Cheyenne cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at their neighbor. Okay, she’s nailing it right on the head with that one.
Matthew’s smile softened, and he shot Cheyenne one more quick glance before spinning away from the door and gesturing with a wide sweep of his arm. “Come on in. I stay up pretty late anyway. You guys want coffee? This espresso machine is better than anything you can get downtown.”
“Sounds great.”
Cheyenne cleared her throat. “No, we’re good, thanks. Just here to talk.”
“Okay. I’m just gonna make myself a latte. Ember? You want one?”
“Yes. Thanks.”
“Cheyenne?” The halfling stared expressionlessly at him until he shrugged and turned slowly toward the kitchen. “Have a seat if you want. Won’t even take me five minutes.”
As he disappeared around the corner of his oddly shaped apartment, which was built into the corner wedge of the building, Cheyenne looked at Ember and raised her eyebrows. “Yes, thanks?”
“He has an espresso machine.”
“I heard what he said.”
“If nothing else, I’m gonna get a good cup of coffee out of this. He let us inside. Just chill.”
Pressing her lips together and shaking her head, Cheyenne stepped out of their neighbor’s entryway and entered the living room. The place was decorated in clean lines of dark and light gray with splashes of yellow, royal blue, and bright red in artwork, pillows, and even a streak of red running down the center of a dark-gray coffee table. Like a kindergarten classroom for tech moguls.
The roar and harsh rush of the espresso machine came from the other side of the apartment, and Cheyenne studied Matthew Thomas’ home like it was just another abandoned warehouse with boobytraps.
“You’re looking suspicious right now,” Ember muttered as she wheeled past the halfling.
“Oh, really? Can’t imagine why.”
“You’re not a big believer in ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ are you?”
“We already covered that this is the proof, Em.” Cheyenne waved the stack of papers in front of her before shoving them behind her back again. A quick glance toward the kitchen didn’t show her any sign of Matthew. At least if he’s watching us, he won’t be able to hear a thing.
“We went over this. That doesn’t prove what we wanna know.” Ember nodded at the kitchen and made her way toward the gray leather sectional taking up the corner inside the door. “Do I need to do all the talking on this one?”
Cheyenne joined her friend, casting a wary glance at the red stripe running through the coffee table, and plopped down on the couch. “If that’s our tactic, we’ll be here all night.”
“What, you think you’re the only one who can play magical sleuth with any level of efficiency?”
“Not when he’s smiling at you.”
Ember rolled her eyes. “Please.”
“Seriously, you couldn’t even turn down a latte.”
“I’m trying to act normal, Cheyenne. When obviously none of this is normal.”
The espresso machine cut off, followed by a few metallic taps and the hiss of the milk frother.
The fae sighed. “I know it’s hard for you, but just sit still and let this play out, okay? I do not want this hanging over us the whole time we live here if we’re wrong.”
“We’re not wrong.” The halfling stuffed the stack of printed paper under her thigh and peered around the living room. “He knows exactly what he’s doing. Look, it’s been five minutes already.”
“Okay. Here we go.” Matthew appeared around the corner, carrying a huge gray mug in each hand. “Sorry that took so long. I’m gonna have to take that machine apart and clean it soon. I mean, yeah, it’s amazing to be able to make my own cup of coffee like this whenever I want, but the maintenance part throws me off. I keep forgetting I’m the one who has to take care of it.”
Ember grinned at him as he handed her one mug. “I bet you could find someone to do that for you.”
Cheyenne closed her eyes in a long and exaggerated blink.
He chuckled. “Probably. But I try not to shuck a job off on other people if it’s something I can do myself, you know?”
“Huh.” Cheyenne leaned forward, propping her elbow on her thigh as she turned and raised her eyebrows at Ember. “Makes sense.”
The fae ignored her friend’s remark and took a sip of her latte. Her eyelids fluttered. “Oh, my God. This is amazing.”
“Hey, thanks.” Matthew lifted his mug toward her and lowered himself onto the puffy, insanely comfortable-looking suede loveseat on the other side of the coffee table. “Nothing like a great cup of coffee, right?”
“You sure you’re not a secret barista?” Ember chuckled and offered her mug to Cheyenne. The halfling blinked, which was all the refusal she needed to make.
“Not as far as I know.”
“Not even in a past life, maybe?”
Matthew took a long drink of his coffee, swallowed, and sat back in the loveseat. “It’s all the espresso machine, I promise. I just push a few buttons.”
“Well, it’s working.” Ember dove into her latte again.
Cheyenne stared at her friend and waited for the fae girl to get a move on. Ember smacked her lips and closed her eyes in appreciation. Okay, enough bullshit. “What’s Combined Reality, Inc.?”
Matthew leaned forward as he swallowed his next sip and laughed in surprise. “Combined Reality, Inc.?”
“Yeah, you heard me.”
Ember glanced at them, frowning.
“It’s one of my smaller firms.” Matthew crossed one ankle over his opposite knee and grinned. “Not a lot of people know the name, honestly.”
“Because you’re trying to keep it hidden?”
Ember closed her eyes and whispered, “Seriously?”
“No, actually.” Their neighbor took another sip of his latte before setting the mug down on the tall side table next to the loveseat. “Because it’s a private company and doesn’t come up much in the public sector. How’d you hear about it?”
“I found it.” Cheyenne hefted the metal sphere in her hand
