“I amnotmaking that noise.”
“Make noise or measurements wrong.Wrong measurements, bad suit.Bad suit…” Mr.Vittorio crossed himself.“Catastrophe.”
From his armchair, Giles snickered.Bryn shot him a look that promised future vengeance.
“Now, arms up.Higher!You are man, not penguin!”
“Is this really necess—?”
“Necessary?Like air!Like water!Like proper sleeve length!”Mr.Vittorio’s tape snapped against Bryn’s biceps.
“Ow!”
“Too much gym.Muscles make fabric angry.”
“Muscles make fabric angry,” Bryn repeated.“I don’t even go to the gym.I’m allergic.”
“Si!Fabric must flow, must drape.Your muscles…” Mr.Vittorio made angry gestures at Bryn’s arms.“They fight fabric.Very disrespectful.”
“Now, try on.Gentle!Fabric feels fear.”
Bryn caught Giles’ eye in the mirror.“I will make you pay for this.”
“Dear boy, the bill for these suits already ensures that.”Giles smiled his shark smile.“Though, I must say, Paolo’s artistic temperament is worth every penny.”
Bryn was clad in sections of fabric and pins.
“Arms up again!And now…” Mr.Vittorio stepped back, head tilted.“Walk!”
“Walk where?”
“Anywhere!Everywhere!Must see how you move.You walk like angry bear.Must walk like…like…”
“Like you have somewhere important to be and someone’s life depends on you getting there,” Giles supplied.“Which, incidentally…”
Bryn paced the length of the shop, trying to channel how he imagined an executive assistant would walk.Mr.Vittorio made sounds of deepening distress.
“No, no!Too much shoulder!Too much…” He waved his hands expressively.“Too much prison yard!”
“I’ve never been to prison,” Bryn protested.
“Then why walk like planning escape, eh?”
The fabric was removed and handed to Paolo’s assistant.The next forty-five minutes involved Bryn learning to walk, sit, and even stand— “Like civilized person, not cage fighter.”By the end, his patience was hanging by a fraying silk thread.
“Three days.You can collect,” Paolo said.“You can always come back for small alterations later.”He shook his head, presumably at the state of the world in general.“Be gone.We need to work.”
Giles ushered Bryn outside and, once on the pavement, Bryn took several deep breaths.“I’m starting to think this whole mission is an excuse for you to annoy the hell out of me.”
“Not at all.Though I must admit, watching you try not to commit violence while being measured for your waistcoat was a delightful bonus.Now, we can discuss proper sock selection over lunch back at HQ.”
Bryn’s response was remarkably close to Mr.Vittorio’s loudly expressed opinion of polyester blends.
When they got back to headquarters, Emmett was deep in his research hole.“It’s not just the patient deaths,” he said, surrounded by empty coffee cups.“Staff members have been disappearing too.Always from specific departments.Research, security, medical records.”
“Cleaning house?”Gunnar suggested.
“Or recruiting,” Giles suggested.
