Page 119 of Hard Wired

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The day of the party, Nic stood in front of the open suitcase that served as his closet, pawing through his clothes. Should he wear a suit? No, that was too dressy, and he only had flashy “Dominic Crane” suits. But a T-shirt seemed wrong, too.

He decided on items that made him feel most like himself—his usual jeans and a soft gray button-down that he left untucked.

He’d told Maureen about the party, and she’d taken him to a florist shop to pick out a birthday arrangement of flowers. He really wanted to give it to Sylvie, but Maureen had said that would be rude, and that being nice to Sylvie’s friend would buy him more points, anyway. Which he knew, of course.

But he felt like a middle schooler going to his first coed dance. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing. All the rules he’d learned as a kid about “polite” behavior were taught to him by people who stole and cheated and broke bones for a living. So he couldn’t help doubting his instincts.

And he was going to Sylvie’s house. Even with all they’d been through together, all the moments they’d shared, it had always been in places defined by his old life. Today they were meeting on ground that belonged to Sylvie and her friends.

He wanted to belong there, too.

He drove to West Oaks for the first time in months, memories assailing him the entire way—some uncomfortable, but so many good.

Dominic knocked on Sylvie’s front door, shifting the flowers from one hand to the other. He could hear voices inside. The door swung open, and a man with shoulder-length hair and an easy grin stood on the threshold. His eyes made a quick sweep over Dominic from head to toe.

“You must be Nic.” He held out his hand. “I’m Luis. It’s great to finally meet you.”

“You, too.” He remembered that Luis was the boyfriend of Sylvie’s cousin.

“The party’s upstairs at Ethan’s place.”

Dominic glanced around the first floor as they passed through. The walls were painted in shades of blue and green, hung with framed vinyl album covers. The furniture was plush and undersized to fit into the small space.

Before they reached the staircase, Luis spun around. “You know, you look familiar.”

He froze. Had the guy seen pictures of him online in articles about the Syndicate? Dominic cared less about his former associates finding him and more about Sylvie’s friends thinking he wasn’t good enough for her.

“Have you modeled?”

Dominic shook his head, knowing he must have the same expression as a deer facing an oncoming train.

“Have you thought about it? You have a very distinctive look.”

“Um…” Say something, he thought. Why is this so hard?

Before, he’d never lacked for conversation at a party. But he’d been playing a role for his so-called friends. Now that he was just trying to be himself, he was struggling to find the right words. Shouldn’t it have been the other way around? It was like he’d reverted back to some earlier stage of awkwardness. So much for the guy who’d made Sylvie whimper with desire in his entryway the first day he met her.

“Okay, now that I’ve come across as the stereotypical creepy photographer, we should probably…” Luis pointed at the stairs. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

He found his voice. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard that before, about modeling. It’s not for me, but thanks.” Even setting aside his efforts to separate himself from his old life and name, he didn’t want people staring at him. “What kind of photography do you do?”

Luis launched into a discussion about his latest campaign for a popular clothing website. The tension in Dominic’s shoulders started to ease. He could do this—relate to people. Make new friends. Right? He wasn’t completely hopeless.

He’d better not be, if he wanted to get Sylvie back.

They reached the top of the stairs, and he saw her. Sylvie wore a lacy, sleeveless black dress and her combat boots. Dominic’s heart instantly jumped into high gear.

She looked over at him and smiled. “Nic.”

“Hey.”

Sylvie walked over, her arms flaring like she wanted to hug him. But he was holding the flowers. “Those must be for Faith? That’s so thoughtful.” She called her friend over.

There weren’t many people there, but he seemed to get caught talking to everyone else except Sylvie. Their eyes trailed each other around the room.

He learned that Ethan was a web designer who was into kung fu movies. Faith was in the process of getting divorced, even though she looked too young and innocent to even be married. But people’s outsides didn’t always match their insides. Dominic knew that well enough.

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