“That she wouldn’t be able to fix it.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Well, she’s a bit strange, isn’t she? Rude, too. One of those people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.”
“She needs some time, is all.”
Time to unravel the disaster Nolan had created. After he’d shuffled back into the study a couple of hours after the true horror of the situation became clear, she was still sitting at the desk, surrounded by his laptop, two more of her own, a fresh mug of coffee she must have fetched herself, and a can of Lysol.
“Do you want me to make you dinner?” he’d offered.
“No need. Chase will take care of it.”
Chase. The boyfriend who’d blindsided Nolan with his arrival. Thank fuck he hadn’t been in the room when that video started playing, or Nolan would probably have a broken nose.
“I’m sorry about the…you know,” he said. “The video. It was inappropriate.”
“And I’m not a child, Nolan. Stop treating me like one.”
“Not a child anymore.”
The words came out before he could stop them, laced with bitterness, and he immediately wished he could take them back. Alexa looked up sharply.
“You really want to go there?”
“No.”
“Because by the time Ruby died, I’d spent three years fending for myself. I’d done more adulting than some adults ever do.”
“I realise that, but you were still…sixteen?”
She didn’t confirm or deny. “And you were super judgey.”
“Because you were a minor, and I didn’t want to end up on the sex offender registry.”
“As if I would have reported you.”
Nolan took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. Alexa was fascinating, yes, but she could also be really fucking annoying.
“That’s not the damn point. I was twenty years old, I was under suspicion of murder, and I wasn’t about to get involved with a child. Where did you get the fake passport from?”
She ignored the question. “I knew you didn’t hurt Ruby.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but that also isn’t the point.” Nolan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. I’m sorry. Look, if you want to leave tonight, I’ll understand.”
“I can’t leave. I’m busy getting your handjob removed from three different porn sites.”
“What?”
“For every day you don’t pay, the entity behind the ransomware posts it to another website.”
“Are you serious?”
“That’s why it’s such an elegant scheme. People can live with losing their data, but nobody wants to see their private moments splashed all over the internet. Quite literally, in your case,” she added under her breath.
“Fuck my life.”
“You should be more careful around electronics.”
