Chapter 51
“He says that the subways will still be running so he’ll meet us here. I don’t think he wants us to see where he’s living. He’ll be moving next week. Alexei gave him rent money for when he starts school. He got himself a one-bedroom apartment in a building with a doorman in the Village. He wanted to get something cheaper, but Alexei insisted that the building be safe so I can visit.”
“Armand would be the same way,” Sean told Donal.
“I don’t want anyone to think Julio is using me. He helped me out for six years when he was saving every dime to go to beauty school. He even gave me money to give Apuso when I was too torn up to work.”
“Not one of us would think that.” Kane said. “He helped you and you survived. If he hadn’t, Alexei would have lost his chance at a Mate this cycle. He’s well aware of what he owes Julio and so are we. Even when you were safe, he went out of his way to tell you about Ernesto. Julio is a good person.”
“Thank you for saying that. I think he is as worried as I am about acceptance given his former occupation.” Donal put on his boots. He looked at his feet in the mirror. “Who would have ever thought I’d own a pair of fancy half boots?” He picked up his topcoat and said, “I’m ready. What about you two lay-a-bouts?”
Sean smacked the back of his head, and Kane poked him in the ribs.
* * * *
Donal never saw so many electronic gadgets in his life as he saw on the shelves at Best Buy and Crutchfield. The first thing they bought was two Samsung eighty-eight inch Ultra High Definition televisions. Then three sixty inch televisions, one for Katya and Boris, and one each for Vasily and Grigory. Katya also got a forty-inch set for the kitchen to watch her cooking shows. Alexei paid with an American Express Black card just like the one Donal now had in his new wallet. Alexei bought a stereo system that would work throughout the entire house, and everything he needed to connect to the Internet.
Both Donal and Alexei were confused in the computer aisle between notebooks, laptops, and pads.
Gabriel set both of them up with a laptop for home and a notebook for Donal for school. Alexei also got his own server for the house, and Gabriel volunteered to oversee the installation.
“Having your own server is best. Then security isn’t as much of an issue. I’ll set you up with security software and check everything out once a month just like I do for the others. You’ll want to subscribe to DirecTV and get all of the movie and special channels. I know you follow English football, Alexei, this way you can keep up.”
Donal looked helplessly at Sean and mouthed, “What’s English football?”
Sean whispered back, “Soccer.”
Donal nodded.
“Get a roof antenna too in case you get rain fade. Since we’re in New York, you can pick up most local stations on the antenna, if DirecTV is out.” Sean pointed to a shelf of computers. “I think you should also buy Donal a Mac besides his PC because that’s the best computer for the arts.”
Armand walked over to the group. “Sean likes to watch television. I just bought us one of those eighty inchers. Now your boy needs a tablet and a mini to use to read and a better phone than the one Boris picked up. Since Gabriel is going to set up a network on the server, he doesn’t need to sync his phone to his PC because he has a Mac, so get him the latest iPhone.” Gabriel looked at Armand in astonishment. “I can’t let Sean get that far ahead of me or I’ll never know what he’s up to, I’ve been studying.”
Gabriel laughed so hard he bent over. Alexei and Donal watched him with arched brows.
“Armand was a Luddite before Sean,” Gabriel teased.
“Luddite?” Donal whispered.
“I’ll tell you later,” Kane promised.
Pierre, the Betas, and the six Enforcers that accompanied the party in other vehicles had to make a trip home so they could all fit in the limousine on the way back and that was with most of the items being delivered and installed on Monday while the boys were at the salon.
Alexei disappeared in Best Buy for a half hour, but Donal figured it was business related because Alexei told him to stay with Armand and Sean.