“Are you okay with that?”
Staring straight into his beautiful eyes, I grin and say, “It’s nothing I haven’t done before.”
Our second first day at Kelex hasn’t been very productive. There was a lot of chatting, reminiscing, and acclimating. Andrea and I have worked for an hour at most, and it was spent catching up with everything the dev team worked on during our absence.
I used to think my presence and work here were essential to the workings of this company, but it looks like they did well without us. Slower than they would have done had I been there to help and guide them, but still pretty well.
It’s such an odd feeling to be back at my old desk after everything that happened. I’m happy to be here, but it feels… small. Not the space, but the purpose. There’s been so much going on with our lives that a nine-to-five job feels inadequate.
At least I have Andrea with me, right on the other side of my desk, as she used to be when we worked in my office together. She came with her laptop, surprising me. I didn’t take it personally when she asked to work in the Lair for now. She’s seen too much of melately, and she missed her friends. But I was glad to see her come in and settle in her old spot, even if it’s “just for an hour.”
Feeling a little restless and underwhelmed, I stand from my chair and go around the desk to lean on the edge near her.
“You can’t be away from me for more than five minutes, can you?” she teases, peering up at me through her lashes for a second before returning to her screen.
“You’re the one who came up here despite your desk being in the Lair.”
“The guys kept asking me questions I couldn’t answer. I needed a break.”
“Well, I have a question, too.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you, Alexander.”
“It’s not that. It’s… serious.”
Now, I have her intrigued enough to let go of what she’s doing and turn to me. “Speak, four eyes.”
I remove the glasses and take a moment to think of what I’m about to ask. “Hypothetically, if we flew under the radar and didn’t make a big egocentric thing out of it… would you be open to continuing using our expertise in… ethical hacking?”
Her face turns confused, then surprised, then confused again. “Oh, wow… Baby, it’s not even been a day, and you’re so bored you want to become Nammota again?”
“No, not Nammota. Something genuinely anonymous. No claiming of the heists, no alias, no front pages. Silent, discreet work that helps people.”
She considers it, frowning as she does, and I worry she might think it unreasonable. Fuck, itisunreasonable. Why would I even suggest that? We just got ourselves out of a deadly situation, and I’m already talking about returning there.
“I get where you’re coming from,” she carefully says, still frowning. “Like, you want to do more for people than we do with Kelex. You want to help them like Nammota did because it’s so personal and changes lives.”
“Yes,” I say, surprised she understood so well something I struggled to put into words.
“And I completely get that. I loved what I did to get you out, and I love that we stopped Becker… But for you, it’s a bit like the Bruce Wayne paradox, isn’t it?”
“The Bruce Wayne paradox?”
“Like, he puts on body armor and a cape, and then he beats up petty criminals while calling himself ‘Vengeance’ to help his city.And the whole time, he sits on enough money to rebuild the entire city and save it sustainably.”
It’s my turn to frown, processing her words. She continues her argument with, “You could become Nammota or something similar again, and do whatever you can to help whoever you can. Or you could be Alexander Coleman and change the world one check at a time.”
“Like what we’re doing for Becker’s victims?”
“Exactly. But for everyone. Or for as many people as possible.”
I’ve often given to charities, but I never thought of going much further than that. Changing the world might be a bit much, but I could make a difference and change millions of lives if I invest my money wisely. And no more being in the shadows and risking my freedom. I could do it all in broad daylight, lawfully, legally.
Andrea’s hand comes to my thigh, dragging my attention from the wall and back to her.
“It’s not my place to tell you what to do with your money. And I know you have a plan to buy out your grandfather’s company and get one over on your father. But if I had nearly fiftybilliondollars in assets and stocks… I’d make sure not a single child in this country goes to bed hungry. I’d build shelters so unhoused people don’t die of exposure. I’d help women in abusive relationships get out. I’d fund schools so zip codes no longer determine a child’s future. I’d pay for people to lobby in Washington so the right laws are passed, not the ones that some fucking assholes want to protect themselves and their wealth.”
She pauses, invigorated by her prospect, cheeks pink and eyes shiny. “Look at what my heist did, with one point four billion. So many of those charities are thriving. They’re able to help so many people. Can you imagine what you could do with thirty-five times that?” she asks.
