“You think I’m proud. Privileged. Spoilt.”
“No, I think you’re used to being one of the served, not the servant. I understand, it’s a big adjustment to make – more so for you than for most, I suspect. However, this is your life now. What’s the point of fighting it?” Two asked gently.
Alex removed his hand from Two’s and turned away. “I don’t know any other way to be,” he said.
“But you can learn.” Two dropped a kiss on Alex’s hair. “You were wondering why your houder sent you here, and maybe it’s that simple: he sent you here to learn how to be of service.”
Chapter Seven
OCTOBER 2095
Josiah
Tyler wasn’t alone. He had a security team with him: four big men, two standing on either side of him, and next to them was a slender man clutching a briefcase.
“You’re trespassing,” Josiah growled, aware of the anxiety emanating from Alex.
Tyler shrugged. “And you’re making a big mistake.”
“Not as big a mistake as breaking into an investigator’s house.”
“Breaking in? Do you have proof of that? You’ll find your locks intact and no signs of a break-in, so it’ll just be your word against mine.” Tyler smiled. “Your security here is terrible, by the way. I expected to have to use a disrupter to get in but found, much to my surprise, that you don’t have a smarthouse system. Not even so much as a camera intercom.”
“I don’t need that stuff.”
“Ah, a technophobe.” Tyler smirked. “Well, I love that ‘stuff’, as you call it; it’s helped me enormously over?—”
“What do you want, Tyler?” Josiah interrupted impatiently. “Why are you here? I’m assuming it’s not to lecture me about my low-tech house.”
“Of course not. I’m here because I thought you might appreciate a friendly warning.”
“How kind of you to care about me, a man you barely know.”
“We played golf together. That almost makes us friends.” Tyler smiled wolfishly.
“No, it really doesn’t.” Josiah stepped into the room, with Alex following him, shadowing his every move. Josiah weighed the situation. Were the four thugs to intimidate him? That was amusing. Josiah assumed they were here to force him to listen to what Tyler had to say, but if so, it was unnecessary. He was impatient to hear Tyler’s next move.
“You’ve had a busy day, Investigator Raine,” Tyler observed. The urbane figure from a couple of days earlier was gone. The gloves were off.
Josiah gave a tight smile. “You’ve been following me.”
“Well, you’ve been looking into my affairs, so it seemed reasonable.”
“I’m an investigator, it’s my job.”
“And it’s mine to protect my own interests,” Tyler riposted.
“Fair enough.” Josiah didn’t like the fact he was standing before this man in his own living room, like a servant. It gave his uninvited guest the upper hand. So, he took a seat in the armchair opposite Tyler. Alex glided noiselessly into place beside him, standing next to the chair. Tyler gave him a hard, questioning look, and Alex bowed his head submissively.
“Butter wouldn’t melt,” Tyler said contemptuously. “This is what I came to warn you about, Investigator Raine. This is what he does; he reels you in with his little act, and then he betrays you.”
“Is that so?” Josiah glanced at Alex and saw that the familiar vacant mask was in place. He could hear Alex humming softly under his breath.
“Yes. I should know. It’s what he did to me.”
“Really?”
“I treated him well, but he used me, like he uses everyone to get his own way.”
