Page 45 of Curvy Nerdy Omega

Flicking my gaze to the large monitor displayed on the far wall, I saw that Frankie was still at the Lopez compound, and by default, so was Cassius.

What the fuck was taking them so long?

I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the side, popping my neck and relieving some tension. Then I did the same on the other side and refocused on the disaster I’d made.

Tapping my fingers on my thigh, I studied the dining room Frankie and I had turned into an at home office. It had these really nice pocket doors that covered up the mess in here whenever we had people over, not that that happened often.

Sometimes I closed them just so I wouldn’t have to look at the chaos, but most of the time I found it soothing to be able to see it.

This was where Frankie and I spent the most time together when we weren’t on the couch watching whatever new show I demanded she watch with me from beginning to end.

Now that I knew there were cameras in here, I looked at it with fresh eyes.

Liam had two angles in here from what I remembered. I assumed it was because Frankie and I sat facing each other like we did at the Genesis office. I liked being able to see her face when I worked and it gave us room on the walls to put up our suspects along with their connections until we had the bigger picture.

The method was antiquated and inefficient but sometimes it helped me see things I couldn’t on my computer screen.

Currently, mine was nothing but a blank space and I tried not to feel guilty about that.

Frankie had done a bit on her own during my heat, but she’d put mostly question marks on everything instead of anything I could use. Her board was full of personality traits, habits, and that kind of thing while mine typically had random shit like all the MAC and IP addresses under their name as well as whoever sent them a message or email with their MAC and IP addresses.

The office was big enough for our two desks, and the floor-to-ceiling shelves I’d installed to my left as well as two small loveseats where we would sit when we needed a different perspective.

The low table between the loveseats had a puzzle on it that was white on both sides. Doing that stupid puzzle had helped me solve the last case, but I haven’t been able to finish it yet.

I tilted my head slightly as I studied the unfinished areas and cracked my knuckles one at a time as I tried to decide if Frankie had added those two pieces or if it’d been Liam.

My gaze went from one piece to another and then back again as I tracked which ones I’ve done and the ones I’ve seen Frankie do as I listened to her voice ask one of the janitors about their nightly routine.

Liam Valor had been in my home before Cassius had set up the surveillance. I didn’t know why I was so sure of that, but I was. And Cassius wouldn’t touch my puzzle. He was too good at going unnoticed, but Liam? Liam would want to fuck with my head. He’d want to see if I’d notice, and if I did, what I would do about it.

It was a fucking problem I found that attractive.

The music from my speakers pulsed in an endless loop, the bass of the wordless phonk pounding in my chest the same way my heart had when I’d seen just how insane Liam and Cassius really were.

The curve of each piece drew me in, distracting me from what else Liam might have touched. I tried not to focus on how the sea of perfect white pieces reminded me of Liam’s pristine white sheets before Arturo’s blood was smeared all over them.

I paused the recording with a tap on my earbud, searching for the evidence I so desperately needed.

One step, and then another – the beat controlling my body more than anything else. It helped quiet some of the thoughts that kept sending me into a spiral, but right now, in this moment…I heard nothing other than the music.

It scratched an itch in my brain I could never quite reach and I stopped at the table, studying the pieces, enjoying the vibration as I cataloged each and every piece.

A single piece sat on the edge instead of in the box with the others I haven’t found a home for yet and I knelt down in the split second of silence before the music vibrated the floor and my bones with the next note.

I set my fingertip on the piece, knowing this was a clue he’d left for me.

Eyeing the puzzle, I tried to figure out where it went, knowing if I could do that, I’d be able to see what else he’d touched.

There was no doubt in my mind Liam was watching me right now, and the smile tugging at the corners of my lips should worry me, but I couldn’t quite force myself to be annoyed when my stupid brain was convinced this meant he really did care.

These two better watch out, because if they kept this shit up, they’d learn what it felt like to be on the receiving end of someone’s obsessive attention.

My heart beat steadily as I stared at the puzzle, the one thing in this room I hadn’t destroyed.

At least the suppressants were working. As far as I knew. I didn’t feel like I was about to go into heat at any moment anymore or have a heart attack, but I was also in my own apartment, alone for the first time in a very, very long time.

Even Frankie’s scent was barely there thanks to the new air purifiers she had in every room, making the last fifteen years of our friendship feel like an illusion.

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