Page 62 of Lucy and Her Wicked Three

He's not a hacker, he's a code writer. He makes video games and plays in the creative arts. But he was still able to track down when the package was paid for and out of which courier office by his investigative powers of picking up the phone and calling the company.

But since I needed his help, I had to admit another disturbing photo of me showed up, gift wrapped. It's hard to tell if it's meant to be threatening to me or someone has a weird obsession. In the first, I was posing nude. Not me, but a superimposed me. In yesterday's gift, it was some variation of one of the pictures that got leaked of me and Delaney, only this time, the female model wasn't her. I was balls deep in someanonymous, pale, busty woman, the image cutting off the face. Not that that means anything, it was likely just a stock model, like my body was.

This is so fucked up and irritating. I've got calls from Singapore I need to deal with tonight, I don't need to be distracted by this shit.

"It is a big deal, Mateo. It's obviously fucking with your head."

"Esa puta. No quiero esa mierda."

"I don't speak Spanish."

"I don't need this shit right now, man. And fuck, why haven't you learned Spanish yet."

"I speak binary code. And I know, that's my point. Let me and Silas help you."

"Lucy will be home soon. I don't want her to know about this. Just… let me just see what my attorney says. I don't want to get the cops involved. They're just pictures."

"They're escalating."

"Actually, I think they're de-escalating. The first ones were published publicly."

"And these ones were delivered to your home."

"Hey guys!" Silas comes running down the hall, sliding on the hardwood on his socks like a cartoon character. He's wearing a massive grin, phone in one hand. "Check this out."

Two voices trail out of his speaker, and I recognize one very well.

"Stop it!"She giggles."Okay. Yes. Fine, Portia. Hey, y'all. You might remember me,"she says self-deprecatingly, coyishly glancing down at the ground before bringing those beautiful blue eyes back up to the camera."This is Lucy, or as you might know me, ZenInTheCity. I'm here with Portia from QueenStruck95. I know I haven't been online in a while, but I just got my hair done because this bitch made me."There'sa thud and anoof, followed by massive giggles. It's the most relaxed Lucy's sounded in weeks.

My fractured heart fills with the joy of hearing her laughter. These past few days have been hard. Being separated from her, before that, separated from my friends. We've been on a tentative, albeit positive, path for only a couple of days and I didn't realize how much I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, that this potential chance at happiness might all disappear, until I heard that laughter. Lucy's finally feeling like herself again. Of course she needed her friends.

She wallowed alone in the apartment for too long. I feel like an idiot for not noticing how off she still sounded, because I didn't realize it until right now.

"Anyway, I do miss y'all and I'll see you again real soon."Then she puckers her lips and kisses the camera, before the feed drops off.

"I didn't notice her hair being any different," Noah shrugs. I lightly punch his arm and head into the kitchen. Without asking, a routine we'd established years ago, we begin making dinner. Silas pours the drinks, Noah pulls out a pan and starts seasoning the meat, I prep the vegetables. When it was just me and Lucy here, she cooked dinner most nights because she was always home before me. I never asked if that was okay with her or if she preferred it that way.

I never asked her a lot of things.

I try calling her, but it goes straight to voicemail. Silas sees what I'm doing and says, "She must have been on her friend's phone. Hers is still here." Sighing, I tuck my phone away.

I pull out extra veggies because I know she won't eat the meat. She's not a vegetarian but she doesn't eat a ton of meat, and she won't like it the way Noah's preparing it. I should tell him, but I selfishly like knowing this small piece of information about her that they don't.

Because they've only known her for a few days, and they've already infiltrated her life. It's so natural and easy for them. It's not like that for me, I don't know how to connect to other people, even to those closest to me. It takes time. I have to get to know someone, catalog their likes and dislikes. It's not natural for me to just know the way that they do.

By the time dinner's done cooking, the door rattles and Lucy walks in. She looks light. Happy and carefree.

I greet her first, pulling her into a massive hug. She presses her head against my chest and lets me hold her. Maybe it's the creepy fucking pictures that keep showing up. Maybe it was seeing her go live again. But I'm feeling unsteady, like I need some reassurance we're okay.

She gives me an extra squeeze, and when we pull back, she's grinning. "I went live, Mateo," she whispers, like she's sharing a secret.

"We saw. How did it feel?"

"Honestly? Totally normal. I didn't freak out at all. Portia kinda sprung it on me. Making me regret ever logging in on her phone before since she could easily toggle to my username," she says wryly before entering the kitchen.

Noah kisses the top of her head. "You did your hair?" He comments, feeling her locks in his fingers.

She nods, "Just touched up the roots. And I, uh… I got rid of the extensions. I mean, I got them removed. And didn't replace them."

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