Lust Read Free Page A

staring back at him from the television screen.
    Jolted, he jumped back, knocking his chair to the floor with a clatter. The noise made him look down, and when he looked back up, the taunting television screen had become his computer again—his safe, familiar computer, quietly listing his old contacts for him to pore over.
    â€œLoki,” he said out loud. “It was Loki, and I have control over him.”
    He straightened the chair and placed it in front of his desk again, glanced nervously at the computer screen. But it was still covered in calm, static numbers. No more streaming video straight from his buried internal hard drive. Oliver took a deep breath and sat down again.
    He needed to find a few contacts who would still do him favors. He needed to check those favors, to be sure he was not being scammed. He had to secure these passports and visas. His brother’s life depended on it. Gaia’s happiness depended on it.
    He mustered his energy and forced himself back to work.
    Outer-Borough Frat House
    â€œWELL, LOOK, WE’VE INTERVIEWED A bunch of guys, but you’re the only one who seems normal. If you want the place, it’s yours.”
    Sam Moon took the hand extended to him and shook it. “That’s great, man,” he said. “I appreciate it. You want the check now?”
    â€œYeah, if you’ve got it.”
    Sam nodded and went into the room that was going to be his. The two guys—his new roommates—who already lived here seemed cool. They were students, but not at NYU, so Sam didn’t have to worry that they’d know of his strange past.
    This room—something about an empty room made it full of possibilities. The wide wooden slats of the floor invited him to plop a futon down. The cavernous closet, with nothing but two wire hangers and a baseball cap inside, awaited his meager wardrobe. The pale walls, painted an indiscriminate shade of greige, were made for dorm-style décor—black-and-white art posters, an Escher print, maybe an Anna Kournikova calendar. It was like a blank canvas.
    He strolled to the windows and looked out. The windows were old and heavy. They rolled up and down on thick chains, and he could feel a palpable breeze where the frames met the jambs. They looked out on a busy Queens boulevard, filled with at least six different international restaurants, based on a quick count. Afghan, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Greek, and something in a language he didn’t even recognize. So he didn’t live in Manhattan anymore. So he was going to have to work for a while before he could get back to school. That was okay. Because he finally had some kind of control over his life.
    Of course he was worried. Of course he knew he could still be a target. But living in hiding, in Chinatownwith Dmitri, was no longer an option. He couldn’t live like a caged animal anymore. Dmitri was great—it was a loan from him that was making this all possible, after all—but he was just one more reminder of that whole bizarre Gaia chapter of his life.
    Gaia. She was the most fantastic, sexy, romantic, exciting person he’d ever known, but being with her had come with a price. Whatever mysterious forces she was connected to had destroyed Sam’s life. Operatives bent on destroying Gaia had come after him, killing his roommate, framing him for the murder, and finally shooting and imprisoning Sam for months. He still wasn’t fully recovered, physically or mentally. And Gaia hadn’t come through for him. Yeah, she had rescued him, but when he’d tried to reconnect with her, she’d thrown up so many walls that he just hadn’t been able to. Plus there was that boyfriend of hers. Obviously she was still stuck on him. There just wasn’t room in her heart for Sam Moon.
    That had been painful. So rather than be halfway in her life, he’d made the decision to cut himself off from her entirely. Make a fresh start. Hence the