He joins me in the office, and I approve of his choice of clothes—a soft, oatmeal-colored shirt that sets off the translucence of his skin, and darker-hued chinos. The simplicity only makes his face more beautiful.
He nervously pushes up the sleeves of the shirt as I look him over. “You said…choose what I liked,” he says, defensive.
“Come here. Sit down. I want you to tell me exactly what you plan to write, and to whom.”
He licks his lips, a nervous tick, and then sits in the office chair, pulling it close in to the computer. “I’ve been thinking about that,” he tells me. He settles his fingers gently on the keys like a mother stroking her sleeping child, and his shoulders relax. I have seen such unconscious comfort before in some of my specialist employees. This is a young man who loves computers, as much as—or more than—human beings. “We need to test if Guts, the guy who had the idea about your father’s lover, actuallydoesknow anything about this Lina Lamond, or if he’s just bullshitting. So I think we need to be careful about how we ask what we want to know. As for the others…”
For a few moments, Teddy throws ideas at me and I give a nod or nix them. I have him type out a draft of several different DMs to send to different people, and I make sure there is nothing in them that seems like a coded message.
And then I let him send them.
After that, he starts clicking around and checking moderation messages. “What do you think you are doing?” I ask softly.
He jumps and gives me a guilty glance from under his lashes. “Habit. Sorry.” He pulls his fingers slowly away from the keys and puts them in his lap.
“I believe we are done here. And I need to go out.”
He leaps out of the chair and away from me, pointing at me with a shaking finger. “No—you promised—”
“So we will need to find accommodations for you before I leave.” I raise one eyebrow. “I gave you my word, after all.”
Teddy sags with relief, and I wonder about his background again. If he is not bait, not a plant, then how did he come to be so obsessed with people like me?
“You said before that people will be worried about you.”
He nods slowly.
“Your family? Who are they?”
“I…I just live with my Mom, right now. But yeah. She might be worried about me.”
“And your friends?”
There’s a long silence, and then he shrugs. “Them too.”
“Your workplace?”
He gestures at the computer. “Cute Crimsis my job, pretty much.”
I should put this tempting bite well out of reach. I should house him elsewhere in the Manor—there many available rooms, after all. But perhaps it would be a better idea to keep him close. That way I can watch him. Question him. Find out more about him.
“Follow me.”
He does as he’s ordered, and I show him back to the guest bedroom next to my own. My wing of the house has many guest rooms, and perhaps it would be safer to put him further away. But why bother? I can protect myself.
“There’s a bathroom through that door,” I tell him, waving toward it. For some reason, he goes pink again. “I’m going to lock you in,” I continue, expecting another hysterical burst. But he just nods.
“Alessandro?”
“Yes?”
“Will you let me look through the security feed from the day of…the day your father…you know? You could put it on a USB, and I could play it on the TV.” He gestures at the wall-mounted television.
“If you need anything, you push this intercom,” I go on as if he never said anything, tapping at the discreet console set into the wall. Teddy looks disappointed. “It will connect you to the house staff. But understand, the staff here is loyal to me.”
Thoughtfully, he says, “All of them? You’re sure?” At my expression, he hurries on. “Oh, I just meant—one of them might have killed your father. Maybe?”
“Each member of staff is fully vetted and well-paid. They know they will earn more from us if they come to us and tell us of any bribes—and they know the penalty for disloyalty. Besides, none of them live-in, except for Wilson. And ifhewanted to kill my father, he could have done it long ago.”
