TWELVE KIERAN

Kieran breathes a sigh of relief when they make it to the terrace and Blackwood finally allows Miles" hand to slip off his arm.

He tries to tell himself it"s just because he"s sketched out after the whole story about the painting, to ignore the jealousy at seeing someone else"s hands on Miles, but he knows he"s lying to himself. Miles looks relieved to have his hand back, too, smiling unsteadily at Kieran and taking a step closer to him.

"Kieran, Miles, please allow me to introduce you to some of my closest friends," Blackwood says, gesturing to two men making their way across the terrace to join them.

Kieran recognizes them immediately, and he does his best to keep his face from souring. Yuri Ivanov is always bad news, known for shady backroom deals in any industry that makes men like him rich. He"s been poking more and more deeply into film recently, and Kieran has been doing his best to avoid the man. Looks like that game is over. Theodore von Fischer is at his side, and while he"s less of a genuine concern, the guy still gets on Kieran"s nerves. Any time he hears about his fellow actors getting involved in something shady or just flat-out stupid, the European royal is always in the middle of it.

They smile widely as they join the circle, both shaking Miles" hand, then his.

"A pleasure to meet the both of you," Yuri croons. "Call me Yura."

Kieran smiles, keeping up a friendly face no matter how much he hates the idea of getting any more familiar with the man than he has to. Miles looks relaxed at his side, but Kieran can see the tension in the line of his jaw. He hopes that the other men are too busy staring at how pretty Miles looks under the starlight to notice.

"Teddy," Theodore introduces, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Everyone knows you, of course," he says to Kieran with a grin, "but who might this be? A new face, certainly."

Miles blushes and stutters charmingly, and Kieran wonders how much of it is a show, and how much is just Miles being naturally cute when he"s nervous. He pushes those thoughts out of his head—he needs to be focusing on keeping Miles safe right now. He"s essentially playing bodyguard while the two of them are here, and he needs to keep his head on straight.

"Miles," he says, laughing nervously. "I"m here filming with Kieran, this is actually my first time acting."

"Your first?" Theodore gasps, reaching out to clap Miles on the shoulder.

"You must be brilliant to land a role along with Hollywood here," Yuri laughs.

Miles waves them off, and Kieran bristles at the way they both stare at him shamelessly. It makes something itch angrily just beneath his skin, and he almost wants to shift the attention to himself just to release Miles from their scrutiny, but he bites back on the urge.

Bodyguard, remember?

Before Miles has the chance to say anything, another young man is joining them. Kieran almost startles when he walks up, smiling widely, eyes fixed firmly on Blackwood.

He looks like a mirror image of Miles.

The hair, the eyes, the jawline, hell, even the way he walks is similar. Kieran swallows down bitter acid that tries to crawl up his throat. Apparently, Hendricks and Burke were spot on about Blackwood"s type.

"And here is the lovely Phoenix," Blackwood says, smiling softly at the young man. "My dear friend."

Phoenix smiles gracefully at all of them, but it slips for just a second when his eyes land on Miles, his eyes narrowing almost challengingly. He shakes it off quickly though, turning his attention to Blackwood.

"Desmond, we should make our way to the dining room," he says smoothly, reaching out to fix Blackwood"s tie in a move so casually intimate that it has to be intentional. "Dinner is being served momentarily."

"Of course, please, friends, follow me," Blackwood invites them all.

They leave the beauty and fresh air of the terrace behind, the sun setting over the water as they all follow Blackwood into the dining room. Phoenix follows at the back of the group, and Kieran almost feels like he"s being tracked, like the guy is some kind of bloodhound. It"s unsettling.

Blackwood pulls Miles" hand back to rest on his arm as he leads them toward the table, and Kieran grits his teeth to keep himself from saying anything, gripping his untouched flute of champagne tighter.

This is going to be harder than he thought.

"Miles, Kieran, you"re my guests of honor tonight," Blackwood tells them, gesturing toward the table. "I"ll be at the head, but I ask that you take places nearby."

Miles blusters appropriately, and Kieran forces a grateful smile, rounding the table. He sits across from Miles, at Blackwood"s left hand. Theodore takes a place next to Kieran, sipping at a glass of whisky and chatting to Phoenix and Yuri. Kieran watches out of the corner of his eye as Phoenix takes a seat, shooting glares at Miles as Blackwood chats about different young actors he"s helped rise through the ranks.

Kieran knows he should be paying attention, but he"s so tense he can hardly even breathe. Besides, that"s what the listening devices are for, aren"t they? Kieran hopes they work, because he probably won"t be able to tell anyone anything useful about tonight.

He"s too keyed up.

He watches as other people fill the rest of the seats, people he wasn"t introduced to, chatting amongst themselves. They"re all absolutely stunning. Hyper-feminine beside hyper-masculine beside entirely androgynous, a mixing pot of ethnicities, but all gorgeous enough to be front page models of any magazine they set their sights on. He focuses on them for a bit, hoping mindless people-watching will calm him down a bit, but it does the exact opposite.

The longer he looks, the more he notices how…out of it they all look. Their movements are a bit sluggish, their voices a bit too loud. He doubts any of them have had time to get properly drunk, considering they all supposedly arrived after he and Miles did, even though all of their champagne glasses are either empty or close to it.

It looks almost like they"re drugged.

Kieran"s eyes flit back to his own champagne flute, and his stomach sinks, panic flaring. He breathes a subtle sigh of relief when he looks and sees Miles" is also untouched, and he stretches his leg out beneath the table as a group of uniformed butlers round the table to start service dinner, grateful it"s not absurdly wide.

Blackwood claps his hands together, standing to address the room, and Kieran taps his toe against Miles" ankle until the man glances over questioningly. He drums his fingers lightly over the base of his champagne glass, shaking his head subtly. Miles" brows furrow momentarily, and he glances down at his own drink for a second before looking at Kieran"s. He meets Kieran"s eyes again and nods slightly, turning his attention back to Blackwood.

Kieran hopes he understands.

"Friends, thank you all for joining me here tonight," Blackwood says, his voice carrying effortlessly as he raises a glass of wine in a toast. "To new friends and new opportunities."

Kieran lifts his champagne with a wide smile, tipping it to his lips, but keeps them sealed tightly. He watches Miles do the same, grateful he got his message across in time.

"Eat up, everyone."

Blackwood takes his seat again, and Kieran looks down at the plate in front of him. The food is gorgeous, perfectly prepared veal and fresh vegetables, but his stomach is in knots. He takes slow bites, washing them down with the water that he watched the butlers pour for him from the same flask they poured Blackwood"s. He pays the barest amount of attention he can get away with, listening as Blackwood grills Miles about his experiences and what he wants out of his career.

"Kieran is who actually got me this opportunity," Miles says, smiling across the table at him shyly.

Kieran ignores the way the look makes his heart stutter in his chest, instead focusing on the way Blackwood raises a brow at him and leans closer, that same unsettling grin spreading across his lips.

"It"s good to see you"re bringing fresh faces into the industry," he says, staring at Kieran intently.

Kieran doesn"t have the chance to say anything before Blackwood claps him on the shoulder, leaning in closer.

"I"ve been rude, haven"t I?" he whispers, glancing around the table with a raised brow. "Is there anyone here you"d like to get to know a bit better?"

Kieran blinks blankly at him for a long moment, having no idea how to respond to that.

"I won"t judge your preferences," Blackwood continues with a laugh. "Spice of life, right? I just know the business can get stressful. I like to make sure my friends are in top shape, and I help where I can."

Kieran lets out a nervous little laugh, shaking his head.

"Ah, I"m focusing on filming for now," he hedges, but Blackwood frowns disapprovingly at him, so Kieran scrabbles to keep talking. "These scenes are really involved, so I want to make sure my head is in the right spot. Maybe another time, though."

That seems to be good enough for Blackwood, and his frown disappears as he squeezes Kieran"s shoulder.

"Attaboy," he praises. "I"ve got a little party planned in a few days. I"d love to have you and Miles join the festivities. I"m sure you"ll find someone to your liking there."

Kieran smiles tightly, hoping that Blackwood can"t feel how tense his muscles are through his suit. He feels disgusting, hating the greasy, smarmy overtone in Blackwood"s voice, but he just nods.

"I"m sure I will," he agrees through gritted teeth. "And I"m sure Miles would be happy to tag along."

Blackwood glances back at Miles then, eyes raking over him where he"s talking to the beautiful woman seated beside him. Kieran pushes down on the sudden urge to grab Miles and get the hell out of there.

"Speaking of dear Miles," Blackwood hums, an almost challenging note in his voice, "you wouldn"t happen to know if he"s available, would you?"

"As far as I know, he"s not currently seeing anyone," Kieran answers.

This is what they"re here for, he reminds himself. Blackwood making advances on Miles is exactly what they"re aiming for. He needs to keep himself in check.

"I"m sure you"re aware of his preferences?"

Kieran can"t stop himself from glaring at Blackwood, but he hopes he manages to keep it to a teasing scold instead of the fury bubbling in his gut.

"That"s a question for Miles, not me," he says firmly.

Blackwood finally drops his hand from Kieran"s shoulder with a final friendly squeeze, grinning and leaning back into his own seat. Kieran immediately feels like a thousand pounds of weight is pulled off him, and he can breathe deeply again.

"Of course, of course," Blackwood says, lifting a bite of veal to his mouth.

His attention shifts back to Miles pretty quickly, and Kieran tries to act as normal as he can. He has no appetite, but he forces himself to finish his plate and engage in light conversation when he"s spoken to.

He hates the thought of going through with this now even more than he did when he first heard it. He needs to, he knows that. He promised to. But seeing Blackwood"s hand on Miles" forearm makes him jealous and scared to an extent he didn"t know he was capable of feeling. He just wants to keep Miles safe, at the end of the day.

Between the way Blackwood, Yuri, Theodore, and Phoenix are all looking at Miles, Kieran thinks that might be more difficult than he expected.