Chapter Text
"The boss is expecting you. Good luck."
Logan Sargeant gave the secretary a faint smile before opening the door and going inside.
There were very few things Logan disliked as much as being called to his boss's office. As a department head, he saw him more often than the average employee, but being unexpectedly summoned to Lewis Hamilton's office was never a good sign. Thankfully, it hadn't happened all that often in the years that he'd worked for the company.
Logan came to a halt, his face carefully schooled into a mask of polite attention as Lewis looked at him from across the desk.
"Sit," Lewis said tersely.
Logan didn't take the tone personally. Lewis's abrupt, harsh manner was rather legendary. The vice president of the Caldwell Group wasn't one for small talk.
Logan sat down in one of the chairs. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Lewis was a few years older than he was, but his very presence seemed to demand respect, so it wasn't all that off-putting to have to address his peer as sir. Lewis had men twice his age addressing him that way.
His boss regarded him for a moment, his black eyes rather unnerving—if Logan were prone to feeling unnerved.
"I need your help."
Logan blinked. Until now, he had been sure those words weren't in his boss's vocabulary. "Of course. How can I help?"
Lewis folded his hands on the desk, his expression sharp and assessing. Meeting his gaze calmly, Logan kept himself still as the silence stretched. He refused to let Lewis intimidate him.
"You might have heard of the incident that happened to me three days ago," Lewis said at last.
Logan raised his eyebrows. Incident? That was what Lewis was calling an attempted murder? The entire company had been buzzing with speculation since someone had shot Lewis. The bullet had just grazed his head, but there was still a lot of blood, and yet Lewis was back at work the next day as if nothing had happened. The man truly was a workaholic.
"I've heard," Logan said dryly. He didn't think there was anyone in Boston who hadn't heard of it. Lewis was one of the most successful businessmen in the city. It didn't help that he was heavily rumored to have family links to the Monegasque mafia—the rumor that had been around for years and was a hot topic again.
"What you don't know is that it was the third attempt on my life this month," Lewis said, his tone mild, as if he were talking about the weather.
Lewis pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair. "There's more," he said with obvious reluctance. "There has been a kidnapping attempt on Nico."
Logan frowned. It was widely known in the company that Nico Rosberg was Lewis's lover. It had been a subject of gossip last year. Although fraternization in the company was frowned upon, it wasn't forbidden as long as it wasn't within the same department. People still gossiped, of course. A lot of people disapproved, considering that Nico had been Lewis's PA before he was transferred to Logan's department to work as a level designer. Personally, Logan didn't give a shit. Nico was a good developer and he got the job done. Logan didn't care if Nico was also their boss's lover. But apparently some people did care—cared enough to attempt to kidnap him.
"Because of your relationship?" Logan said in a neutral voice.
Lewis grimaced before giving a clipped nod. "We presume it's related to the assassination attempts on me. Nico doesn't have enemies. I do."
"You don't mean business enemies, do you?" Logan said quietly.
Lewis shrugged, his expression hard and grim. "I don't know for sure. But I presume it has something to do with my family. With my father. He died two months ago. Shot in the head."
Logan didn't bother offering condolences. Lewis didn't want empty condolences. He wanted something else. The question was, what.
Leaning back in his chair, Logan pondered it. Maybe the rumors were true and Marco had been some big shot in the mafia. But as far as Logan knew, Lewis was estranged from his family in Monaco, had been for years. Why was this happening now? What did they want with Nico?
More importantly, what did Lewis want with him? Why was he telling him all of this? Lewis Hamilton was a very private man. Logan could count on his fingers the number of times his boss had spoken of something remotely personal over the years, much less about something as deeply personal as the death of his father.
"May I speak freely?" Logan said.
Lewis gave a clipped nod.
"What sort of help do you need from me?" he said. "It's obviously not financial. Nor is it likely that you want my advice. We're hardly close friends." He tapped his chin with his knuckles, thinking. "It has something to do with Nico, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Lewis said. "I was invited to the wedding of my cousin in Monaco—or rather, me and Nico. I could decline the invitation, of course, but I don't think that would be smart. The assassination attempts won't stop if the issue isn't resolved. So I accepted the invitation. That's where you come in."
Logan stared at him as the realization sank in. "You want me to pretend to be Nico," he said incredulously.
"You look similar enough," Lewis said.
Logan frowned. He supposed that was true enough. Although Nico was a bit older, they had a similar build and facial features, as well as blond hair and blue eyes. Logan's hair was a few shades darker, but that was nothing some hair dye couldn't fix. At a passing glance, they could probably be mistaken for one another—if one didn't know them personally and if Logan didn't wear his hair styled and slicked back. "The resemblance wouldn't fool airport authorities," he stated.
"It doesn't need to fool them," Lewis said, unfazed. "Nico will accompany me to Monaco. You will arrive on a different plane and switch places with him after he gets through customs."
Logan couldn't help it: he chuckled. "I feel like I woke up in a Bond movie."
Lewis didn't even crack a smile, his gaze serious.
The smile died on Logan's lips.
"I will not lie to you," Lewis said, his voice quiet. "It will be dangerous. You will be walking into a situation that I can't entirely predict or control. We will stay at my family's estate for a week. There will be other guests there. Dangerous guests."
"Right," Logan said, clearing his throat. "So you want to take me with you because you aren't willing to risk Nico's safety." And you are totally fine risking mine.
"Yes," Lewis confirmed. "But not only. Nico is—too nice and kind. Some people in my extended family would eat him alive, even if there weren't the danger of someone literally killing us. You're not too kind or nice. You're also very observant and composed. I will need your help in order to find out who wants me dead and why. And if things go south, it also helps that you box and you know how to handle a gun. I trust that you can take care of yourself."
Logan quashed down the urge to feel flattered. It was far more likely that Lewis wouldn't worry about him because he didn't care for him. Nico and concern for his safety would be a distraction for Lewis; he simply didn't give a damn about Logan. Lewis was a cold bastard who was probably just manipulating him into accepting. Logan also was a little creeped out that his boss was aware of his hobbies: it wasn't common knowledge that he boxed and was good with a gun.
"Why don't you just go alone if you don't want to risk Nico's safety?" Logan said.
Lewis leaned back in his chair, loosening his tie a little. "You have to understand how unusual it is that Nico was also invited. I haven't spoken to most of my family in over a decade. I certainly didn't tell any of them about Nico. Which means someone from my extended family is keeping tabs on me. That someone is very likely to be the same person trying to kill me. Even if someone recognizes that you aren't Nico, that would be useful too: it would give us a clue as to who has been keeping tabs on me. Besides, leaving Nico behind would make him an easier target and I'm not comfortable with the thought of being an ocean away if something happens to him."
Logan couldn't argue with that logic.
"You don't have to agree," Lewis said. "I wouldn't hold that against you, because you would be putting your life at risk. But if you help me, you will be rewarded for your trouble, of course. You'll be paid your annual salary for this."
Logan struggled not to show his surprise. As head of a small department, he did pretty well for himself. He couldn't deny that it was incredibly tempting to earn his yearly salary in a week. But for Lewis to offer him such a sum... It meant the danger was very real. Lewis might be a billionaire, but $180,000 wasn't small change even for a billionaire.
"If I were to accept," Logan said, staring Lewis down, "I will need to know more than that. I'm not walking into this situation blind. So tell me more."
Over the next hour, Lewis did tell him more. It was pretty obvious that he still left a lot unsaid, but Logan finally had a clearer picture after putting together everything Lewis had told him and what he could read between the lines.
There was trouble brewing among the Monegasque mafia. Ever since Marco, had been murdered two months ago, there had been no new boss chosen yet, as far as Lewis knew. Lewis's numerous family members seemed to be fighting for the position, with several of them already dead. Lewis was convinced that someone from his family was behind the assassination attempts on him. His clan was very traditional: usually, Lewis would have been expected to inherit his father's criminal empire, which made him a potential risk for anyone wanting the top spot in the food chain, even though Lewis was disowned.
"Arthur Leclerc," Lewis said, pushing a photograph across his desk. "My stepbrother. Sort of."
Wondering how one became a "sort-of" stepbrother, Logan looked at the photograph. The man in it looked little like Lewis: tall, fit, thick brown hair, and a face much more angular than Lewis's, with sharp, penetrating eyes that weren't as dark as his stepbrother's. His bespoke suit did little to hide his impressive physique, and the self-assured way he held himself made it obvious that this was a man who was used to getting his own way. A powerful man.
Tearing his gaze away, Logan lifted his eyes to Lewis. "Why do you suspect him?"
"Arthur is... a complicated person," Lewis said, his expression becoming grim again. "He's the most dangerous out of them. We never had an easy relationship. As a boy he resented my position in the family, because he had to work for everything while I was born into power and money. And I used to be a total asshole, to be honest."
Used to be?
Logan almost laughed. The majority of Lewis's employees were scared shitless of him for a reason. The man was a total tyrant, and he had probably been a bully as a kid, too.
"He became more closed off and harder to read as we grew up," Lewis said. "I haven't seen him in more than a decade. I don't know if he still hates me. He doesn't have any reason to envy me anymore—last I heard, he owns half of Monaco by now. But..."
"Hatred isn't rational," Logan said quietly. And people could hold onto childhood grudges for a long time.
Lewis nodded. "We always competed for stuff when we were young. He liked taking things away from me. Even if he isn't behind the assassination attempts, he'll pay close attention to Nico —and I don't want Nico anywhere near him." Lewis's expression darkened. "I may not have seen Arthur in a decade, but I've heard rumors and they're... disturbing. He's dangerous. That's the main reason why I want you to take Nico's place on this trip."
Logan considered it for a moment. Could he say no? Frankly, he doubted it, no matter what Lewis had claimed. You didn't say no when your boss asked for help. What if Logan said no and then Nico got hurt—or worse? Lewis would never forgive him. He was ruthless and vindictive enough to ruin his career.
Besides, he did like Nico. He was a good guy. Logan wanted to help him. Earning $180,000 in a week wouldn't hurt, either.
Logan looked at his boss. "You expect me to pretend to be your boyfriend. What exactly would that entail?"
"I might touch your arm or shoulder, but other than that, there won't be any public displays of affection. There will be many old-fashioned, homophobic people in attendance, so any PDA would be considered offensive. We likely won't even be given the same room."
Inwardly, Logan exhaled in relief. Not that Lewis was repulsive or anything, but he didn't want to get intimate with him, or pretend to be. For one thing, Lewis was his boss, and a man in a serious relationship. For another, Logan was straight. Men did nothing for him, be it sexually or romantically.
"All right, I'm in," Logan said. "When is this wedding?"
Lewis's shoulders relaxed. "Next week.”