wasn’t afforded in high school or college, and I do think my mother would want me to go.
It sounds terrifying, but maybe if I invite Neon, she’ll be my courage. Someone like her is good in any social situation.
“Do you think I can invite an…acquaintance? Her name is Neon, or rather Sam. She’s been there for me during my mother’s hospitalization.”
“Of course,” Remi enthuses. “We’ll start out at Madison’s and see where the night takes us.”
I pull out my phone to send a text to Neon, excited that I won’t be spending another evening laid out on the couch, devouring quarts of ice cream.
* * *
Arinessa: Wanna go out tomorrow for girls’ night? My boss invited me out, and I’d like it if you came along.
* * *
Neon: Sure, but only if you let me do your hair and makeup first…and pick out your outfit.
* * *
Arinessa: Seriously? You don’t think I can dress myself?
* * *
Neon: Honey, this isn’t some hillbilly apocalypse you’re going to. You’re allowed to be cute.
* * *
Arinessa: Fine.
* * *
“Count me in with a plus one.”
“Awesome. I’ll add you to the reservation.”
“Who else is going? College and high school friends of yours?”
“Fiona Fables Heartshire, Sadie Lavinius, Grace Anders might attend, though she’s been busy, there’s rumor Nadine Stry—”
“Holy shit! You can’t be serious. Are you for real taking me on a girls’ night with the world’s elite?”
“Well, that’s not what we call ourselves…but I suppose others do.”
I shake my head. “There’s no way—”
“You’re going—that’s the end of it.”
I could fight her and spend every moment of the weekend waiting for a call from the hospital while thinking about Hunter Davies, but hanging out with a bunch of pretentious billionaires might actually be less torturous.
“Fine. Count me in.”
Arinessa
Trying to figure out what to wear with Neon is never what I would consider fun. She’s rainbow neon everything, and I’m just trying to make sure everything is free of stains.
“I remember when I ordered this for you.” Neon holds up a black corset. “It’s perfect.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to wear anything Hunter purchased.”
“Then tell me what we’re left with? Because over the last three weeks, I’ve seen you in pizza-stained tanks, Eeyore pajamas, dollar store sandals, and jorts. You seriously have jorts!”
“I bought a couple of new outfits for work.” I open up the portable wardrobe I purchased and display the formal pantsuits.”
“You’re not wearing professional attire to girls’ night!” Neon’s voice is ripe with disdain. “You’re wearing this teal, button-up floral shirt and the corset on top. We’ll leave a few buttons undone to show a little cleavage.”
When I try to speak up, she glares at me. “Zip it!”
Might as well wear the corset while I still can. It’s not like it’s going to fit in a few months anyway.
That thing they tell you about sex, you know, that warning that gets drilled into you from the moment you find out what sex is—the big ole pregnancy warning…well, it appears that I am determined to never learn from the mistakes of others.
That’s right—I’m pregnant. Or, it’s highly probable. My period is three days late, three weeks after having unprotected sex.
And if that wasn’t enough confirmation, a pee stick confirmed it this morning.
“Fine, I’ll wear it. But what skirt do I wear?”
“Oh, you’re wearing these black booty shorts and a pair of thigh-high boots!”
“Neon!”
She chuckles. “I have all my friends calling me that now.”
“It’s fitting.”
“Look, just let me do what I’m good at in life,” she pleads.
I pout my lip out. “God, when did I become so weak-willed?”
Neon coaxes me out of my pajamas and helps me get dressed because there is no way I’d be able to figure out how to wear a corset on my own. Then she does my hair and makeup, turning me into the sexy siren I never knew I could be.
I look even more audacious than I did for the Davies’ family dinner, which Hunter had assured me I looked tame at. I didn’t feel tame, though, and now, I feel wild as I look in the mirror.
“God, you look so hot. Men will be begging for your number.”
“Jokes on them because I’m the absolute last person they’re going to want to date.”
“Oh, really… you work for the fucking Icors and probably earn a shit ton of money. You’re smart, low maintenance, have a killer rack, and you’re hot. If you can’t find a man, womankind has no hope.”
I take a steady breath, bracing for what I’m about to tell her.
I’ve never confided much in other women, but Neon has been here for me when I really needed her, and I absolutely can’t keep what I’m about to tell her to myself.
“Neon?” I say to the rainbow-colored pixie.
“Yes?”
“I’m pregnant.”
She blinks her glitter eyelashes back at me. “Like, knocked up? You’re going to have a baby?”
“Yeah.”
It takes her a moment to process what I just said, and I don’t much like the critical gaze she’s giving me, but I might as well get used to it.
“Would it be insensitive for me to ask who the father is?”
My eyes grow round from shock. “Yes!”
“Just kidding! It’s Hunter! I know it’s Hunter.”
“What do I do?”
“That’s up to you.”
“I mean, I know I’m going to keep it. But…everything else is a mystery.”
“Whatever you decide, Hunter is going to take good care of you, and Ernestine will take even better care of you. I swear she’s going to treat that baby like the second coming of Christ.”
“He’s going to hate me. He did so much for me, then I just…left. Without even a thank you.”
“That’s what people do when a relationship isn’t working for them. He knows that.”
“Yeah, but he trusted me,” I say, careful not to let the true nature of our relationship come to light. “Hunter and I both have good reasons to distrust people. I guess I showed him he’s right to be wary.”
Neon’s shoulders slump. “Oh, God…”
“What?”
She looks up at me with frantic eyes. “Please don’t be mad!”
My heart rate doubles, knowing that I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear. “What would I have to be mad about?”
“Hunter asked me to tell him how you’re doing.”
My brow draws inward. “Huh?”
“He was worried about you. He wanted to make sure you were okay.”
It takes me a full minute to understand what she’s said.
“For the first time in my life, I thought I had found a friend. Someone I could confide in.”
“You did!”
“I trusted you! I told you my secrets!”
“It was a mistake—I see that now, but at the time, I thought I was doing a good thing.”
“Everything is out of my control now—”
“That’s not true! I promise I won’t tell Hunter anything else.”
I snicker. “And I’m supposed to trust you?”
“I know what I did was wrong, but the reason I told you is because I want to be your friend. Your real friend. I’ll text Hunter right now, in front of you, and tell him I’m no longer giving him updates. You can tell him about the baby on your own terms.”
“How much have you told him?”
“Just little things, how you’re doing, that you like your job. You know, things.”
It feels like ice is coursing through my veins, and it takes every ounce of restraint that I have not to throw something at the rainbow traitor.
I point toward the door. “Get out!”
“Can we talk about this?” she pleads.
“Absolutely not! Go!”
Her face falls, and a gleam shines in her eye. My heart softens.
“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 thing I 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.
