Page 154 of Fake Game

“I—” She bites her lower lip. “I don’t know. Are there a lot of people out there?”

“Why don’t I go check?”

She nods her head.

I lean forward, placing a soft kiss on her temple before slipping off the bed and cracking the door open. Looking downthe hallway, I spy our friends with just the addition of Paige, Phoebe, and that shadowy sidekick of hers.

“You’re good, just the usual misfits.” I turn back and offer my palm to her.

She takes her time, padding softly across the floor until her small hand latches onto mine. I lace our fingers together as we head to join everyone.

Deer startles, pressing herself closer to me when we pass the elevator alcove and notice two new bodyguards standing watch.

Lee and Stevie huddle around Deer as soon as we get close, pulling her into one giant hug. I step back and let them coo over her, checking and doing their own things. Sydney stands, her face a little paler than normal. Parker looks up at her, worry etched on his face. She gives him a smile before taking a deep breath and joining the girls, her smile growing wider, but her gray eyes remaining a cloudy haze of worry.

“Okay, kids, let’s take our seats.” Phoebe is perched on the coffee table, as usual. She seems to like placing herself there so she can look at us as we all sit on the couch.

Paige, the middle Covington sibling and all-star lawyer, leans against the wall, tapping away at her phone in a pale pink suit. She is the opposite of Phoebe; her blonde hair reaches her waist, in sharp contrast to Phoebe’s chic bob, and her heart-shaped face has a softness to it compared to her sister’s ruthless edge. Yet whenever you have the Covington siblings in a room together, there is never any denying that they come from the same model-blessed genetic pool.

“You should start. I’m still waiting on something,” Phoebe nods to her sister.

“Sure. Sorry, I was just checking in with the detectives.” Paige gives us all an apologetic smile as she tucks her phone into her pocket. “How are you holding up, Deer?”

My girl shrugs, and I tug her closer to me, wrapping her under my arm.

“Right, yeah. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Kind of is,” Phoebe mutters.

Paige glares at her sister. “I am doing everything within the law that I am capable of, and the law takes time. We have to follow protocols and get court orders signed in order to gain access to information to keep digging.” She looks at Deer. “I’m making sure this is done right so, whoever the culprit is, they are dealt with to the full extent of the law.”

“I appreciate that.”

“So, are there any leads?” I push.

I don’t think they would’ve come all the way here if there wasn’t something they wanted to tell us.

“Well,” she starts, and it sounds like the answer is no, “we’re looking into the doxing. While I hate to say it, it does help our case because we can add it to the other criminal offenses they’ve committed so far, like the harassment, infliction of bodily harm, incitement to violence, the—sorry, I’m not meaning to freak you out.”

“It’s fine.” Deer gives a watery smile.

“That’s not to say we didn’t try to kill the identity leak, but the internet is a hydra—you cut off one head and two more grow,” Phoebe sighs.

“Right,” Paige nods. “I mostly just wanted to apologize that it got this far before we could do anything and to let you know that we are taking your case seriously. I also thought that maybe you and I could sit down and go through some documents.”

My attention shifts as I catch the mystery man—whose name we really should fucking know at this point—pulling out his phone and striding over to the back wall. I keep one ear on the conversation around me as I watch him, but there’s never a shiftin his expression. He calmly strolls back over and places a hand on Phoebe’s bicep before he leans down and whispers in her ear.

Whatever he says has her eyes widening, something like satisfaction slashing across them.

“What happened?” Deer asks what we are all thinking.

The blonde attempts to steel her gaze, but there’s a slight crease between her brows she can’t seem to smooth away.

“We might’ve figured out who it is.”

There’s a beat before the room erupts, everyone clamoring for information.

---