Webster’s lip curled. “Lucifer.”
“Lucifer,” Shep repeated, brow furrowed. “As in the dark lord?”
Connolly scoffed. “Satan wishes people feared him as much.”
Linc sighed. “The rest of you can go. Shep hang back, I want to talk to you more about the case.”
Jackson clapped Linc on the shoulder. “I got to take off too. I promised my mom I’d swing by my Aunt Laverne’s house before I got back on the plane to Florida.”
Jackson shook Shep’s hand. “Welcome aboard, brother. Catch you on the flip side.”
Once they were alone, Linc dropped himself into the chair opposite Shep. “I won’t lie, nobody wanted this gig. The kid’s manager is hell in heels. She’s got a reputation in town and most of my guys have run up against her at one time or another over the last few months. She handles a half dozen clients, and she’s absolutely ruthless, but Elijah is her most successful client, by a lot. She will crawl up your ass and live there.”
“Sounds… uncomfortable.”
“Given your previous job, I got to ask. Are you steady? Any lingering emotional trauma?”
Shep tilted his head. “Emotional trauma?” Linc blinked at him. Why would he have emotional trauma? Oh. Fuck. He’d missed that one. “You mean my work as an interrogator? I don’t have PTSD or anything if that’s your concern. What I did wasn’t fun for me.”Lie. “But it was necessary.”Partial lie.“And, long term, it helped further our national security.” Jesus. Was the man buying any of this? “I’ve made peace with the things I did overseas. I’m steady, man.”
“Good, because this kid is friends with my fiancé and, believe me when I say, you do not want to be on fiancé’s bad side.”
The doors to the elevator dinged softly in the distance, drawing their attention to the conference room door. A blond boy with curly chin-length hair, huge green eyes, and glossy pink lips peeked his head around the door. “Lunch is he—Oh, sorry, I thought I just saw everybody leave.” He gave Linc a dirty grin. “But, hey. At least my clothes are on this time.”
Linc groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face. “Shep, this is my fiancé, Wyatt. Wyatt this is Shep. He’s taking Elijah’s case.”
“That’s your fiancé?” Shep asked, surprised. He was good at reading people. He didn’t see that one coming.
Linc stiffened, a scowl darkening his face. “Is that a problem?”
Shit. He raised his hands palms out. “What? No. Not at all. My twin brother’s gay. I’m just surprised because you implied, he’s rather terrifying. He just wasn’t what I expected.”
Wyatt grinned and Shep understood the boy only looked innocent. “There’s two of you? Please make all my fantasies come true and tell me you’re identical.”
Shep barked out a surprised laugh. “We are.”
“Wyatt!” the older man growled.
The boy flicked a sassy gaze at Linc, his voice dripping with innocence. “What?” he asked,looking back to Shep without waiting for a response. “How tall are you, anyway?”
“Six foot six.”
“That’s amazing,” Wyatt said, sounding a little breathless.
Linc gave a long-suffering sigh. “Seriously?”
Wyatt shrugged. “You knew who I was when you proposed to me.”
“You proposed to me,” Linc muttered, though his look told Shep this was all part of a much more elaborate game that was none of Shep’s business. “Go wait for me in my office. I’ll be there in a minute.”
The boy gave Shep one last look, already pulling out his phone as he turned and left.
“Is he always like that?” Shep asked.
Linc’s smile was fond. “Worse. Much worse.” He seemed to get lost in his own head before catching himself. “Listen, I give this speech to all my guys. Here in LA, our clients have never heard the word no. You’re going to get pushback. Try not to take shit personal and remember your job is to keep them safe. No matter what.”
That wouldn’t be a problem. Nothing was ever personal for Shep, even the things that should be. “If my former job taught me anything, its patience. I know how to keep my wits about me. I’m not going to let some brat get the better of me.”
“That kid is your target, but he’s not your boss, neither is his psycho manager. You work for the studio and your only job is to keep the target safe. They have a lot invested in him and they will do whatever is necessary to protect him. That being said, if you make Elijah’s life too miserable, he will tell Wyatt and Wyatt will make my life miserable. I’m old. I like things the way I like them.”
