“He might have done that just to piss Grant off.”
“Why would that piss Grant off more than approaching Jaxon?”Lincoln asked, frowning.
David and Mason both looked at him incredulously.Had he really never noticed the way Harris’ team leader panted after Darcie?It was Grant, so saying he panted after anyone was an exaggeration, but anyone who knew him could see that he treated her differently.
Lincoln looked back and forth between David and Mason, slow understanding dawning on his expression.“Oh, really?Well, that’s interesting.”
“Maybe he’s trying to distract us from something else,” Mason suggested.“If we think all he’s doing is try to poach team members, it gives him some cover for other things.”
Could he have something to do with the note left on Cupcakes and Crumbs?
That seemed far-fetched.
And yet, he’d been behind sending black roses to all the team members.Because the first house to receive them had been Jensen, in the middle of everything that was going on with Cassidy’s ex, they’d assumed Don had been behind the flower delivery.It had quickly become clear that he wasn’t, but they still hadn’t known that it was Devlin until the day that Royce MacLeod had announced that he was running for governor and introduced Devlin as his head of security.
Still, why would he go after David’s sister instead of Lincoln directly?So far, all of his efforts had been focused on Black Fox—either by bad mouthing them or attempting to poach their clients and team members.Thankfully, he hadn’t been very successful.
That might mean that he was trying something new.
A note on a bakery door that was only tangentially connected to the firm didn’t seem likely, but… that would be something else to look into if they weren’t already watching Devlin and his current team closely.
“Is there anyone on his team we can approach who’d maybe let some information slip?”Mason asked.He wasn’t surprised at the face David made; he was an ultimate do-gooder, like a redheaded Captain America, but Lincoln nodded slowly.
“I’m not sure.Most of them are just there for the money, but…”
“But that means there’s an opening, depending on what you’re willing to offer them.”Mason shrugged.“The fact that Devlin is trying to poach people means he probably thinks his own people are poachable.Even if they’re not, if someone reports to him that you tried, he’s going to become paranoid that someone did say yes.”Mason paused, sudden realization hitting him as he spoke.“That might even be why he didn’t approach everyone on the second go-around.He thinks it’ll make you paranoid that someone said yes and didn’t report it because actually trusting his team never occurred to him.”
“Every accusation is a confession?”David asked dryly.
“When it comes to someone like Devlin, yes.”
“So, maybe I shouldn’t approach all of them, but just a few,” Lincoln said slowly.“The one I think is most likely to say yes and the one I think is most likely to report back to Marshall.”
“Possibly.Or just one of those.If you do the latter, he’ll spend as much time investigating his own team as he does anything else.And it won’t hurt for him not to completely trust them.”
Unlike Lincoln.It didn’t surprise Mason at all that Lincoln wasn’t suggesting that any of his own team might have taken up Devlin on his offer.
Trust was what had always bonded them together.Even with Zeus.They all might be wary of him, but Mason also trusted that Lincoln had done a deep dive and come up with no reason not to hire him.That meant that he was willing to build trust with him.
“Also, to that point, we should anticipate that we’re going to receive evidence that Zeus spoke with Devlin sometime soon.”Which was why it had been smart of Zeus to tell Lincoln about it ahead of time.Another point in Zeus’ favor.
Or, if Mason was super paranoid, a brilliant psychological move by Zeus and Devlin to ensure Zeus gained more trust with the group.Personally, Mason didn’t think Devlin was that brilliant, especially not when it came to building relationships.If Lincoln reached out to one of Devlin’s team members, and that member reported it to Devlin, Devlin was going to be incredibly suspicious of that person.He was not going to trust him more because he’d reported the contact.
“You think Devlin was setting Zeus up?”David frowned.Obviously, he was going to be sensitive to anything that might disrupt his team, and the addition of a new team member had already done that.
“I think Zeus left Devlin’s team before we discovered everything Devlin was up to here, so there’s no way Devlin would think he had a chance at hiring Zeus back after everything that went down.Especially now that Zeus is on our team, which was a coveted spot.”Mason paused.He really didn’t think this next part was the case, but it would be irresponsible not to bring it up.“That or this is a seriously long game by both of them, and Devlin is a hell of a lot smarter than I’ve been giving him credit for.”
Both Lincoln and David grimaced.
“Marshall is smart as hell, don’t underestimate him,” Lincoln said.“At least, I have to tell myself that, given how long he was fooling me.”
“It wasn’t for as long as he thought he was fooling you,” David reassured him, clapping his hand on their boss’ shoulder.“And you fooled him in the end.”
“There is that.”A glimmer of a smile slid over Lincoln’s lips before disappearing.“I don’t think Zeus is working for Devlin or that this is a long game.”
“I don’t either, but I have to acknowledge it as a possibility, just in case I turn out to be wrong.”Mason shrugged.
“Okay, well, we’re headed out.”Lincoln glanced at David.“I guess we have a lot to talk about over cupcakes.”
