ago. It’s four days to the party. I can’t change it now just because the CFO of the bike company is fucking the vocalist of some band. Does his wife know?”
Craig raised an eyebrow. Louis threw his free hand in the air.
“Coffee?” Craig mouthed.
“The next blowjob is yours,” Louis promised. “Wait, no, not you, Jamie. You can find your own blowjobs.”
Craig let out a belly laugh, ignored Louis flipping him off, and went into the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway.
Doug and Padraig sat at the table, hands wrapped around mugs. Craig took a look at the blue and white one Padraig held, and frowned. Didn’t that used to be his mug?
“Morning, lazybones,” Doug said.
“Morning. I thought you were on shift last night.” Craig headed in the direction of the coffee-pot.
“We were,” Padraig agreed. “Dominic wanted to check on you before we left. Louis offered us coffee, but he got a call. So we made the coffee and waited for you to wake up.”
“This is a pre-Dominic intervention then?”
“Kind of,” Doug agreed.
Craig filled the cups almost to the brim with the fragrant brew, then added creamer. “I’ll be back in a minute. Then we can talk.”
He put Louis’s cup next to his planner, kissed his cheek, and retreated back to the kitchen as he noticed Louis’s voice had a decided snap to it.
Craig took a long swallow of coffee before he said, “Okay, fire away.”
“What happened last night?” Padraig asked.
Craig gave him a cool look. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
Padraig gave him the ‘you’re talking bullshit’ look. “You both sounded really upset.”
“Louis is having bad dreams.”
“And?” Doug demanded. When Craig stayed silent, Doug huffed out a breath. “We’re not idiots. It’s clear your boy suffers from PTSD. What we’re asking is, can you handle it?”
“I slept in the guest room. He came in for comfort and I thought he was an intruder and slammed him against the wall. That’s when Padraig came in.”
Padraig winced. “Ouch. Timing.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“That explains last night,” Doug said.
The pause went on too long to be comfortable.
“Is that all?” Craig demanded.
“Liam Quick called Dominic last night. He’s concerned about you and Louis.”
Craig stared at him. “He thinks I’m not doing my job?”
“No, you can do that fine. He’s worried about the two of you.”
“It’s no one’s business except ours,” Craig pointed out. “I screwed up last night. But our relationship is between us.”
“Not really. You’re here because of your relationship.”
“I’d like to point out you were the ones who dragged me back.”
“Not us,” Doug murmured. “I’d have never let you anywhere near our client.”
Craig knew this was true too. Doug didn’t approve of inter-office or client-staff fraternization. But that wasn’t the point.
“If you want to remove me from this assignment, you can, but I’m not leaving Louis’s side. Until we find out who hurt Louis, I’m protecting him. You can do what you like.”
“You’re being an ass,” Doug said sourly.
Craig grunted. He knew that.
“You tell us everything’s fine, we’ll back the fuck off,” Padraig said. “But if the relationship with Louis conflicts with your ability to guard him, then we’ll find someone else.”
“No!” Craig said implacably. “No one goes near Louis. He’s dealing with enough as it is.”
Doug raised an eyebrow. “Is that the bodyguard talking. Or the Daddy?”
“It’s both.”
“And the client,” Louis said from the doorway.
Chapter 12
Louis
Thank heaven Louis had Jamie and Vera taking care of the club. Without him, this after event party tomorrow would have fallen apart. He and Jamie had run through the whole event from start to finish. Now he needed coffee.
“You tell us everything’s fine, we’ll back the fuck off, but if the relationship with Louis conflicts with your ability to guard him, then we’ll find someone else.”
Louis paused on the threshold of the kitchen as he waited for Craig’s reply.
“No! No one goes near Louis. He’s dealing with enough as it is.”
That’s what he needed to hear from his Daddy.
He should have expected that at some point their relationship would cause issues. He knew Craig would berate himself for what happened the previous night. He didn’t know what Craig would blame himself for the most; not being there to wake him from the dream, or slamming him against the wall and twisting his arm.
“Is that the bodyguard talking. Or the Daddy?” Doug said.
“It’s both,” Craig said.
Louis stepped into the kitchen. “And the client.”
Craig turned to him, looking grim. “You overheard that?”
“Just from the suggestion you get replaced. No! That isn’t going to happen.”
Craig didn’t look