“Well, I hope she’s met some lovely man like I have, and settled into as happy a life with him as I intend to do with Ryan.”
She did, Alex thought. She did meet a lovely man, and she would have settled into a happy life with him, if Tyler hadn’t killed her.
“Let’s hope so,” he murmured vaguely. He knew Tyler was watching him, knew this was why he’d sent Bax here tonight, to see how he behaved under this kind of duress.
“So, what line of work are you in, Bax? Are you still into fashion?”
“Ah, well, that’s why I’m here. It’s the tie, you see.” Bax pointed at the elegant strip of fabric around his neck, whichwas now glowing a soft gold. “Ryan fixed the last of the issues I had with it, and now it’s completely perfect and ready to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world. The only thing is, I need funding. I’m convinced holoties will be the next big thing in the world of fashion. I just need enough money to produce them. And who has money? George Tyler.”
“I wasn’t aware that my houder gave to start-ups.”
“Oh yes. He started a fund for young entrepreneurs earlier this year. His people approached me after they saw me modelling the tie at an event.”
Of course they did. Tyler had always played a long game. He’d wanted Bax in his pocket for precisely this moment.
“Well, that all sounds very exciting,” he murmured.
“And you? Can you really be happy being an IS?” Bax looked at him keenly. “I suppose it’s not forever. How long is your sentence? Seven years?”
“Yes.” Alex didn’t share that he was unlikely to be released from his contract after that time. “But honestly, Iamhappy, Bax. In fact, I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. Mr Tyler has been good to me, and he’s helped straighten out a lot of my issues. I’m looked after here.”
“And what of your art, your designs?”
“Oh, Mr Tyler encourages me in all of that. Wait here.” Retrieving his drawing pad from the living room, he returned to show his artwork. “These are what I’m working on at the moment. Mr Tyler buys the best supplies for me.”
“So, would you say he’s a good man, then?” Bax asked, leafing through the drawings. “Only, I have to say, I haven’t been at all sure that it’s a good idea to get into bed with him, even if it’s strictly business.” He gave a wicked little wink. “I’ve heard some troubling things about his business style.”
No,Alex wanted to say,he’s a bad man. It’s a terrible idea to go into business with him. He’ll ruin your life.He wanted tograb hold of Bax and yell at him to get out now, to save himself before it was too late. He considered doing just that. Solange wouldn’t blame him, even though it’d mean the end of any possible hope of getting justice for her.
“What are your boundaries, Alex?”he could hear Gideon demanding sternly. “No raping, no killing, no hurting. Those are the only circumstances under which you can break cover. We said nothing about warning an old friend.”
Didn’t it come under the definition of hurting, though? Alex knew that hurting had always, explicitly, meant physically hurting someone. They hadn’t discussed this particular scenario. If they had, he also knew what Gideon would have said. How was this any different to Rebecca? Or any of the other poor saps Tyler lured into his traps. If Bax fell for it, wasn’t that on Bax, not him?
He so wanted to warn him, though. He wanted to scream at him to go, to tell him everything, but he couldn’t do that. Tyler’s men would be in here before he got very far, and then all his hard work of the past year would have been for nothing. Solange still deserved justice. If that meant throwing Bax under the bus, then so be it. This was his mission and he’d known it wouldn’t be easy.
“He’s a great man,” he lied. “A shrewd businessman, but also a gentleman. You won’t go far wrong if you put your trust in him. He’s honourable. Look how well he’s treated me, after all I did to him.”
“Thatisgood to hear.” Bax sat back, exhaling loudly. “I’ve been so worried about it. Ryan told me he wasn’t sure, that he’d heard bad things… But this seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. I mean, it solves all my problems in one go.”
“Well then, do it. The world deserves holoties.” Alex beamed.
“It does,” Bax laughed. He jumped to his feet and pulled Alex up. “Let’s celebrate. Let’s go to some club and get completely off our heads, like in the old days.”
“I’m too old for that now,” Alex demurred. “Besides, I have a nice meal planned for you here. I’ll call for champagne, and we’ll party like it’s 2086.”
“Ooh, champagne! Well, you know me, darling. I never could say no to champers.”
“I’ll go and fetch it – make yourself at home.” Alex wasn’t surprised to find a bottle of champagne chilling on ice in the kitchen. Frances was waiting there with a delicious-smelling meal, all plated up and ready to go.
He wished he could have a moment to think this through, to decide whether he’d made the right choice, but there was nowhere to hide. The smartwalls were watching his every move, and he was well and truly trapped in Tyler’s spider web.
He rolled the food trolley back into the dining room, where Bax was sitting up at the table, beaming expectantly.
“This is such a wonderful surprise. Seeing you again after all this time. Being here, in George Tyler’s inner sanctum, about to make the biggest deal of my life.”
Alex opened his mouth to say something. Surely he had to say something? To offer some warning. Before he could, Bax started up again.
“It’s such a shame all our old friends from uni couldn’t be here, too. We could have a reunion. Even that awful beige boy, Neil. Oh!” Bax clapped his hand over his mouth. “I shouldn’t have mentioned him. He was the one who got you into all that trouble, wasn’t he? I knew he was no good. Solange and I once had a big old gossip about what you saw in him.”
