chapter536

Connor's eyes grew dark as his voice cooled. "He's not the type to back down. If that's how it is, I'll have to make the first move."

Lydia was on the same page. If someone had paid off Blood Oath and put a kill order on Connor, this was all or nothing. No point waiting around for the next hit. It was time to flip the script and take control.

"Oh, and call Chris. Tell him to come over for dinner tonight."

They'd been running around all night and needed a proper meal. Plus, she had some questions for Chris about his hacking. Doing things for the country was one thing, but tonight was different. This was Connor's enemy, and she wouldn't let Chris get dragged into something that could put Connor in danger.

Connor couldn't help but feel a little jealous about it. "You want him to join us for dinner?"

Weren't they supposed to have a nice, quiet dinner for two? Did they really have to bring in a third wheel?

Lydia just nodded. "Yeah."

Connor had no choice but to go along with it.

Meanwhile, the internet was buzzing again. People were saying that the huge leaks from earlier that night were the work of the famous hacker, L. The news had come out of nowhere, backed by solid evidence, and it exposed some really big players. Given L's reputation for taking down the bad guys, everyone just assumed it had to be him.

Lydia's phone wouldn't stop ringing, but she ignored it. She wasn't about to respond to any of it.

Chris was just finishing up patching some system holes when he got Connor's call, inviting him to dinner. He was honestly shocked. Every other time he'd dropped by, his brother always looked like he was annoyed to have him there, like he was just getting in the way. Why the sudden invite tonight? He couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.

He drove over to Connor's place, feeling uneasy. When he pulled into the driveway and saw his Mikey's

he

caxed a little. If Mikey was

here, maybe it really was just it really was justa

normal family dinner.

But when Chris walked inside, he realized it was anything but normal. Not only was Mikey there, but their grandfather was sitting in the living room to the old man's glare was so intense it felt like he couldfreeze the whole room. Chris shrank back, instantly feeling the heavy tension in the air.

Was something big going down? And did it have something to do with him?

He tried to remember if he'd messed up recently but came up blank until it hit him. Maybe Grandpa had found out about what happened in France, when Connor got hurt protecting him.

Feeling like a kid who'd just been caught sneaking out, Chris walked over to his grandfather with his head down "Grandpa, I know I messed up. If it wasn't for me, Connor wouldn't have gotten hurt. He

almost died because of me.'

iel

The words barely left his mouth before his grandfather's eyes went wide and he shot a look straight at Connor. "You were hurt? When did that happen?"

The whole room went silent.

Chris just stood there, completely lost. Wait... wasn't that why Grandpa was here? He glanced at Lydia, Connor, and Mikey, hoping someone would explain.

Connor, pinned by his grandfather's stare, tried to calm him down. "Really, you don't have to worry. It's all in the past now."

But Grandpa's face was deadly serious. "How could you not tell me about something like this?"

Chris had no idea what to say.

Mikey jumped in to help. Grandpa, Blake just didn't want you to worry. He asked us

all to keep quiet about it. It's over now. He's fine."