Russian Roulette: Family secrets [2021 version]

Ch. 46: Just Gareth tonight, Malyshka

"Are you sure this will work?" Gareth grumbled as he rubbed his ass cheek and sat down carefully in a comfy-looking chair.

"When have I ever let you down?" Horse pointed at a screen on his desk. "It's right there."

"I know, I know."

With a snort and a toss of his golden locks, Horse opened a beer and handed it to Gareth. He opened one for himself and sat back in his chair at the control panel of a desk.

The information hub of Gareth's organization.

The grand studio apartment where Horse lived was one giant tech palace. Everywhere hung flat screens and computer screens, displaying things Gareth could not begin to understand. Tech stuff lay scattered throughout the room. Some even looked like science projects.

Horse's desk was enormous with six keyboards hooked up to what Gareth believed was the mother of all computers, all built by Horse to cater to his needs. The desk alone held eight large computer screens, some with pages of coding, and others just information, websites, or images. Some of which looked disturbing, to say the least, with the display of young women in practically nothing who were on the sales sites of the dark web.

Gareth did not even pretend to know how Horse kept track of all he did, but seeing how many screens he had with stuff, he knew Horse was on top of everything.

There came a constant pinging from the speakers, and small flashing notices appeared on the different screens. Horse's long fingers moved effortlessly over the different keyboards while he checked the alerts he got. Nothing seemed to pass his watchful eyes.

It was rather impressive.

When Horse slept was a mystery to Gareth.

"Any news?"

"Sorry, no. I've tried everything." With an almost guilty expression on his handsome face, Horse sighed. "I've hooked up with Cellmate and Firewall. We've set up a connection and are on top of everything. We cover all time zones and have scheduled around-the-clock hours between us to keep you covered."

He sent Gareth a cheeky grin.

"We do have a life, you know. Not all of us live on caffeine, pop-tarts, and porn."

Gareth returned the grin.

Horse always knew what he thought, and Gareth had to admit, it had crossed his mind that hackers lived like that. Though Horse's place was a tech mess, it was clean and somehow gave the indication of organized chaos.

He had a large bed at the end of the studio, with crumbled sheets, so it got used, apparently. A small sitting area in the middle where Gareth sat. There was a kitchen, guest room, and bathroom too, though to Gareth's knowledge, the guestroom functioned as storage. He had a feeling daylight had not graced the room since Horse had moved in. Blinds and heavy curtains covered the windows at all times.

It was the Batcave.

"I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure. What can I do?" Horse's pale blue eyes left the screens for a brief moment to look at Gareth, and then they went back to the screens. It was not an impolite action to ignore he had company, his boss of all people. He simply had to monitor everything. Gareth knew that and expected it too.

"I need you to set up automatic payments for everything. Salaries, rent, insurances. Everything."

"No problem. How long are we talking?"

"Indefinitely. Until I, Phoenix, or Mackenzie say otherwise. I want everything to run smoothly, and I don't want Mackenzie to worry about any of it."

Though Horse nodded and made a mental note to set things in motion, he glanced at Gareth, who as always was the epitome of calm and collected.