Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Stolen snacks
The man’s face broke into a smile that was half-surprised, half-relieved. "I knew it was you," Luka said, taking a step closer. "They told me Victor was bringing someone in, but I didn’t think..."
He started forward, hand lifting as if to clap Elias on the shoulder, but Ashwin shifted before he even finished the thought. One smooth step and the space between them closed, planting himself just off Elias’s right side, angled enough that Luka would have to go through him to get closer. It wasn’t a shove, but the message was clear.
"Hello," Ashwin said mildly, still holding the half-empty chip bag like a prop. "Can I help you?"
Luka hesitated, tablet still under his arm, eyes flicking from Ashwin’s expression to Elias’s suit, then to the coke can balanced on the chocolate bar. "I’m... Luka," he said finally. "I used to work with Elias. I just wanted to say hello."
Elias gave him a small, crooked smile over the rim of his can. "Ashwin, can you give us some space?"
"No," Ashwin said without even blinking.
Elias raised an eyebrow at him over the top of his glasses. "That was fast."
"Victor’s orders," Ashwin replied, tone still mild but unmovable. "You can say hello, you can catch up, but you’re not going to be standing alone with him in the hallway. Not after yesterday."
Luka’s eyes widened a little at that, but he took a careful step back and lifted a hand. "I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I just... It’s been a while."
Elias sighed, took another sip of coke, and waved his free hand. "Relax, Luka. Ashwin’s my shadow. He gets testy when I wander off for snacks."
Ashwin’s mouth twitched as if he were fighting a smile. "Testy is one word for it," he murmured.
"Overprotective barnacle," Elias corrected under his breath, then tilted his head at Luka. "We’ll catch up later. Right now he’s glued to my hip."
Luka gave him a rueful smile and nodded. "I’ll hold you to that." Then, with a last glance at Ashwin, he retreated back toward the reception desk.
Ashwin shifted the chip bag back into Elias’s hands. "See? No harm done."
Elias looked at the bag, then at him. "You know, I can take care of myself. There is no need for this overprotectiveness."
Ashwin grinned, unbothered. "Tell that to your mate; I’m not going to become the punching bag of a god because you got a scratch."
Elias snorted, tearing open the chocolate bar. "He wouldn’t punch you."
Ashwin tilted his head. "Not literally. But those eyes? One look and I’d be reassigned to guarding the mailroom. Or worse, Connor."
That made Elias laugh, the sound a little rough around the edges but real. "Fair point."
Ashwin’s smile softened. "Look, I know you’re not helpless. But my job isn’t just protecting you, it’s keeping the peace around him. You’ve already survived things none of us understand. Don’t make me look bad by vanishing for snacks."
Elias raised his coke in a mock toast. "Fine. Shadow away, barnacle. Just don’t expect me to share the chips next time."
Ashwin chuckled, falling into step beside him as they headed back toward the office. "Deal. But I’ll still steal one when you’re not looking."
"Enjoying yourselves?" Victor’s voice slid in from ahead of them, warm and edged at once. He was striding toward them from the conference room, a small procession of secretaries and managers in his wake. Even in motion he looked composed, burgundy suit uncreased, a tablet in one hand.
One of the women at his shoulder, black hair in a glossy knot, heels clicking like punctuation marks, let her eyes flick over Elias, measuring him head to toe with the cool efficiency of someone appraising an acquisition.
’Ah. That secretary,’ Elias thought, recognizing the faint lift of her chin. Still carrying the ’I’m-better-than-you’ attitude. ’Wonderful.’
He shifted the coke and chocolate bar to one hand, expression bland, and raised the coke slightly in the other like a flag of truce. "We were," he said, voice mild. "Until the royal inspection arrived."
Victor’s crimson eyes cut briefly to the secretary, then back to Elias, the corner of his mouth curving just enough to show he’d seen the look. His hand brushed once at the back of Elias’s neck as he closed the distance, a wordless, claiming touch that made the managers behind him look anywhere but at them.
"I thought you were going to the bathroom," he said lightly, voice pitched low enough for only Elias and Ashwin to hear. "Not on a pilgrimage to the vending machine."
Elias shifted the can and the chocolate bar into one hand, lifting the chip bag in the other like evidence. "Blame your six a.m. abduction schedule," he muttered. "My blood sugar dropped, and patience plummeted to hell."
Victor’s mouth curved further, but his eyes flicked once over the little knot of staff trailing them. "That will be all," he said without raising his voice. The secretaries and managers scattered with murmured acknowledgements, the black-haired woman’s perfume lingering in the corridor as she turned away.
Only Ashwin fell back into place behind them, expression as bland as stone but eyes glinting faintly with amusement.
Victor guided Elias toward the elevator with a palm at his lower back, the gesture firm but not rough, a quiet pressure steering him past the curious eyes and into the private lift. "Come on," he murmured. "You can have your chips in the car."
The elevator doors slid shut with a soft chime, cutting off the murmur of the office. As the lift began to descend, Victor’s hand left Elias’s back only to pluck the chocolate bar from his grasp in one clean motion, tucking it into his own palm before Elias could react.
"Hey!" Elias stared at the empty space in his hand. "That’s mine."
Victor broke off a neat square of chocolate between his fingers and popped it into his mouth, eyes glinting with a flash of mischief behind the usual composure. "Consider it a tax," he said mildly.
"A tax?" Elias echoed, incredulous. "On what?"
"On snacks smuggled out of my building." Another square disappeared, and Victor licked the edge of his thumb with unhurried care. "Besides, you had chips. I’m evening the score."
The lift hummed downward, the burgundy of Victor’s suit brushing Elias’s sleeve as the stolen chocolate bar disappeared piece by piece between his fingers.