Chapter 5
Will was generally pretty good at reading people.
He’d had to be. After the car crash—after losing his parents and siblings—he’d been grief-stricken and angry for a long time, but he’d quickly learned to hide it. His mother’s estranged brother, the uncle he’d rarely seen before, had been kind enough to take him in, but he detested public displays of emotions, finding them plebeian . So Will had shoved his anger and grief down and given his snobbish relatives what they wanted: a quiet, nice boy who kept to himself and didn’t get in the way. That had inevitably made him more reserved.He’d stopped talking much, preferring to watch people instead of being the one watched and judged.
As years had passed, he’d forced himself to be more sociable, but he still preferred solitude to crowds, and he found sociable, outgoing people exhausting. That was why he could take Scott only in small doses, no matter how fond of him he was.
Truth be told, at first Will had pegged Gadiel as the sociable type, similar to Scott. But the longer Will watched him, the more curious he felt.
Gadiel could be very mercurial. He could be bratty, loud, and full of energy one day, and then withdrawn and quiet the next. It was flabbergasting—and oddly fascinating. Will found himself watching the boy constantly, trying to understand what was happening in that pretty head of his.
It soon became clear that Gadiel was nowhere near as outgoing as Scott was. In fact, most of the time he could be found by himself, reading a book on his e-reader—that was, if he wasn’t putting on a lewd show for Will’s sake.
Will had nearly laughed when it happened. Did the kid really think he was going to buy his fake moans? It had been obvious what was up. The little shit wanted to get rid of him. He wanted to make Will feel outraged and disgusted enough to quit.
Will had been more amused than outraged. He certainly wasn’t going to give the kid the reaction he wanted. So he had acted like Gadiel’s little show hadn’t bothered him in the slightest, and since then, the kid had clearly decided to change his tactics—if the thoughtful looks he had been giving Will all day were any indication.
Will looked back, not bothering to hide that he’d noticed Gadiel’s looks. That didn’t seem to deter or bother Gadiel; he continued gazing at him all day long, so they often ended up in a strange staring contest. It was one of the most bizarre experiences of Will’s life.
In the end, he was the one who blinked first. “Did you stare all day long at your other bodyguards too, or am I just special?”
Gadiel didn’t look embarrassed, his eyes still fixed on him. “No,” he said after a moment. “But to be fair, my previous bodyguards weren’t half as pretty as you.”
Will fixed his tie, unsure what to say.
Gadiel snorted softly. “Don’t worry, I’m not coming on to you, Mr. Straight. I’m not into you.” He suddenly grinned, the wide, genuine smile turning his face ten times prettier than it normally was. “You probably figured out I was faking it yesterday, right?”
“Yes,” Will said, feeling oddly unsettled by that smile. He much preferred the bratty, mouthy version of Gadiel to this smiling, charmingly honest one.
“Thought so,” Gadiel said, nodding. “Anyway, I came to the conclusion that there is no point antagonizing you or trying to drive you away.”
“Really,” Will said flatly, raising his eyebrows. What a turn. That was surprisingly mature of him.
Gadiel gave him another unbearably pretty smile. “Yes. It would be more efficient to simply bribe you.”
“Bribe me,” Will repeated, amused despite himself.
“Yes,” Gadiel said earnestly. “I’ll pay you double what you’re currently being paid to have your absolute loyalty to me only. You’ll truly be my bodyguard. Mine, not Zain’s.”
Will almost laughed. This job was turning out to be the most lucrative of his life. “What would that entail?”
“I wouldn’t demand anything unreasonable,” Gadiel said. “You will keep getting paid by Zain too. You will keep reporting to him about my comings and goings—for the most part. But you won’t tell him anything I don’t want you to.”
Will narrowed his eyes. Was Gadiel finally going to tell him about Scott? He’d been waiting for days for any indication that the kid actually returned Scott’s feelings. Scott had led him to believe that they would have been boyfriends if they could see each other, but Will was starting to have doubts.
Gadiel didn’t act like someone in love. Will had caught him texting Scott a few times, but the expression on his face wasn’t particularly keen. He didn’t smile giddily with the besotted expression Scott tended to wear every time he was infatuated. Gadielwas prone to being quiet at times—when he wasn’t being obnoxious on purpose—but he didn’t seem to be pining. If he had feelings for Scott, they didn’t seem deep enough to make him mope. He hadn’t even attempted to sneak away once since Will had become his bodyguard.
“And what is that?” Will said.
Gadiel chuckled. “Nope, I’m not telling you anything incriminating until you agree to give your loyalty to me.”
This felt like a good moment to reveal that he was actually related to Scott and wouldn’t have told Zain about them anyway. Except he’d given Scott his word to remain silent about being related.
“All right,” Will said, shrugging.
Gadiel eyed him suspiciously. “Really? Just like that?”
“Yes,” Will said.
“And you aren’t even going to lecture me that bribery is bad?”
Will shrugged again, his lips twitching. “I’m not sure where you got the idea that I’m all that principled. There are things I’ll never agree to, but getting paid more for doing my job isn’t one of them.”
Gadiel cocked his head to the side before grinning. “That’s a good point!” He walked over and stretched his hand out. “So, truce? You’re mine now?”
Will blinked at the odd phrasing, but figured it was the language barrier. “I pledge my loyalty to you,” he said wryly, clasping his hand.
Gadiel laughed a little. “Unless someone pays you more?”
“That’s right,” Will said, involuntarily charmed by the twinkle in those blue eyes. The guy really was uncommonly lovely; even Will could see it. There was something both angelic and devilish about him, about the way he tilted his head, smiled, and looked at you. No wonder Scott was so besotted. He was exactly Scott’s type: a pretty twink who practically begged to be held down and wrecked.
“All right, this calls for celebration!” Gadiel said enthusiastically.
Will let go of his hand and raised his eyebrows. “Celebration?”
“But of course!” Gadiel grabbed his hand again and all but pulled him toward the elevator. “Let’s go.”
Bemused, Will decided to indulge him.
He could indulge him this once.