Page 66 of The Baller

His hand squeezed mine. “Good girl, now three more. We’re nearly home.”

I’d totaled nine more things by the time his car stopped in front of a building and he jumped out. I turned around to see him speaking to Jake before he ran back to join me. The wall in front of us slid open, and we drove down into the parking lot, deep underneath the building.

“This is my place,” Lux said, his eyes scanning my face, searching for any sign I might start crying again. “Your team will come in, check for safety, then we’ll figure out what to do with them while you’re here.”

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean you’ll stay here until you’re ready to leave, whether that’s later today or three days from now, but you’ll be here with me, and they will be somewhere else.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

Before I had a chance to blink again, Lux had slammed his door and was holding mine open. Once more his fingers wrapped around mine.

“The elevator is this way,” he called to Jake and Ethan, not bothering to wait for them to follow, and the tone in his voice made it clear exactly how he felt.

Jake’s eyes fell on me as soon as we stepped inside. “Radley, are you okay?”

“Yes, I just…” I stopped, waiting for the ball of tears to steamroll back up my throat, but nothing came. “The guys at the table behind me… they were talking about…” I swallowed hard, breaking the vow Millie and I had that we would never speak his name, “Christopher Ellington. It was like they knew him. I heard them say…” I sucked in a breath before I could continue. “I heard them say there were more photos. They didn’t know I was at the table next to them.”

I dropped my head as a tear escaped, and watched it hit my sneaker with a splash. Ethan immediately reached for his phone, tapping away like he was writing The Constitution.

I don’t know if Lux realized he was gripping my hand quite so tightly as he stared down at me; his face nothing but anger masked with empathy. He already knew what happened… kind of. I’d told him enough, and I’d tell him the rest. I just hoped it wouldn’t cost me, that he’d understand I didn’t know about the pictures being taken, that I would never have agreed.

I hoped I could trust him to believe me.

The doors pinged as we reached the floor, and Lux glanced over to Ethan and Jake.

“My roommates are here, the ones you’ve previously met. I can assure you they might behave like frat boys, but I promise they’re not.”

“We’ll try to remember that,” drawled Jake, just as a loud frat-boy style cheer sounded out.

Lux squeezed my hand tighter and whispered, “It’ll be okay.”

The four of us stepped into a foyer. Lux led us around a large column into a giant room with floor to ceiling windows, and a fire burning in the center of another thick column. New York City and the Hudson stretched out below us. It was a breathtaking sight, and even Jake and Ethan paused their strides as they took it in.

Tanner Simpson and Parker King were sitting on a giant sectional stretching down the far side in front of the biggest flatscreen I’d ever seen. At the sound of the elevator opening, Tanner had leaped off the couch and sprinted across the main living area.

“Weston’s back, he’ll tell you that I’m Leader of the… oh, hello.” He came skidding to a stop about three feet from Jake, his eyes wide, his mouth open, and he quickly took a large step back.

Lux turned to Jake and Ethan. “Hallway to the right leads to mine and Tanner’s bedrooms. Hallway to the left leads to Ace and Parker’s. Laundry room and guest bath is down the hallway past the elevator door. Kitchen and living room are right in front of you.”

Jake’s eyes flicked around the space. “Wait here, all of you.”

Ethan and Jake separated, each taking half of the apartment. They would search each room, open every door, every closet, and check every corner. Parker had paused whatever had been on the screen, and was now staring wide-eyed at me, even wider than Tanner’s eyes currently were, and his looked like they were about to pop from his sockets.

Parker opened his mouth to speak, but Ethan and Jake returned, and it closed again.

“Is there only one exit here?” asked Jake.

Lux answered with a nod.

“The only way you can get into this apartment is from the elevator?”

“And the fire door.”

Jake’s expert eye scanned around the room, trying to find a flaw in Lux’s answers. “How do people get in?”

“They have to be brought up by the concierge, unless they have the elevator code.”

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