“You keeping your head up?” he asked after the waitress dropped off the pie, and he knew they could talk without interruption. “Not getting in too much trouble out there?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Gray asked back.
Declan chuckled. “Probably. But you’re still my sister’s kid, which means I’m the one who looks out for you.”
Gray leaned forward on the table, smirking at Declan. “For a man who keeps getting shot at, you sure do smile a lot. There some hot men out there in the mountains?” He winked, then imitated Declan’s gravelly voice. “I hope you’re not getting in to too much trouble out there.”
Declan laughed, then shoved Gray’s shoulder across the table, wincing when pain jolted the wound on his arm. “I can’t say I’m surprised that my sister’s kid grew up and developed a mouth like the one you have.”
“You didn’t say no, so I take it that’s a yes?”
Declan grunted. “Something like that.”
“Who are we talking about? A hunter? Another bodyguard?” When Declan didn’t say anything, Gray choked on his coffee. “Fuck, not the guy you’re guarding?”
Declan scratched the back of his head. Now that he was actually talking about this with someone else, it felt much more real. Back in the house, hidden away from the world, he could almost believe all the rest of this bullshit had disappeared. It was nice, pretending all he had to do was hang out with Seb and that things would be fine.
But looking at Gray, he knew the world was always more complicated than that.
“I know,” he said, holding his hands in the air. “I can’t get caught. Trust me, I got it under control. I’ve pulled plenty of stunts in my day and never got caught before, you know.”
“And you can’t get distracted,” Gray said, stabbing a piece of apple pie with a fork. “Start acting all lovey-dovey or some bullshit, then catch a bullet.”
“Says the kid who surrounded himself with a crew of hot young men. You telling me those two aren’t a distraction when you’re running jobs?”
Gray grinned, then popped the pie in his mouth. “They found me. What am I supposed to do, turn them away?”
Declan laughed, then relaxed back in his booth. “I trust the guy. He’s not going to go screwing things up and getting me in trouble. He’s too smart for that. Too careful and clever.”
“You must trust him, considering you met Reed and you’re still taking risks.”
“You know Reed?” Declan asked, surprised it hadn’t come up before.
Gray nodded. “We’ve met. He usually plays different games than we do. Lots of corruption, stuff that at least looks like it’s above board, but you could probably tell—”
“He’s one of the bad ones,” Declan said, cutting him off. “I could smell it. He’d shoot me in the back if he thought it would make him a dollar.”
“Did you get anything from him? Anything you can use?”
Declan grunted. “I’m still figuring that out, but we might have.” He took another drink from his mug. “I’m surprised he plays with all those corporate types, though. That office didn’t look like it was made for the public, if you know what I mean.”
“He’s got different offices for his different businesses, as I understand it.”
“Right,” Declan answered. He pushed his hand through his hair, battling down a fresh wave of irritation that the pieces still weren’t fitting together, then gritted his teeth when another pang of nicotine withdrawal hit him.
“Aw, fuck,” Gray muttered, then took a big bite of the pie. “I should tell you.”
Declan narrowed his eyes. “Tell me what?”
“It’s old news,” Gray said quickly. “Didn’t even matter by the time I found out. I thought about it and figured it wouldn’t help you any to know.”
“Spit it the fuck out, Gray.” Declan hated people beating around the bush.
Gray swallowed, his throat bobbing. “The Blue Devils were bragging around town before they made their move, saying that someone had set the place up with a bodyguard.”
Declan shook his head. “What? What does that mean?”
“Someone behind the scenes paid Reed off. Got him to hire a bodyguard who they thought would fuck the job up, make sure the plan to get the jump on your client succeeded.”
