Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 238: Not Enough, My Dude

Aaron was dreamily staring at his phone background at work when Aiden burst into his office. He couldn't believe he had done something so silly in retaliation for a prank but Keeley seemed to enjoy it.

He had always thought she was fun to be around but hadn't realized just how much of her personality she kept hidden so she would 'look good' in front of him. She was a playful person; why hadn't he gone along with it more often in the past?

No use worrying about that now. The past was gone—the present was what mattered and he thought he was doing a fairly good job, all things considered.

"What do you have for me?" he asked formally.

Aiden's face was uncharacteristically grim. "Not enough, my dude. You know what I did find? Evidence of a hacker protecting this guy's old information. He's not as good as I am—I'll break through the encryptions eventually—but I'm not sure how long it will take."

Aaron brought his pointer fingers together under his chin thoughtfully. Who exactly was this man that he was so determined to keep his true identity a secret?

"You said before that the first time Graydon Meyer popped up was as a freshman at MIT, correct? Did it occur to you that he's the one protecting his own information?"

The kid's jaw dropped. "Wow, I didn't even think of that. That would make sense…he is a tech developer after all."

It also meant the man was paranoid. He didn't trust anyone else to keep his secrets for him. Paranoid and talented was a dangerous combination. No wonder Aaron never found anything on him in his past life.

He had heard of Meyer, of course, but only because he rocked the tabloids with scandals every other month. Aaron never would have connected a man with such a bad reputation to reputation-obsessed Lacy. It was pretty clever of the two of them, actually.

Connecting two unlikely people was a difficult thing to do unless you really looked. He was so focused on researching her connections with high society men that he overlooked anyone else.

He should have known better. Of course Lacy, whose target was the man at the very top of that group, wouldn't be seen around someone else and ruin her virtuous image. People in the circle loved to gossip.

"Has Lacy been meeting with him since we last spoke?" Aaron asked.

Aiden nodded. "Yeah. She visited his office again a couple of days ago, I tracked the GPS on her phone. Their meetings seem to be getting more frequent."

His brow furrowed. That wasn't good news. They might try to make a move soon. But what could they do?

After that day Keeley helped him out by pretending to be the non-existent Bethany on the phone gossip spread throughout the company like wildfire that the cold and stoic vice president was deeply in love with his fiancée. It had to be Alistair's doing; he was the only one there when he made the call.

If people further down the ladder at Hale Investments knew about it, Aaron was willing to bet the news made its way to the social circle and by extension, Lacy. She was probably furious but it wasn't like there was anything she could do. Bethany Carlisle didn't exist.

"Keep watching her," he ordered. "I want to know all of her movements. Where she goes and who she's with. Meyer's too."

"On it, boss," Aiden said with a dramatic salute before a sly grin appeared on his face. "So…how are things going with Keeley? You've been in an awfully good mood lately."

Had he been that obvious? This clown was probably gossiping with Cameron again.

"They're going fine," he said simply.

Aaron didn't know how to explain the state of things because he couldn't make sense of it himself. Things had been a bit awkward living in the same space and all before they had sex but now their relationship seemed the closest to what it had been in high school when they were best friends.

Had doing that gotten all the weirdness between them out of her system or what? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he treasured being able to laugh with her again. It was one of the things he had missed most.

"Just fine?" Aiden asked with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't she living with you now?"

"Who told you that?" Aaron hadn't mentioned it to anyone because he knew his underlings would never let him hear the end of it.

"Nobody had to. I put it together myself after Keeley posted on Facebook about how much she loved bubble baths. I live in her old apartment building, remember? I know better than anybody that those floorplans don't include tubs, only showers.

"Plus I hadn't seen her or Valentina around the complex recently. She definitely moved. Match up the timing of that with your ridiculously good mood and it's not rocket science," he finished smugly.

Great. Aaron ran a hand down his face wearily. "You didn't tell Cameron, did you?"

The kid pretended to be offended. "What do you take me for? I enjoy having more information than he does from time to time. It proves I'm your favorite."

He ignored that. This annoying guy definitely was NOT his favorite.

"She is but only because of her cat. Her dad is allergic so I said the cat could stay with me but ended up offering for her to stay as well since her dad lives all the way out in Brooklyn."

Aiden brightened a bit. "Hey, practicality won out over wanting to stay away from you! That's something, right?"

Aaron scowled. He wasn't wrong, but did he have to phrase it like that? Besides, Keeley hadn't been avoiding him lately. She seemed to accept his company more easily than she had since finding out the truth about his rebirth.

"Aiden."

"Yes?"

"Get back to work," he said coldly before practically tossing him out of the office. Dumb nosy kid.