Dani and Sam exchanged a knowing glance, which made Will feel a bit uneasy.

He was beginning to realize there was only one direction things might go between him and Rafi—and that was a relationship, with everything that came with it. And he was not ready for that.

He had never dated anyone. The longest relationship he had ever witnessed was between his and Sam’s characters on the soap opera.

Not sure what to do with himself or what to say, he took the plate Sam had prepared for him and began nibbling on the vegetables.

Sam passed the dice to Dani, and they returned to the conversation from before Will had joined them.

"I would really love to come to your exhibition," Sam said enthusiastically to Dani. "I cannot remember the last time I went to a gallery without having to promote something." He was already imagining what it would be like to walk freely through the space, actually appreciating the art without having to pose for photographers with a fake smile.

"There will still be photographers," Dani said as he took his turn, "but mostly because of my mother. My agent thinks I need more exposure, and he is planning to put some of the paintings up for auction."

"I am sure you will be a hit," Rafi said. "A lot of people will want to buy your work."

"I am not so sure," Dani replied, sounding uncertain. "Last time, your father just showed up and bought everything. The whole exhibition was over pretty quickly after that."

"He only did that because he is your biggest fan," Rafi said encouragingly. "You know he loves hanging your paintings at home. That beach scene you did looks perfect in the dining room."

Dani let out a disbelieving sigh.

Sam turned to Will and asked, "You are coming too, right?"

Once again, all eyes were on Will. He swallowed what was in his mouth and said, "I suppose so."

Will looked at the cards Rafi was holding and at the game board, then said, "You can build two more roads there. And you had the option for a harbor city too."

"Do not give him hints," Dani said. "This game is every man for himself."

"I am just saying—he has been sitting on those cards for almost two rounds," Will replied.

"It is fine," Rafi said, and followed Will's suggestion.

During the following turns, Will kept giving Rafi tips.

But still, in the end, Dani won.

"Wow… you are really good at this game," Sam said.

"I am shocked the two of you together still could not get a harbor city," Dani teased them about losing.

"I was hoping to see the effect of the bond," Sam said.

"It is not as simple as you think," Rafi replied. "Some people can know each other their whole lives and never realize they are soulmates"

Dani looked at Rafi. “That sounds like you are speaking from experience.”

Rafi shrugged in response.

“I think they are still lucky. I have been waiting for the results for so long. And my biggest fear is that maybe my match will never come,” Sam said honestly.

Dani and Rafi, who knew they had a way to check the matching the database program, looked at each other. They understood they would need to ask Ari to look into the information, but they could not tell anyone else about it. So as soon as they got back home, they would have to talk to Ari.

Dani looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Why do we not play one last game, and then Rafi and I will head home?" he said, looking at Rafi, who nodded in agreement.

"Do you want to play with me again, or do you want to play on your own?" Rafi asked Will.

"I will play on my own," he said, taking the remaining pieces. "Let me show you how it is done."

Rafi and Sam chuckled, and Dani took it as a challenge.

They rebuilt the board, and very quickly the game became a competition between Dani and Will.

After over an hour of arguments and resource negotiations,

Dani played another knight and won by a narrow margin.

At the end, as they gathered up the game, even Will smiled.

Luckily, Sam had suggested they play this game—it had definitely softened Will up,

and they received a warm invitation to come back for another round

In the car on the way home, Dani was driving.

It was past ten at night when he turned to Rafi and asked,

“Raf... do you think Ari would agree to check Sam’s match data? He kind of went in and out of the system, like he is dancing on the edge of it.”

“I would not worry about it,” Rafi replied. “He would be happy to help a fellow omega. I would also consider it a personal favor. After all, I do not think I can move forward with Will as long as Sam has not found his match.”

“We will need to talk to Ari tomorrow. Until then, we will have to wait. Are you sleeping at the apartment or the studio tonight?” Dani asked Rafi.

Rafi sighed. “I do not think I can wait until tomorrow. I have a packed day of meetings. I will call Ari now.” He used the car’s system to make the call.

“Hey, you would not believe what happened today!” Ari said the moment he answered.

“Hey, Ari,” Rafi and Dani said together.

“Rafi, you are there too?? Come over here—Gabi is with me. We have so much juicy stuff to tell you,” Ari said excitedly.

Dani and Rafi exchanged amused looks. “On our way,” Dani replied.

Ari hung up.

“Perfect,” Rafi said. “I will sleep at Ari’s and walk to the studio in the morning.”

When they arrived at Ari's apartment, they looked at Gabi with concern and asked together."What happened to your hand?"

"I got into a fight," Gabi answered. "Do not worry, I was on the winning side."

Still in shock, Dani asked Ari, "Is that what you wanted to tell us?"

Ari, who was arranging a plate of cookies in the kitchen, replied, "That is just part of it. Okay, who wants hot tea and who wants something cold?"

"I would love a hot drink," Rafi said.

Dani glanced around at everyone. Rafi was now helping Ari carry the mugs of tea to the living room table.

Gabi was slouched on one of the couches, looking bored. He sat up straighter when Ari handed him his cup.

“Hello?!” Dani said, slightly annoyed. “I get the feeling there is a much bigger story here.”

“There is,” Ari replied. “That is why we have tea and cookies—to snack while we talk.”

“Dani, come sit. Let us listen first, and then we can ask them for the favor,” Rafi said, offering him the spot in the middle.

“Whoa... now I am curious,” Ari said with a grin.

"You go first," Dani said, picking up the last cup of tea and taking a sip.

"I do not even know where to start," Ari cradled his cup in his hand, thinking. "This morning, Alex and Adam went to check their test results at MMS, and let's just say the results were pretty surprising..." Ari spoke slowly, trying not to sound too excited.

"Alex and Adam... you mean Gabi’s Alex and Adam, Alex’s friend?" Rafi asked.

Ari nodded and continued. "Alex and Gabi came out as a perfect match, which is not really a surprise. What was surprising is what they found out there.

Apparently, once a match is made, they call to let you know. But if the first person declines or rejects the match, they do not tell the second person at all… I still do not know why that is, but it is part of their protocol..." Ari paused to sip his tea.

"...What Adam told me is that they told Alex he declined the match, but he said he did not. In fact, he had already met the match. And to prove he was wrong, they played him the recording of the phone call where the match was declined... and you know what they heard..." Ari stopped for dramatic effect.

Dani and Rafi waited eagerly for the rest.

Gabi, who already knew how it ended, took the cookie plate to himself, picked one up, and started eating.

"They heard on the recording… Alex’s girlfriend. Somehow, she answered the call from MMS, and she rejected the match. And more than that—she later faked another call from MMS, so Alex ended up believing she was his match." Ari paused, giving Dani and Rafi a moment to react.

"That is sick..." Rafi said.

"That is borderline sociopathic..." Dani added, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That is not all," Ari continued. "I do not understand how your brother has not called you yet," he said to Rafi.

"What does my brother have to do with this?" Rafi asked, confused.

"It is more about your last name," Gabi chimed in, showing interest in the story for the first time.

"What?!" Rafi exclaimed in shock.

"That lunatic lied about her last name too. Apparently, she has been going around telling people she is the sole heir of the Bouffe empire," Gabi said, his anger barely contained.

"That is insane. Who would believe something like that?!" Rafi refused to accept it.

"Apparently, quite a few people," Ari said. "I managed to sniff around, and a lot of people believed them... This scheme was bigger than anyone ever imagined. She and her father—her real father—are basically con artists. They wanted the connections of your family," he said to Rafi. "And also the connections of Alex’s family. They were trying to scam both families at the same time. There are a few more things I cannot tell you. But this whole thing is way bigger than anyone ever imagined."

Ari now looked at Gabi. "I do not know if it was luck or not, but those thugs who started a fight with you? They ended up being the breakthrough in this investigation."

"Wait—you knew there was an investigation?!" Gabi asked, surprised.

"I knew something was going on. Ryan came to ask for my help with something, but beyond that, I cannot say. He made me sign an NDA."

"Fucking shit," Dani exhaled.

Everyone fell silent. Gabi had thought the thugs just wanted to keep him and Alex apart. He had no idea they were after something else entirely.

"Wow... That is really heavy... I cannot believe it. Do you think our parents knew about this?" Rafi asked.

Dani shrugged, and Gabi shook his head. Ari’s lack of response to the question made everyone believe that yes, the parents were aware of the situation.

They all fell silent again, trying to process everything they had just talked about.

"I am sorry, it is a lot… but I had to tell you," Ari apologized.

"It is not your fault, it is the fault of the people trying to take what does not belong to them. And besides, you were under a confidentiality agreement—you could not have said much," Rafi said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"I am still shocked you have not told them the good news yet," Gabi said cheerfully, trying to shift the mood in the room.

It worked exactly as he had hoped—Dani’s eyes lit up, and he asked, "There is good news and you did not think to start with it?"

Ari blushed all the way down to his neck. Gabi laughed at his reaction.

"Please tell us, please tell us," Dani begged.

Avoiding eye contact, Ari said, "Today I found my match."

Rafi and Dani were stunned... then Dani remembered, "Oh no... what about Adam?"

"Right..." Rafi also remembered. "You are very..." he stopped mid-sentence as Ari looked up at them, the wide smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes showing pure joy.

"Wait… it is him, right? Adam is your match!" Rafi exclaimed.

Ari nodded excitedly. Dani clapped his hands. "I am so happy for you!"

Rafi jumped up from where he was sitting and rushed over to Ari, knocking a few things off the coffee table along the way. Everyone laughed at that.

Rafi hugged Ari tightly and said, "Who would have guessed you would be the first one of us to get married?"

"Who said anything about marriage?" Ari asked.

Rafi let him go and replied, "You really think your father will let this slide once he finds out?"

"Right now, I am not planning to tell my father, so let us keep this a secret for a while," Ari answered.

"You really think you can keep this a secret from your dad? He comes to your apartment at least once a week. How has he not run into Adam yet?" Dani asked, trying to point out the flaw in Ari's logic.

"Honestly? Pure luck. Every time Adam left for work or to his apartment, my dad happened to drop by. Maybe he already knows I am seeing someone, but he does not know Adam is my match. I also know that there is really only one direction for Adam and me to go from here, but I do not want to rush it," Ari added with a sigh. "Until now I never even thought about a serious relationship. And now that I have found Adam, I need to put all the variables into the equation—I need time to process it."

"I do not like lying to your dad," Dani said.

"Do not worry. I will tell him I asked you to keep quiet," Ari reassured him.

"Still, this is very exciting. I really am happy for you—and not just because it might help me with Alex," Gabi said honestly.

Dani chuckled.

"Since we are on the subject of matches," Dani threw out casually.

Ari looked at him, wondering if the moment had finally come. Could it be that Dani was ready to find his match? He had intentionally left Nick and Dani alone at the ball. Maybe it had worked, and Nick was finally ready to take the first step.

"You all know Sam, the actor who works with Will," he said rhetorically, since of course they all knew who he meant.

"Turns out he also did the MMS test, but he has not gotten his result yet. So I thought maybe you, Ari, could work your magic fingers and do what you did with Gabi and Rafi?" Dani asked.

Ari, slightly disappointed that Dani was not asking to see his own information, nodded. "Sure, send me his details and I will check."

"Thanks," Rafi said. "I think it might really help me move things forward with Will."

Gabi turned to Dani and asked, "How is the next exhibit coming along?"

"Please do not ask me that. I am stuck on the last piece," Dani sighed. "The exhibit is next week and I still have not even started it."

"I thought I helped you find your muse," Rafi said to him.

"You did, and I actually managed to finish one piece because of it. But I still have one more to go. I promised a certain number of works and I am one short."

“Maybe we can go somewhere to help you relax a bit,” Gabi suggested.

“Count me out,” Rafi said, and added when everyone looked at him, “I have a big project, and I am supposed to meet with the clients about it.”

"That is okay," Danny said. "I will figure something out."