Aaron was dreamily staring at his phone's background at work when Aiden burst into his office. He couldn't believe he'd done something so silly in retaliation for a prank, but Keeley seemed to enjoy it. He'd always thought she was fun, but hadn't realized how much of her personality she hid to "look good" in front of him. She was playful; why hadn't he played along more often?

No use worrying about that now. The past was gone—the present 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. 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 encryption 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 so determined to keep his identity secret?

"You said Graydon Meyer first appeared as a freshman at MIT, correct? Did it occur to you that he's protecting his own information?"

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

[The promotional sentence for Novelfire.net has been removed as it is irrelevant to the text.]

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

He'd heard of Meyer, of course, but only because he frequently made tabloid headlines with scandals. Aaron never would have connected such a man with the reputation-obsessed Lacy. It was clever of them, actually.

Connecting two unlikely people is difficult unless you look closely. Aaron had been so focused on Lacy's connections with high-society men that he'd overlooked everyone else. He should have known better. Of course, Lacy, whose target was the top man in that group, wouldn't be seen with someone else and ruin her virtuous image. People in that circle loved to gossip.

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

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

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

Later, Keeley helped by pretending to be the non-existent Bethany on the phone. Gossip spread throughout the company that the cold, stoic vice president was deeply in love with his fiancée. It had to be Alistair's doing; he was the only one there when Aaron made the call.

If people at Hale Investments knew, Aaron was willing to bet the news reached the social circle and, by extension, Lacy. She was probably furious, but there was nothing she could do. Bethany Carlisle didn't exist.

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

"On it, boss," Aiden said with a dramatic salute, then a sly grin appeared. "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 things because he couldn't make sense of them himself. Things had been awkward living together before they had sex, but now their relationship felt closest to their high school days when they were best friends.

Had sex resolved the weirdness, or what? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he treasured laughing with her again. It was something he'd missed.

"Just fine?" Aiden asked, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't she living with you now?"

"Who told you that?" Aaron hadn't mentioned it to anyone, knowing his underlings wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

"Nobody. I put it together myself after Keeley posted on Facebook about bubble baths. I live in her old apartment building, remember? Those floorplans have only showers, no tubs. Plus, I haven't seen her or Valentina around the complex recently. She definitely moved. Match that timing 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?"

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

Aaron ignored that. This annoying guy was definitely not his favorite.

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

Aiden brightened. "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 since he'd revealed the truth about his rebirth.

"Aiden."

"Yes?"

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