Chapter 4

Later that evening, Wen summoned Caid to his office.

"I need you to watch over Day," he said before Caid settled into his chair.

"Right," Caid replied after a moment of stunned silence, "are you going to tell me why you hired him? Are we taking in every weird guy who wanders in?"

Wen barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. No one else would dare to speak to him like this, but Caid was his younger cousin and knew him too well. It would be incredibly annoying, but his presence was often the only thing that kept Wen's days somewhat bright, so he let it pass.

"He has an impressive skill set," Wen replied, ignoring Caid's incredulous look, "I've heard he can do great things with boxes."

"Then why am I watching him? Hm? Maybe he should be my supervisor."

"Maybe he will be," Wen threatened, earning himself a glowering look. Finally, he sighed. At some point, he had to come clean, "I want to know who he is."

Caid squinted his eyes in confusion.

Wen continued, "Obviously, he was sent by a rival group," he had been thinking it over all day, and this was the only explanation that made sense, "No one else could evade security the way he did. I need you to find out who sent him and their plans. In the meantime, don't let him catch on."

"Why would anyone send him?" Caid wasn't a stranger to the other rival forces. Though none came close to holding the power of the Green Sea, they weren't by any means weak. Sending someone blundering into a highly guarded base unarmed to ask for a job was not a strategy he had ever heard of. "What would even be the point?"

Wen narrowed his eyes, the image of the man's too-large shirt and messily tied hair still fresh in his mind, "To seduce me."

It was obvious. How his rivals knew precisely what would work on him when he hadn't been aware of it himself was incredible. They were formidable opponents.

Caid's jaw dropped, and he barely managed to stutter out, "He…he was wearing sandals. Sandals, with SOCKS."

Wen nodded. He had noticed.

"They had rubber ducks on them!" Caid continued, "I don't even think they matched!"

Wen nodded again. Good, Caid understood. The man was obviously a professional, leaving no detail unattended.

Caid let out a humorless laugh, dropping his head into his hands, "Boss, if this were anyone else, I'd think you'd lost your mind."

"But?" Wen prompted.

"But, I know you. So clearly you know something I don't," Caid stood, walking towards the door, "I'll keep an eye on him. But I'm making you tell me the whole story at some point because this is ridiculous."

Wen frowned. What more was there to tell? Whoever this Day was, he was a master of seduction, skilled in deception. Wen would quickly figure him out and deal with this new weakness, so nothing ever phased him like this again.