Lindi met Calthers’s hazel eyes. “Let me make one thing clear, Agent Calthers. If you kidnap me and leave my boy out in the cold alone, I will have my very good friends in government chew you up and spit you out. There is nothing in this world that will have me abandon my lover, and if you even try to arrange it, I won’t testify.”
With those parting words, Lindi left his gallery. It would be all over the news by evening that he’d stopped a forger. The agents had warned him he would be a target for media attention. Lindi was glad Will didn’t watch the news. His boy didn’t like hearing about all the bad things in the world. Lindi would do anything to keep his boy safe. It was time to pull his guns out of storage.
Although he’d spent the past eight years running a gallery and dressing in expensive suits, that didn’t erase a childhood running with gangs or his years in Special Forces afterward. Lindi knew how to protect his sub, and there weren’t any limits on what he’d do in order to keep Will safe.
Chapter One
Present Day
The club pulsed with a symphony of slaps and groans, a counterpoint to the piped-in background music.
“Here you go, sir.” A skinny kid in shiny shorts and nothing else set a glass of scotch and a bottle of water before Lindi, with an unnecessary amount of eye fluttering and smiling.
“Thank you.” Lindi tossed a tip onto the tray.
“Your food order is on the way. Anything else I can do for you, sir?” The server’s eyes insinuated anything else was on the table.
“As my sub is obviously sitting beside me, I find your behavior disrespectful. I’d suggest you go help someone else before I decide to talk to your boss.”
The sub paled. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
He fled with impressive speed, considering the tightness of his outfit.
“You’re in a pissy mood today, Lin,” Carlyle commented before taking a sip of his dark beer.
Lindi adjusted his cuffs. “I don’t like people disrespecting Will.”
He cracked the lid of the water bottle and handed it down to his sub, sitting on the pillow beside his chair.
“Thank you, Master,” Will’s soft voice smoothed over the harsh edges of Lindi’s temper.
“You’re welcome, Pet.” Lindi slid his fingers through Will’s hair, brushing down the bits that always tried to stick up. Will hated disorder.
“I’ll talk to Greg for you if you like,” Victor Jones offered. “I’m having dinner with him and Stephen later.”
“No, that’s all right. The waiter is correcting his behavior, he just needs to learn some manners.” Lindi frowned. He didn’t want to get the waiter in trouble with Greg Carter, the club’s owner.
“Any problem at your galleries?” Carlyle asked. “Did your reputation take a hit?”
“No. Luckily, I was able to tell everyone I detected the fakes before any of the paintings left my gallery. Now I’m sort of an art celebrity. Business has never been better.” He smiled at Victor. “With all the increased traffic, Stephen’s pen-and-ink drawings sold out in a day.”
“That’s because he’s incredibly talented.” Victor had every right to look pleased. His sub, Stephen, had an insane amount of artistic skill.
Last month, Stephen had signed an exclusive contract for Lindi to carry Stephen’s work. Even though Victor and Lindi were longtime friends, Victor wouldn’t have let Stephen sign with him if he didn’t think Lindi would do a good job representing his sub. There was only so far friendship went when their subs were involved.
“How late is Ralph working?” Lindi asked Carlyle. Carlyle’s sub worked as a bouncer at the club they were sitting in.
Carlyle took a sip of his beer. “Until midnight, then he’s all mine. I’m trying to get him to quit, but he’s determined to earn his own way.”
Lindi smiled at the mixture of annoyance and pride in Carlyle’s tone. “You two will find your niche together. If working is important to him, you’ll have to learn to be flexible.”
His leg shook from his sub’s movement. Looking down, he saw Will’s laughing face before his sub ducked his head to hide his amusement. “Do you have something to say, Pet?”
Will shook his head, then took a sip of water.
“He’s probably contemplating the irony of you of all people recommending someone to be flexible. He’s just too well behaved to say it,” Carlyle said.
Lindi stroked Will’s head. “He is well behaved. I should probably reward him for that later.”
Will nodded his approval of that idea, grinning up at Lindi, his gray eyes warm with love. Lindi would do anything to keep that expression on Will’s face.