Page 33 of The Silent Count
‘You’… as in me, Lea.
Not a friend of his… not Abel recounting the story for him.
Me. He was talking about me.
Yet, he just mentioned everyone involved by name…
And I know for a fact that I purposely left out names when speaking with Lucky Charm. Sharing as many details as I did with him about my job was already risky enough. Mentioning my friends by name would’ve been a dead giveaway of my identity.
Which could only mean that…
Oh my god.
Oh. My. God.
Fortune looks over at me with furrowed brows when I don’t join in and laugh with him.
I suck in a sharp breath, and the words tumble out of my mouth before I have the chance to stop them. “You know.”
Fortune’s face twists, confusion washing over his expression. Then it hits him. His parted lips close, and his cheeks drain of any color, which is as much of an answer as any. But I need to hear him say it. I need to hear the words out loud before I’ll be able to believe that he’s known I’m the other person on the other side of our pen pal messages.
“You know that I’m…” I swallow. The word I want to say is stuck in my throat.
He gives me a single nod.
I…
How long has he…
What made him realize…
My mind reals as Fortune contorts his brows. “Wait. Does that mean you know that I’m…” he trails off, unable to say his chat username. They sound so silly now that the truth is out.
I give him a small nod. “Of course, I know.”
He responds by closing his eyes and leaning his head back to rest against the edge of the hot tub.
“Are you okay?” I ask after a beat of silence.
“Processing,” is all I get as a reply.
I do not know how long the silence passing between us lasts. Could be seconds or minutes. My mind is racing at warp speed with a lead foot on the gas trying to figure out the whys and hows. I close my eyes, rubbing my temples in slow, rhythmic circles as I try to process what just unfolded.
“How long have you known?” I ask; the questions swirling around inside my head are getting louder as time passes.
When Fortune lifts his head and our eyes finally lock, there’s something different about him. He seems lighter. The way he’s looking at me with relief instead of the irritation I anticipated puts me at ease.
He lets out a steadying breath before he speaks. “I’ve known since the day I signed to play for the Matrix. We made eye contact before I met your dad in the signing room, remember?”
I nod.
I can still recall that moment clear as day. He walked in while I was talking with someone, and all I could think about was how much more attractive he was in person. The pictures I’d seen of him online didn’t do justice to the fortress of a man that knocked the breath from my lungs the second I laid eyes on him.
“I had my suspicions that Ladybug was someone on staff after we moved over to direct messages. You kept pressing for more details, playing it up like we were two friends sharing gossip, but there was a vengeful undertone in your line of questioning that I picked up quickly that raised flags. I was already alert, trying to scope out who this person might be, and then when you were waiting outside of the signing room for your dad to introduce us, he called you—”
“Ladybug,” I finish his sentence for him with a gasp. “That’s the nickname my dad has had for me since I was a kid, but as I’ve gotten older, he has backed off from using it as much. Especially since we work together.”
“That’s what I assumed.”
