“Yes, I heard.” He pulled a device from his jacket and handed it to Tatyana. “I think you’ll find that there is a message for you.”
All around the room, there was beeping and murmurs of alarm as some vampires and all the humans around the room took devices from their pockets.
Ivan was scowling as someone handed a phone to him. He slammed an open palm on the table. “What is this bullshit? I thought these damned things were secure!”
Tatyana looked at Mika’s screen, which was completely blank save for a single line of text.
—hey there P1dg3n
Her eyes went wide when she saw the old hacking handle.
Oleg kept his voice soft. “I think you might find that the hacker—while demonstrating Ivan’s security failures in a somewhat dramatic fashion—is not the threat you might believe he is.”
Tatyana knew she was gaping as she stared at her mate. “He… I mean, it was years ago and?—”
“And he has been worried.” Oleg angled his shoulders so that Tatyana could see the young human a few seats down on Mika’s left side.
She had assumed he was an aide, a secretary of some kind, one of many day people that followed Mika’s steps, just as Sándor and Rumi had their own entourage.
The sandy-haired man with soft green eyes and a boyish expression lifted one hand. “Hello, Pidge.”
“You are somuch hotter than I imagined you would be.” Grimace glanced at Oleg. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“Our arrangement is a political one,” Oleg said. “Lady Tatyana keeps her own company.”
A blatant lie, but it let Tatyana know exactly how much trust they were putting in Grimace. For now.
“Youare so much younger than I thought you would be.” Tatyana was staring. “How?—”
“I kind of work for Gavin Wallace now, but not really.” Grimace lifted his hands. “See, he’s what you call an angel investor in Alyosha’s Shield. That’s my?—”
“Oh my god, you’re the security firm.” She turned to Oleg. “I know him, and I know his company.” She muttered, “I should have known when I looked at that algorithm who it belonged to.”
Grimace wiggled his eyebrows. “Pretty good, huh?”
“It’s brilliant and you know it.”
Oleg was looking between the two of them, clearly amused. “I will leave you to reacquaint yourselves.” He spread his hands. “Konstantyn, I have found your friend, so I trust that you will be holding up your end of the contract.”
“Of course.” Grimace was staring at her.
“Contract?” Tatyana’s bullshit detector went wild. “What contract?”
“That is between Mr. Melnyk and myself. For now I must return to my brother’s banquet.”
Tatyana realized there was still applause in the background and people were still speaking. She turned to her mate. “Lord Oleg, should I?—”
“You’re fine.” He glanced at Sándor. “I trust that you have this room secured?”
Sándor only nodded.
“Mika and I will return to the banquet and make your excuses.” Oleg waved a hand. “Return if you like, or return to the house if you prefer. You have more than fulfilled your duties for this event. Will I see you at our meeting about wedding preparations tomorrow evening?”
She’d see him far sooner than that. “Of course.”
Tatyana waited for Oleg and Mika to leave the room, then rushed over and embraced Grimace tightly. “What are you doing here? What did you sign? What are you talking about, contracts? The entire reason I never got in touch with you is because I didn’t want you involved in?—”
“Pidge.” Grimace awkwardly patted her back. “It’s fine. I promise it’s fine.”
