Page 82 of How to Trust a Hellhound
“Mmmhmmm. You all can sit down and relax or leave, but there will be no fighting,” I declared.
I could see Wilder’s smile behind his coffee cup, but I ignored it as everyone sat around the living room and started chatting. Wilder went to join them, giving me a kiss on the head as he walked by.
Predictably, they all started chatting about yesterday’s events, and apparently they wanted more details on exactly what had happened. Sebbie had told a great story to the police, but we’d all seen Thea stabthe woman in that basement. There was no way Sebbie could have missed it.
Of course, she also hadn’t bled, and then there was some other freaky supernatural stuff that happened, but I was choosing to remain blissfully ignorant on all that. They were hellhounds, they did hellhound stuff, and we were all fine. That was all that mattered.
I tuned out their chatter and looked at the phone, scrolling through the apps. I didn’t think this guy had ever cleaned out his cell phone. I went into each folder full of apps, and I scrolled through the google drive as well. There were a lot of docs and spreadsheets to go through, and I’d come back to them if I needed to. Before that, I tried the notes app.
I snorted. Yup, there were a few notes saved, but the most recent one was a mess, to put it lightly. It was like a hallway closet that you shoved everything imaginable into so it was out of sight when guests came over.
There were random log-ins, half of what looked like a packing list, a list of movie recommendations, notes that made little sense out of context, two drafts of emails, dates and appointments, a list of hotels… it just went on and on. I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled, amazed that he could find anything in the chaos.
Eventually, near the bottom, there were five twelve digit numbers. Beneath that, there were two words and a string of numbers with no spaces.
If the guy weren’t dead, I would have to have a serious talk with him. Did he seriously use the same password for all five bank accounts, and then write it in his notes app? I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, because people were idiots about protecting their online finances, but still…
I went into each bank based on the account numbers, and I used his first and last name as username and the password he had written down. That didn’t work, so I tried his first and last name with the numberone after it.
Jackpot.
I went through each account, and the sign-in and passwords were all the same. I snorted in amusement, and I heard silence. I looked over at the living room, and everyone was staring at me.
“So, Aiden, what do you plan to do with your millions of dollars?” I asked.
Epilogue
Wilder
As I’d predicted, Aiden did not want the money. We had a family dinner that night at Toby’s, and everyone, including Thea and Sebbie, came. Corbin and Jude cooked, because that wasn’t Toby’s area of expertise, and we all sat around and chatted.
It was noisy, loud, and rambunctious, and I knew Josh was slightly overwhelmed but also very happy. He yelled at each of the boys at least once, and they just smiled and gave him sheepish looks. I almost thought to tell Josh that they were going out of their way to do something to get reprimanded for, but I thought he might have already realized it. It was kind of cute in an adolescent sort of way. I think all the boys wanted to feel accepted by Josh, and reprimanding was his love language. The boys knew it and were pleased each time they got told not to do something. In return, they jokingly called him step-dad or dad, and Josh blushed adorably each time they did.
He smiled and muttered about “kids” at one point when Jude and Dexter were poking each other, and I chose not to remind him that they were all way, way older than him. My mate preferred to ignore most of the supernatural elements, and I could respect that.Josh liked things neat and orderly, and I was happy not to disrupt that.
“Tell me again, in detail, how you got access to the money,” Toby told Josh when we were done with dinner. He, of course, had a notepad out.
Josh sighed but did exactly as he was asked. Toby hummed and asked questions, scribbling down things as he did.
“You know, I tried to google how to transfer money from an offshore account that didn’t belong to you, and would you believe that the stupid AI answer that pops up at the top told me that I was searching something that was illegal, and then it gave me other search suggestions?” Toby grumbled.
Josh looked slightly alarmed at that, and he looked over at Liam.
“Yeah, I’ll clear his browser history and make sure he doesn’t end up on any watchlists,” Liam promised.
Toby seemed not to notice, and Dexter just looked pleased with his mate, regardless of any possible trouble he might have gotten into.
Everyone praised Josh extensively on how he’d managed to get access to the funds, and my Mei Ume just blushed and brushed it off, but I could tell he was pleased.
“Now there’s no way you’reeverpaying rent,” Q declared at one point, looking smug.
I knew Josh was about to argue, and we didn’t need those two butting heads again, so I murmured to Josh, “You really did an amazing job, Mei Ume,” then I kissed him.
Eventually, we all started discussing the money. We made a list of charities that we planned to distribute the funds to, and Liam insisted on being the one to actually do it so that Josh didn’t break the law. It was kind of sweet, although Josh reminded him that he’d already signed into the accounts from his computer. Liam said he’d take care of that, and then we were back to finding places to donate to.
Josh told everyone that we needed to make sure to spread thewealth over different charities but also over different locations, so that we didn’t leave a heavier donation zone by where we lived. Everyone praised him again for being so smart, and Josh just blushed, saying it probably wasn’t necessary since the account holder wasn’t alive. It was still good thinking, and I gave Josh a smile and murmured my appreciation.
Eventually, Josh and I found ourselves in relative privacy in the kitchen area, cleaning up the counters while everyone else chatted in the living room. I think Josh just needed a moment away from all the attention.
