Shep took back the mug and Elijah stared, fascinated as he turned it, deliberately pressing his lips to where Elijah’s were just moments before. His cock throbbed, and he was grateful for the baggy hoodie. What was wrong with him? Shep was straight, Shep was cryptic and complicated. But so beautiful and… fascinating. Fucking fuck.
Elijah jumped as the doorbell rang, the sound of chimes echoing through the house. Shep frowned, opening his laptop on the island and clicking a button. Tiny boxes filled the screen, each revealing a different area of the main living space. Shep clicked a box, and a camera showed Robby standing on the porch holding a huge vase filled with flowers.
Shep cut his eyes to Elijah. “You know him?”
Elijah rolled his eyes. “You could say that. It’s Robby.”
“Does he often show up at dawn to bring you flowers?”
“No. Definitely not,” Elijah said, already walking to the door.
He unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Robby frowned. “Lucifer told me to get over here and to look like I’d just rolled out of bed. She said they tipped off TMZ that we would be having breakfast at Cavatina around eight. I think she wants it to look like we spent the night there together. She said to use the service entrance at the back.”
Elijah snorted. “Of course, she fucking did. God, she’s relentless.”
Robby flushed. “You know Lucifer. Um, can I come in? These are really heavy.”
“Why did you bring me flowers? Are those somehow part of Lucifer’s master plan? Cause I don’t get it?”
Elijah stepped back to let Robby in but collided with Shep, who glared at Robby like he’d wronged Shep’s family or something. Robby took a hesitant half step back at Shep’s mutinous expression and thrust the flowers in Shep’s direction. “The security agent said somebody droppedthem off late last night, and that they were all clear. Whatever that means.”
Shep took the flowers and walked towards the kitchen. Elijah followed with Robby trailing behind. Shep set the vase on the counter and examined each flower like an explosive device might lie within. He even opened the small envelope with the card in it. He made a weird grunt that could have meant almost anything then set the card back down.
Elijah drifted closer, snagging the small square of paper. It was a heavy and smooth expensive linen stationery. Probably from one of the studio execs, though lavender roses and white calla lilies seemed an odd choice, and it triggered a chill that shivered along his spine. He leaned against the sink and flipped the card over, eyes roaming the aggressive block letters.
THE CAMERA LOVES YOU
Elijah’s stomach lurched. He turned, hovering over the sink as he lost the meager contents of his stomach. His heart hammered in his ears, his entire body breaking into a sweat even as he shivered.No. No. No. No. No.
His vision swam as he heaved into the sink. He fumbled for the faucet, turning the water on and letting the cool water wash over his face, ignoring the voices swimming around him, speaking words that didn’t translate, their hands pawing at him, touching him everywhere.
He jerked away from them, shoving the flowers off the counter, getting no satisfaction as the vase shattered on to the wood floor, sending water and glass everywhere. Robby stood gaping at the mess, but Shep was already moving towards him. Elijah held his hands out. “Don’t. Just… just don’t. I’m fine. It’s nothing. I’m fine. I just haven’t been feeling well. I need… I need to lie down, I think. I’ll be okay in a minute. I will. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t even know who he was trying to convince, but it was Shep who watched him, brows knitted together, a scowl marring his perfect face. It was only Shep who mattered. Robby looked gutted, equal parts scared and concerned. But it was Shep’s opinion that had tears swimming in Elijah’s eyes. He looked weak. He looked sick and crazy. Wasn’t he, though? He hadn’t thought so.
He escaped to his room, throwing himself on the bed, pulling a pillow over his face to muffle the sob that escaped. This was because he’d turned down that meeting. It had to be. There was no way he could refuse the great Leonard Medford and then have those words—words that had haunted his nightmares—arrive on his doorstep the next day. Fucking Lucifer. She’d somehow summoned that man from the pits of hell and now a ghost from Elijah’s past had hitched a ride.
He should neverhave come back to Los Angeles.
Shep stared at Elijah’s sleeping form, curled up against the far window of the limo, his breath fogging up the glass in small bursts. The boy hadn’t been the same since those flowers arrived. Elijah had eventually emerged from his room, looking more than disappointed to see Robby still there, but they’d gone ahead with Lucifer’s plan.
Shep had spent hours watching Elijah pretend to be in love with Robby, handholding, smiling, taking pics of each other. Maybe to most of the world, their adoration seemed real, but Shep had no problem seeing Elijah’s heart wasn’t in it. It was the first time Shep would call the boy’s performance… lackluster. It could be Elijah’s rough morning affecting him, but Shep suspected it wasn’t the whole story. It would help if he knew what about that card had set Elijah off. It seemed like such an innocuous and unoriginal thing to write on a card, but it had caused a visceral reaction in Elijah.
While the boy had slept, Shep had tried to run down the sender, but security said the flowers were dropped off late last night via courier, but the surveillance video proved unhelpful. The courier appeared to be no older than Elijah and had walked up to the security booth on foot in plain clothes. The license he provided stated his name as Todd Aikens. He sent the name and a picture of the ID to the office and asked them to run the kid down to see what information he could provide, but it only led to a dead end. The kid wasn’t a professional. He had just taken the job for some quick cash after a middle-aged balding man asked him to deliver the flowers to the address on a piece of paper. He’d since thrown the paper away.
At the restaurant, Shep had taken up residence at a table in the corner, keeping the boys in his sights. Afterward, he’d trailed them around the city for hours, keeping enough distance to not ruin the illusion, but still close enough to intervene.
After hours of watching Robby and Elijah interact with paparazzi, fans, and each other one thing was clear to Shep: Elijah was acting, but Robby… Robby was in love. Had Elijah shown even the slightest glimmer of true interest in the younger, delicate boy, perhaps Shep would have viewed him as a threat, but Elijah’s disinterest kept Robby off Shep’s radar.
Observing Elijah as the rest of the world did was educational. In public, everything about him changed. He took long strides, walked with shoulders rounded, heavy-footed, nothing like the way he walked around the house, hips swaying, hands and fingers just so. Out in the world, there was nothing of the fussy boy Shep saw while at home and it made something trip in his chest to know that Elijah at least trusted him enough for that. But not enough to confide just who had upset him that morning.
Shep gently roused Elijah as the car came to a stop outside their door. The sun had only just disappeared from the sky, replaced by a full moon, but Elijah shuffled to the door like a zombie, leaning against the wall as he waited for Shep to enter the code to deactivate the system and allow entry into the house.
“Hey, Shep?” Elijah mumbled.
Shep pushed the door open. “Yeah, rabbit?”
