I didn’t keep track of my timeline properly. Please forgive me for sloppily organizing things in this chapter. The story started roughly at the end of August since school starts in September. I missed Christmas and the New Year, but I have decided to add those as side stories rather than go back and change anything. Those will be available to everyone and not only on Patreon because it was my mistake. It is somewhere in January, but for the sake of my sanity, I am going to start things in February. 

 

Zach rolled over. His hand stretched out but came up empty. It was funny how quickly he got used to Tynan’s presence. Now that he wasn’t here, Zach found himself missing his warmth. These five days made him realize he no longer wanted to be alone. 

It was already six months since he was reborn. The air in February was still cold and crisp. He burrowed deeper into the covers. Zach wanted Tynan to come back. He laughed at how silly he was being. Tynan would be back today.

There were plenty of things he needed to do. He gave himself a pep talk before he worked up the energy to crawl from beneath the sheets. The information on Brad Maxwell was hard to find, and what he did have needed to be compiled. 

There were also the things he needed to do for Theo and tracing the equipment in Tynan's office. When he listed the things he needed to do, he wanted to crawl back into bed. He trudged to the bathroom. The traces of Tynan that he could see everywhere did nothing to improve his mood. 

He got out of their room as fast as he could. Zach needed to get an office space outside of the house.

It would be good to have a place to go to when he was in this sort of mood. He had breakfast on the balcony and did his best to keep all thought at bay. He didn’t have the best success, but he was in a better mood when he finished.

Zach laughed as he headed to his office. He was getting very comfortable for someone who was here for a visit. He was only allowed to spend three months here without a visa. He had two months left before he had to go back to Pe city.

A week and it felt as though he was missing an arm. He didn’t know how he would do it. 

Zach dived into work before his mood took another turn for the worst.

Brad Maxwell was a fascinating man. If it wasn’t for Brad’s tendency to use violent means as his first choice to settle disputes, Zach would have befriended him. The man was brilliant. He would transform what was little more than a small-time smuggling operation into a global multi-national. 

When they met in his last life, Zach was already in his forties. He’d been through many struggles and was awed by the commanding presence and force the man moved with. He’d idolized him, but that changed when Zach found himself in the trunk of a car after a misunderstanding. 

Remembering that incident left a bad taste in his mouth. He might have ended up dead if he couldn’t prove his innocence. After that, he did his best not to get involved with Brad and his various business dealings. His saving grace was that Brad was never that interested in him. After Zach sold his proprietary software, he rarely saw the man.

He didn’t enjoy finding himself in an even worse position in this life. Zach was sacred from that incident. As a result, he had no desire to fight toe to toe with that mad man. It would be best if Brad’s goal was something else, and they could all co-exist.

It was harder to get the information that he first anticipated. Most people didn’t have adequate security measures in place. Thus it was a surprise when he ran into the system Brad had in place. The firewall was nothing close to what he expected, being years ahead of what others had. 

If he wasn’t from the future, he didn’t think him at the corresponding age would have been able to get through. After he gained access, he’d run into another problem. Maxwell was paranoid about information, and anything that didn’t have to be recorded wasn’t.

Zach had turned his attention to getting information from Brad’s associates and enemies. They weren’t nearly as careful. 

He compiled everything he had before calling Mrs. Brown. He had her courier the information to Morris. 

With that done. He focused on tracing the recording devices he found in Tynan’s office. He expected them to lead back to Maxwell, but it was better to be careful. After being bounced around to different IP addresses, he traced it to a small security company. On paper, it had no connection to Brad. He searched around for a while before he found a connection. A maid that used to work in the Maxwell household, her son was the registered owner of the LLC. It was a loose tie, but that was all he needed.

With that wrapped up, he would give the go-ahead for Tynan to have the devices removed from his office. He sent a text. A smile played at his lips when he received a quick response. He sniggered when he realized Tynan’s reply had nothing to do with what Zach was talking about.

They spoke every day and kept in contact through text. It was clear that he wasn’t the only one adjusting to the distance. Tynan as the more emotionally rounded one out of the two of them usually reached out first. 

Zach wasn’t passive in their interactions, but it was harder for him to put himself out there. He pushed away from his desk. He stretched and walked around for a bit. He didn’t notice how long he was sitting in the same place. 

As he was about to start on the background checks for Theo, his phone rang. He answered when he saw that it was Morris.

“Please tell me this is the first draft of a game you are making.”

It took Zach a moment to figure out what he meant. Yes, Brad’s life would make an excellent movie or backstory for a game. “No. That’s all fact. Some of it is hearsay, so it might not be that accurate.” 

“Most of it is hearsay?”

Zach heard the hopeful note in Morris’ voice, but he would have to disappoint him. “Nope. Most of it is fact. There is probably a lot I couldn’t find.”

“Fuck.” 

There was the sound of papers being shuffled in the background. “Any idea how you are going to approach him?”

“I’m going to move to A country and retire on the beach.”

Despite his words, Morris still sounded calm. Zach was curious to see what it would take to get the man upset or annoyed. “Do that after you approach Maxwell to see what he wants.”

“You are just like Tynan. Throwing the annoying things my way.”

“Thank you.” Zach held back a chuckle when he heard the choking sound from the other end of the line.

“That was not a compliment. Can you get Maxwell’s itinerary?” 

“I tried, but I couldn’t find much. Other than his everyday activities I don’t think anyone knows his schedule but him. According to the pattern, he should be in Lor City to meet Rain on Saturday.” Zach didn’t think Rain’s scandal would affect things. 

Theo had a body double for Rain make appearances. This way, they wouldn’t tip their hand too early. 

“That gives me four days, excluding today, to get ready. If you find anything else, send it my way.”

Morris didn’t wait for an answer before he hung up. 

Zach tossed the phone on the desk. He pulled up the profiles on the actors in Theo’s company.

Zach paused when the rumbling from his stomach became too intense to ignore. He stretched his arms up and heard a crack in his spine. The relief was instantaneous. Maybe he should add a standing desk to his office. 

Then again, he was lazy. If it was comfortable, he would lie down and work. He lamented his gaming workstation. The reclining chair and built-in screens. It was a pity that they hadn’t been designed or developed yet. 

When he confessed to Tynan maybe he could give him the idea. Tynan could find someone to develop the technology ahead of time. He paid no heed to the people he was robbing of their invention.

He wondered out of his office and down the hall. As if she read his mind Mrs. Brown appeared with a tray ladened with food. “I’ll take it in the solarium.”

He texted Tynan while he ate. The other’s plane would land in an hour. Zach only hesitated for a moment before instructing Mrs. Brown that he would go with the drive to pick up Tynan. 

Zach had his eyes glued out the window. Passengers were trickling out of the doors of the airport. It didn’t take long before he saw Tynan. He didn’t have time to think. In a flash, he was out of the car and walking towards Tynan.

He knew the moment Tynan saw him. The older man’s footsteps faltered before he picked up his pace. Zach was in Tynan's arms in an instant. Zach tilted his head up and received the kiss he’d been craving for days.

He relaxed into the heat of Tynan’s body, and he felt the tension leaving him. Their lips met and parted time and time again, neither of them satisfied. A hand cupped the back of his head, pinning him in place. The kiss wound down, moving from ravishing to tiny nips. 

As usual, Tynan was the first to regain his sanity. “Hi.” His voice was gruff and the growled words sent shivers through Zach.

“Hey.” His hands were tangled in Tynan’s coat. He leaned heavily on the other man. If Tynan stepped away, Zach would crumple to the ground because his knees had given up on supporting him. 

“Didn’t expect you to pick me up.” Tynan pulled him into a fierce hug. 

Neither of them paid attention to the people that were staring at them. “It was meant to be a surprise.” Zach found his feet that had turned to jelly. He stepped back. Being close to Tynan wasn’t the best way to regain control of himself or the situation. “Surprise.” The bright smile he received from Tynan made everything worth it.

“Thanks.” Tynan entwined their fingers and headed to the car. The driver followed with Tynan’s luggage. 

Zach spotted someone familiar out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, he didn’t see the person anymore. He shook his head, chalking it up to a coincidence. It was probably someone he met in the future. The person was familiar but didn’t stand out in his mind as important.

“What is it?” Tynan asked. He was pulled to a stop when Zach stopped moving.

Zach shook his head. His lips tipped up in a reassuring smile. “Nothing.”

“Sure?” They started walking again.

“I thought I saw someone that I knew. It wasn’t them.” Zach leaned into Tynan. His other hand came up to grip Tynan’s arm. He took a deep breath, enjoying the earthy smell that was unique to Tynan.

“Hmm.” 

The moment they were in the car, everything else was forgotten. The partition went up and they did their best not to take things too far. They were successful only because Tynan didn’t want Zach’s voice to leak out.

Zach burst into laughter when Tynan called Morris to tell him to make sure the cars were soundproofed. 

Morris had hung up with a ‘fuck off.’

Zach didn’t wrong him. Tynan would probably have to buy a car that had the passenger seats soundproofed. He didn’t think it would work to have it done on a regular car.