Those words bring everything to a halt. Every thought, every possible reaction I could have just stops, and I can only stare at Harrison.
“What?” I ask, deadpan. This has to be a joke.
“You heard him,” Eian rumbles, but that’s not enough to snap me out of the shock.
“He’s the Chair of the People,” Harrison continues, as if that explains anything at all. “And Colby’s his Heir?—”
“And boyfriend,” Colby adds in a chipper tone that does not belong in this conversation. In this room.
I can barely push a word out.
“Okay.”
And it comes out weak, defeated, and helpless.
Three things I never want Eian Dempsey to think of me.
Yeah, I’m maybe taller and stronger than him, but I’m not a ruthless, cold-blooded killer, so...
“Let’s sit.”
No one hesitates, they all follow Harrison’s lead, including me.
“As you all know, Michael was in an accident this past weekend and is still recovering, so for the time being, Eli is the Chair of Information and his partner Lex will act as his Heir until Michael is fit enough to come back.”
I don’t know where it comes from but there’s enough courage inside me to speak up.
“Yup, as soon as Michael’s good enough, I’m outta here. This shit is way above my pay grade.”
“Agreed.” The haughty, arrogant voice of my team’s owner grates on my nerves, but I do everything I can not to show it. Jim’s typical sneer must be embedded into his face by now, and it only deepens when Eli snaps at him.
“You will not disrespect him.” That steel in his voice I’m still getting used to silences everyone. “He’s an Heir to a Chair, just like the one you hold. He has as much power here as your son does.”
“AndI, personally, am a fan.” Eian says it like a threat, and I’m pretty sure Jim takes it as one. I never thought I’d feel vindicated by a mobster, but that’s New York sports for you.
“Okay, let’s just get to the events of Saturday. Eli, you have the floor.”
For the next two hours, the details of everything that happened are discussed, with every person present chiming in with questions.
Eli doesn’t falter, and no one mentions the most important piece of information, that the hacker was probably hired, or at least tipped off, by someone in this room.
It has me looking more intently at everyone.
The two most obviously suspicious are Zack Wall, Heir to the Chair of Wealth, and Stephen Windsor, the Chair of Art.
They don’t say or do anything obvious, but it’s in the way they look at Eli, and at everyone else honestly, a kind of superiority that isn’t earned or justified.
In contrast, Zack’s mother Shirley and Stephen’s daughter Patricia ask a lot of questions. They both seem to really want to get every piece of information Eli has to give.
Richard Cockerton, the Chair of Residence, seems to have a deep dislike of Harrison just by the way he frowns every time he speaks, but otherwise there are no clues for me to find.
“So it was a coordinated attack,” Patricia concludes and Eli nods. “Do you have any idea what they were looking for? What the purpose was?” she clarifies. Her startling blue eyes are full of honest curiosity as she waits for Eli to answer.
“I’m wondering about this too. Is there any way you can find out, Eli?” Shirley asks.
“There isn’t,” Eli says, and I’m impressed with how well he lies... maybe I should be more concerned about that, but he’s always seemed like an open book to me. “If Gotcha tries again, I can maybe focus more on that, but I’m going to be ready for them when they do, and I’m going to find them.”
I can see no one doubts his resolve, and I wonder why he said it like that, if he wants whoever contacted the hacker to ask them to try again or the opposite, and I could ask him later, but I’m not sure I want to find out.
