Herald the Night

Chapter Twenty

As much as Elias prided himself on staying cool under pressure, he”d never quite suffered the level of pressure his job was placing on him. Add the fact that he was trying to help his family of friends navigate an increasingly dire safety to the mix and he found himself with a permanent headache and a lot more silver mixed into his hair. The idea of becoming a private consultant was looking more appealing by the day.

His morning meetings had been a waste of time, not because he was bad at his job, but because the President wouldn”t let him do his job. Every proposal was turned away the same day he delivered it. Every concern he brought to her was ignored. Every effort he made was stymied by silence or stubbornness. More often, it was both. The entirety of his career highlight had become an exercise in futility and the next person who got on his bad side was likely to bear the brunt of his frustrations.

A familiar knock at his door eased some of the burden weighing on his shoulders. Leave it to Caleb to come up with a secret knock for them at work. He smiled despite his frustrations. The break would do him good.

“Hello, boss man.” Caleb shut the door behind him and walked across the distance. “I”m going to grab our lunch. Soup and a sandwich?”

“Soup and salad. Vegetarian options for both.” Elias sank backward in his seat and pinched his nose between his eyes. “And coffee. Please.”

“Oh, baby doll…” Caleb softly cooed, stepping around the desk and sliding behind Elias” chair. Hands slipped over his shoulders and started working on the knots in Elias’ neck. “Rough day?”

“They”re all rough, lately. I feel like a broken record.” Elias tilted his head back to peer up at Caleb’s face. “I love you.”

“Love you too, El.” Caleb leaned over to kiss his forehead. “Why vegetarian?”

“You like vegan food. And I need to lose some weight. Figured I”d start with vegetarianism and work my way up.” Elias patted his stomach and closed his eyes to savor the brief shoulder massage.

“You”re perfect exactly as you are. Don”t even think for one second you aren”t the sexiest man alive.” Caleb spun the chair and stopped it abruptly. “Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.” Elias peeked through one eyelid with a smile. “I”ll still go with the vegetarian options today.”

“Hm. I”ll allow it… for now.” Caleb playfully narrowed his eyes with a wicked gleam. “And I’ll make sure you get lots and lots of cardio as a trade off. Deal?”

Elias laughed, long and loud, as the tension briefly lifted. “Deal. Now hurry out before I get bad ideas.”

“Oh, no no. There”s nothing bad about those ideas. Those ideas are the very best ideas.” Caleb stepped back with a crooked grin. “But rain check on those best bad ideas. I”m starving.”

“I’ll add them to our list for your perusal, babe.” Elias flashed a wave and turned back to his desk feeling infinitely lighter as Caleb exited. The indomitable spirit of his husband always made the day better.

If only it could stay that way. Unfortunately, the universe had other designs. Another of the assistants from the office of the Chief of Staff buzzed him on the intercom. He instantly cringed when she announced the unexpected visitor.

“Mr Williams, sir. Senator Evans to see you. Shall I send him in?”

The headache he thought was gone reappeared in a flash. He reluctantly agreed to take the meeting and closed his laptop and all the folders on his desk. He trusted the Senator about as much as he trusted Addy these days. Which was to say, he didn”t. At all. He was on high alert before the handle of the door turned.

“Elias, thanks for seeing me.” Aaron crossed the room and invited himself to one of the chairs on the other side of Elias’ desk. “How”s the Chief of Staff today?”

Elias made a noncommittal sound at the back of his throat as he relaxed into his chair and folded his hands over his stomach. Was he relaxed? Not at all. But he didn”t want Aaron to get the impression he was rattled, so he drew on all his years of experience and played the role of politician. Luckily, he was good at it. He had a feeling this little visit would put him through all his paces on that front.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Aaron?” Elias honed his gaze on Aaron’s face as the man made himself comfortable. With one ankle perched on the opposite knee and his hands folded behind his head, Aaron’s attempt as casual came across more smarmy than anything.

“Addy and I were talking over dinner last night, and we thought, ‘Wow, you know what this is missing? Another couple. We should invite El and Cay.’ Ergo, I come bearing an invitation to dinner for you and your partner.” Aaron’s mouth kicked up at the corner in a smirk.

“It”s Elias and Caleb, or preferably Misters Cohen-Williams, if it pleases.” Elias flicked an invisible piece of lint from the knee of his trousers before returning his attention to the unwelcome visitor. “Send something to my secretary and I”ll see if we can pencil it in. No promises.”

“Are we really going that route?” Aaron arched an eyebrow at him as his smirk turned sinister. “Really?”

“I”m afraid I don”t know what you”re implying.” Elias met the challenge in Aaron’s expression head on.

“Coy isn”t a good look on you.” Aaron shifted and brought his elbows to his knees. “You got where you are because of your friendship with the President. Is that something you”re willing to throw away now?”

“It boggles the mind how confident you sound considering how grossly in error your assumptions are, Senator. If that”s all for today, you can see yourself out. I, unlike you apparently, have work to do.” Elias tipped his head toward the door before pointedly turning his attention back toward the desk. He was mid-reach toward his laptop when Aaron spoke again.

“I”d be very careful if I were you, Williams. You keep questionable company and bring so little to the table compared to your contributions. I”d counsel you to take a moment and fully appreciate where you find yourself on the hierarchy now.”

Channeling every last drop of patience he possessed, Elias once more nodded to the door. “Keep your children”s games out of my office, Evans. You don”t scare me. For a man who makes accusations of my being here only because of my association with the President, you forget who has their name on an office here. Maybe I”ll see you at the Capitol building when I make my next visit. Where you”re supposed to be.”

Elias kept his expression placid as Aaron eased himself from the chair and started toward the door. As soon as he made it halfway, Elias called out. “Oh, and I”d kindly ask you to remember: it”s Cohen-Williams now.”

“Ah, speaking of…” Aaron pivoted with a squeak of his shoes. “How”s your cousin doing in prison? Tristan Williams, was it?”

Elias wasn”t expecting that at all. He had thought he was prepared for pretty much any verbal sparring match Aaron brought to his office, but this one came out of left field at lightning speed. Very few outside their small circle were supposed to know about Tristan”s incarceration. Basically only those who needed to know, knew. Aaron was most decidedly not on the need to know list. The implications had unease crawling over Elias’ skin.

“I”m afraid I don”t know what you”re talking about.” Elias tried to play it cool, but judging by the smug expression on Aaron’s face, he wasn”t pulling it off. Shots were fired and they hit their mark.

“Hm. Curious. Well, have a good one, El. We’ll see you at dinner next week.” Aaron swaggered toward the door, whistling a little tune as he swung it open and stepped through. The smarmy charmer instantly started flirting with the receptionist on the other side before it closed behind him with a quiet snick.

Elias sagged deeper into his chair and released the breath he had been holding with a swear. This was bad, no matter how he looked at it. Either Addy had told him directly, which was a fucking nightmare situation. On the flip side, if she didn”t tell him, he was getting the information from her files and paperwork, which had potentially worse repercussions. The worst part of it all was that he couldn”t figure out the motive. Even if he found the motive, there wasn”t all that much he could do.

His turmoil spiraled faster as he spun slow circles in his chair, lost to the chaos of his thoughts. He needed to figure out Aaron’s angle before he could decide on a proper course of action, but he wouldn”t figure that out by avoiding the man, and the more he spun that thought around his head, the worse his indigestion became. This was, for all intents and purposes, a fucking nightmare in the making. He pressed his fingers to the center of his chest as the burn crept higher. That was how Caleb found him when he returned with their lunch—with a hand pressed to his chest and a grimace on his face.

“El?!” He crossed the room in a flash and dumped their food and drinks on the center of the desk before rushing around. “Baby doll, El, Elias!”

“I”m fine, Cay,” Elias exhaled the words and let his hand drop to his lap. “Calm down.”

“Uh, exsqueeze-me, bitch. No.” Caleb cupped Elias’ chin and forced their eyes to meet. “You don”t fucking tell me to calm down. Not when I walk in and you look like you”re having a heart attack. I”m calling the med center.”

“Stop, please. I”m sorry. I shouldn”t have told you to calm down. I”m not having a heart attack. I”m not even forty. It”s just heartburn.” Elias brought his hands to Caleb”s hips and tugged him between his knees.

“Or an ulcer. Or something. It”s not nothing. We’re not ignoring it. Now, what”s wrong? Something happened. Who am I stabbing?” Caleb coiled his arms around Elias’ head and hugged it to his chest. “I”m abouta choose violence. So. Much. Violence.”

Elias took a deep, restorative inhale of Caleb’s familiar scent and let the breath out slowly. He wound his arms tighter around his husband’s waist, partially to revel in the closeness but mostly to keep him from engaging in a manhunt through the White House for a certain senator.

“Aaron stopped by.” Cue the rage in three, two, one…

“Oh, fuck that. Nope. Hell naw. I”m going to gouge his eyes out with my tie clip.” As expected, Caleb tried to pull free from Elias’ grip. “There will be blood. Lots of it. Add extra Oxy-Clean to the Amazon order.”

“Cay, please. I just want to eat. With you. Preferably not in a prison visiting area. Please?” Elias shifted his head to prop his chin on the center of Caleb’s chest with a look he hoped was beseeching.

“Okay, first… it”s not fair when you beg. You know begging is my kryptonite. Second, you”re going to tell me everything before I decide if orange is a good color for me. I think no, but also, I can make anything work. It”s a gift.”

Elias huffed out a weak laugh and relinquished his hold on Caleb’s waist. As promised, Caleb divvied up their food and sat only somewhat patiently as Elias recounted the story of Aaron’s impromptu visit and plethora of thinly-veiled threats. By the time he finished the recap, their lunches were abandoned and they both had their thinking faces on. For all his flair and personality, when it came down to it, Caleb was the only person whose mind Elias trusted to help him work through this alarming conundrum.

“Fuckity-fuck-fuck with a side order of what the fuck.” Caleb dramatically flopped over the arm of the chair he’d pulled closer. “We’re going to have to have dinner with them, aren”t we?”

“I”m afraid so.” Elias’ lips flattened into a thin, grim line. “And we’re going to have to try to get a meeting with Adelaide. Alone.”

“God dammit, I hate everything.”

“It”s not ideal, no.” Elias picked his fork up again, only to immediately toss it back into the salad. His appetite was long gone, especially for leaves.

“Hey,” Caleb murmured softer, reaching out to blanket Elias’ hand with a warm palm. “Are you really all right?”

“I”m just… tired. I”m really, really tired.” Elias flipped his hand over to twine their fingers together. “But I”m okay.”

“You”ll talk to me if you aren”t?”

“Of course,” Elias said, emphasizing the words with all the conviction he felt. “Always. Same for you?”

“Duh,” Caleb drawled with an eye roll. “Stupid question.”

“Well, I never claimed to be the brains behind this operation, babe. If I recall correctly, you”re the one in charge, remember?” Elias lifted Caleb’s hand and kissed his knuckles.

“Good boy, you remembered.” Caleb leaned closer and nipped at the tip of Elias’ nose. “Kiss me, beautiful.”

Elias did just that. It definitely didn”t solve any of their problems, but it absolutely helped settle his unease. At least for a little while.