Page 68 of Maid For Each Other

-REZAK, JONATHAN {917055} 125K

-JOHNSON, CAMILLE {765003} 76K

-KPH CONSULTING {891077} 2 MILLION

-HANNIFORD, PETER {122739} 325K

I don’t know what came over me, but I got out my phone and took a picture. Dex said his work with Roman was confidential, and I knew in my gut that he wasn’t doing something criminal, but if I was going to be alone and bored all night, what would the harm be in some Google investigating?

I went back to my makeshift outdoor office, but it was getting a little chilly so I moved inside. As soon as I sat at the dining room table with my laptop, I opened the search window, too engaged with the idea of sleuthing to get back to work immediately.

I googled RWDR, but found nothing. A bunch of random things, in random places, that were obviously not connected to my fake boyfriend and his pal. I googled the names on the list but couldn’t find information that meant anything at all. I foundan RWD Consulting in South Dakota, but it looked like an IT firm that was super…unimpressive.

They probably made their own website using Canva, and it looked like they had three Midwestern-looking employees.

It wasnotthe kind of business that millionaires were looking to invest in—or anyone, honestly—so either it was the wrong firm, or this made even less sense.

I was getting bored with my search when my phone buzzed. I jumped, feeling like I had gotten caught.

I picked it up off the table and was disappointed to see it was Lauren and not Dex.

Which was dumb; why would he even be calling me?

“Hello?” I said, closing out my search engine and opening my Word doc.

“I cannot believe the pics you sent!” she squealed. “I am so jealous that you are just hanging out like a millionaire.”

“It’s pretty great,” I said, leaning back in the chair, looking around the room.

Tall ceilings, big windows, recessed lighting—the place was a dream.

“So what are you doing? I put a tracker on Mr. Powell’s car, by the way. It looks like it’s parked in a garage downtown.”

I laughed in spite of myself. What would Declan do if he knew? He’d probably be pissed, but I could honestly say I knew nothing about it because I really didn’t.

I didn’t even know what a “tracker” was. I was assuming it was the industrial version of an AirTag, but what was I, a spy? “It’s down in the garage beneath me.”

“Oh, I know,” she said, and I could hear how proud of herselfshe was. “And my initial check of your boyfriend-for-the-weekend came back clean, by the way.”

“Told you,” I said. “Although…”

“Although what?” She instantly sounded intrigued. “Did you find something, Ab?”

“No, nothing like that,” I said, wondering if I should tell her. It technically wasn’t breaking confidentiality when I didn’t know anything, and Lauren was literally a vault. If you asked her to keep something quiet, she’d take it to the grave.

“Okay here’s the thing: this is nothing I’m worried about; this is something I’mnosyabout. I totally trust Declan, but…I just really want to know what one of his businesses is and he says it’s confidential.”

“He is a murderer,” she said knowingly.

“Oh, my God, he is not!” I laughed, getting up to pace while I talked to her. I wasn’t good at sitting when I was talking on the phone.

I told her exactly what I knew, and then I told her about the email that I found.

“You should send me the screenshot,” she said. “I won’tdoanything, but I’m better at investigating than you are. Let me sleuth for you.”

I looked down at my toes, which were still perfectly painted—thank you, Kat—and second-guessed telling her. He’d told me it was confidential; should I really be sharing his information?

“No,” I said, walking into the kitchen. “I shouldn’t have read it, much less taken a picture. I’m already done with my time playing fake girlfriend, so what he does with his life is none of my business.”

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