The phone rang a couple of times before connecting. A voice that sounded about the same age as me came out of the speaker.
"Apollo, it's about time. Where the hell have you been?"
I smirked. Fairfield didn't deserve a nickname as cool as that. None of them did.
Straight out of the laptop, a voice responded, sounding eerily like Granger Fairfield.
"Eros, my apologies. I was caught up with a couple of things."
I wasn't the only one who shuddered at hearing his voice brought back from the dead.
I had to take a moment to remind myself he really was gone. Cass looked like he was going to be sick, but he swallowed it back, his hands hovering over the keyboard in case he needed to input something.
"What was so important you'd miss last night?" Eros asked, frustratingly vague.
I shoved back a spike of panic. We didn't know what he was referring to, so how could we know the best way to respond, much less let technology decide?
"That's none of your business," Cass' laptop responded as he typed in the words.
It really captured Fairfield and his warm, fluffy personality. "Did I miss anything important?"
Eros sighed. "Not really. Just the usual bluster. If I'm honest, I was envious you sat it out. I would have if it wasn’t necessary for my business."
I exchanged glances with the guys, all of us trying to piece together his identity from vague clues. Male, relatively young with a business, didn't narrow it down very much.
"You should try saying no," Cass' laptop said. "If you don't want to go, then don't."
Eros paused. "You know what it's like. No one says no to an opportunity like that."
I pressed my lips together. I was hoping he'd drop a name. So far, he hadn't given us much and Cass' laptop didn't seem to be able to pin down Eros' location.
As far as I could tell, he wasn't suspicious. He was sure he was talking to Granger Fairfield.
"Yes, of course," the laptop said. "Business always comes first."
"Yes, it does." Eros said. "That's why I needed to approve of one of those women last night. A wife who doesn't ask too many questions about what I do with my time. And my money."
I grimaced. Reminded myself what this man did to my sister. What he was still doing, by the sound of it.
Cass quietly tapped something into the keyboard.
"Did you meet any you like?" the laptop asked.
Good thinking. If we could track down anyone from whatever took place last night, that would help us to narrow down who Eros was and where he was.
"Like?" Eros replied. "A couple I could tolerate. I guess getting my cock wet a couple of times until they're pregnant wouldn't be so bad. Something to keep her distracted."
I could almost see him rolling his eyes.
"Who would you choose?" the laptop asked. "The sooner you choose, the sooner you can…get your cock wet."
If I didn't know better, I'd think the AI wasn't impressed with Eros or his choice of words. I knew I wasn't.
"Does it matter?" Eros asked. "If I had an opinion, my mother would push for someone else, just to be difficult."
"Who would your mother choose?" the laptop asked.
"Someone dumb as fuck who won't argue with her," Eros said. "Someone I'll be bored with in half a second. I want a woman who will fight me. Someone I can pin down until she's broken."
