Drew thought back to their conversation last night in the lab - how fuckinggoodit had felt to be near Bas again, his resolve to keep things easy and peaceful between them, and then their near argument about Bas’s nearly-suicidal insistence on going after SILA on hisown.
“Which suggestion?” heasked.
Bas raised aneyebrow.
“It’s just that all my ideas are good,” Drew said, spreading his handswide.
Leaning forward into a shaft of sunlight, Bas set his cup on thedesk.
“Specifically, the one about getting help before going afterSILA.”
Drew frowned. “We’re calling a meeting for this weekend, right? Baking cakes andall?”
Bas nodded, leaning his elbows on his knees. “But you know I can’t just sit still for two moredays.”
“Uh huh.” Drew rolled his eyes. Imagine forty-eight whole hours without obsessing over a singlething!
“I realized I’ve been going about this all wrong,” Bas said, blue eyes serious. “Trying to hack their systems directly, when maybe I need to get a clearer picture of theorganization.”
“Okay,” Drew said, drawing the word out. “Are you planning to join up instead? Get the inside track thatway?”
Bas scowled and sat back, folding his arms over his chest. “It’s like you forget who’s supposed to be the smart-asshere.”
“Sorry.” Drew mimed drawing a zipper across hismouth.
“You’re not going to interrupt?” Bas demanded. “Oh, this will be great. I give you…” He pulled up his sleeve and consulted the thick platinum watch on his wrist. “Twominutes.”
Humph.Drew sat back, himself, folding his arms in conscious imitation of Sebastian’s pose. He would keep his mouth shut for two minutes if it killedhim.
“Excellent,” Bas said, eyes alight. “I’ve waited so long for this moment. I’ve had so many things to say. Remember that time your dad got you that Bruins jersey? The one you wore for a solid week, until it went missing from your room randomly, and you could never find itagain?”
Bas spread his hands out helplessly and hesitated like he was about to make a confession. Drew narrowed his eyes. He’d fucking loved that shirt, and Bas had insisted that he’d had nothing to do with itsdisappearance.
“I’ve always felt really sorry for you. And I’ve meant to tell you that.” Bas smiled beatifically. “That’sall.”
Drew felt his lips twitching, despite himself. God, he had no defenses when it came to this man. No matter that they were talking about something incredibly serious, no matter that they had so much unresolved bullshit between them, he couldn’t stop himself from appreciating everything about the man in front of him, even the parts that drove himcrazy.
Drew tapped his own watch, raising an eyebrow in challenge, and Bassmiled.
“Right, back on topic. Remember when Cain was filling us in on everything his dad told him, right around Thanksgiving? He mentioned that there was dissension in the ranks at SILA. I was thinking maybe what we need to focus on is finding someone we can turn, finding someone who can be our Trojan horse. So, remember the reporter guy who did the interview with Cain Shaw a month or soback?”
A nod. Drew remembered it well. Cain, the son of a conservative Senator, had been closeted for years thanks to his father’s political ambitions, but he’d come out, not just to his family and friends, but spectacularly and publicly, with a well-publicized interview inThe Herald.Drew remembered that the journalist who’d done the interview had been both fair and sympathetic, garnering publicity for the charity work Cain was doing, toboot.
“His name is Gary North,” Bas continued. “And before he covered national politics, he earned a name for himself doing investigative work on a certain Russian crimeorganization.”
Drew’s eyes narrowed. He recalled that, as well. Gary had written extensively about the power players within the organization, and although he’d never heard it officially, he wondered if the reason for Gary’s sudden shift to political work was really a shift at all. Emmett Shaw had been on SILA’s payroll, after all. And though that was an extremely well-guarded secret, it wouldn’t surprise Drew much if Gary had somehow learned thetruth.
“I sent him an email asking him to meet,” Bas said heavily. “I’m not sure how much to tell him, or whether to pretend I have a sudden hypothetical interest in the Russian mob.” He shook his head. “That’s not my forte, as you know. Which is why I’m here.” He shrugged. “Will you come withme?”
Drew gave him a pointed look, glancing at his watch, and Bas let out a bark oflaughter.
“You passed the two-minute mark, Attorney McMann. Youwin.”
“What do I get?” Drew asked. “For myfortitude?”
Bas shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m surprised that you were able to keep your mouth shut. You’ve clearly never had trouble keepingsecrets.”
Drew cleared his throat. Yeah, Bas had mentioned that a couple of times this fall, like he somehow blamed Drew for keeping quiet about his feelings for so long. But Jesus, look at what had happened when hedidmentionit?
