Chapter 124:

Aurora stood in the doorway, watching his taillights disappear into the rain. She touched the spot on her robe where his hands had been. It still felt warm.

She picked up the bags and walked inside.

She opened the first box.

She gasped.

Rows and rows of lipsticks. Every shade imaginable. And at the bottom, a card.

A tool for every strategy. -E

She laughed, tears pricking her eyes.

“You idiot,” she whispered fondly. “You crazy, wonderful idiot.”

The next morning, the sun was blindingly bright. The storm had scrubbed the sky clean, leaving it a piercing, impossible blue.

Elias woke up and sneezed.

His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. His throat was raw. He groaned, rolling over. The memory of the night before hit him—the rain, the hug, the word friend.

He checked his phone. A message from S.

S: See you at 2 PM. Don’t be late.

Elias sat up, rubbing his temples. He had scheduled the meeting in the city, assuming he would be back at the tower. But with the storm aftermath, travel would be hell. He checked the traffic reports. The main highways from the Hamptons to Manhattan were open but congested. If he left now, he would barely make it.

He grabbed the bottle of cold medicine from his nightstand and dry-swallowed two pills.

“I am not canceling,” he told the empty room. “I am invincible.”

He sneezed again.

Every story unfolds at gαℓησν𝒆𝓁s．𝓬𝗈𝗺

Downstairs in the kitchen, Leo was eating cereal when Elias walked in.

Leo dropped his spoon.

Elias was wearing… a hoodie.

It was a black, cashmere hoodie, yes. It cost eight hundred dollars. But it was still a hoodie. And jeans. And sneakers.

“Who are you?” Leo whispered. “And what have you done with my uncle?”

Elias ignored him, pouring himself a cup of hot water with lemon. “I am meeting a gaming associate. Casual attire is… appropriate for the demographic. I am heading back to the city. The driver is preparing the sedan.”

“A gaming associate?” Leo’s eyes lit up. “Wait. Is it S? The guy from the leaderboard? Can I come? Please let me come. I want to ask him about his jungle pathing.”

“No,” Elias said, leaning against the counter. “S is a private individual. He values silence. You are loud. You would annoy him.”

“I’m not loud!” Leo shouted.

“You are proving my point,” Elias said. “Stay here. Do not follow me.”

Elias grabbed his keys. He didn’t take the Maybach. He took the sedan—an Audi A8. Nice, but not “I own the city” nice. He wanted to see her face when she realized it was him, without the barrier of his usual entourage.

Meanwhile, at the Vance Estate, Aurora was staring at her closet. She, too, had to head back to the city. The meeting with S was set for a discreet tea house in the West Village, a neutral ground.

.

.

.