“There were a few changes in the inventory. I sent the updated list to him directly,” Levi said, crossing his arms.
“I don’t...think I’ve seen that list,” Will said, pulling out his phone.
“Since I sent it to him directly, you wouldn’t,” Levi said. “Just remind him to check his messages from me in the past twelve hours.”
“Uh, sure.”
“Best to send your text after four, he’s not likely to look at any messages he receives before that. But if a message pops up after he’s awake, he’ll look at it immediately.”
“I’ll say, around six then?”
“That works just fine for me.”
“Good, okay...I’ll do that,” Will said, tapping at his phone. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you for coming out this way,” Levi said, and I saw the flash of surprise on Will’s face. Levi had clearly seen it as well and scoffed. “You’re still recovering, you already have a list a mile long of things to handle. Coming out here because I don’t want to talk about things over the phone is an extra item for that list. I appreciate the work you’re doing, and you’re doing it well. You’re organized and thorough...and discreet.”
Will glanced at him, and then at me, his eyes going wide, and he nodded. “Yes, right, yeah, of course. I know how The Family can...right. Of course.”
“Good,” Levi said, and I saw his lips twitch as he held back another smile. “If that’s all, then you should probably get to the rest of your itinerary. I know I have plenty to deal with for the rest of the day.”
“I can do that,” he said brightly, and I scowled when he glanced at me before clearing his throat. “I’ll...get out of here. Just call me if you need anything else.”
“I will,” Levi said, and I stepped out of the way so Will could squeeze past me...barely. He practically scuttled out of the room, and I heard the front door before we both watched him from the front windows as he made his way toward his car. “Really?”
“What?” I asked innocently.
“Did you have to not move? The kid has enough on his plate; he doesn’t need to be intimidated by you.”
“My existence intimidates him. Not you, though.”
“Your existence does a lot of things, but intimidating me isn’t one of them,” he said, glancing over. “Though perhaps there is something to having someone of your...stature and demeanor around when I’m doing business.”
“I am not being your bodyguard,” I said.
He blinked. “God no. Whatever might be going on between us, I have zero intention of involving you in my...professional life. That’s why it’s important he doesn’t recognize you.”
“What do you mean?”
“If he recognizes you, someone whose face isn’t exactly foreign to those who might watch MMA, then he might mention that his boss is sleeping with an MMA fighter.”
“I take it from what he said that The Family isn’t too cool about gays?”
He rolled his eyes as he pushed me away from the doorway to step through. Well, more like he used two fingers to push my chest, and I chose to step back, but hell, I didn’t mind if he wanted to get a little pushy. His power came from his personality and intelligence, so I didn’t mind giving in to it. “They are not, but they aren’t like they were a generation ago either. I’m not worried about others finding out that I have a male lover; it’s an open secret that I’m gay.”
“Open secret? What, they all know, but no one talks about it?”
“Yes, and if you mention a certain movie, I’ll make you brew your own coffee.”
I snorted. “Fine, then what’s the problem?”
He frowned as he began messing with a machine that looked a lot more complicated than a regular coffee machine. After fiddling with it for a moment, he let out a sigh. “Augustine.”
“Oh, you don’t want him to find out,” I said, squinting. “Has he somehow not figured it out?”
“Oh, he’s aware just like anyone else is,” he said, grabbing a container out of the cabinet. “However, when he sent me here...he mentioned you. As a matter of fact, he pulled up an article on you and?—”
“God, tell me it wasn’t that one where they were questioning if I was losing my touch.”
