"I suspect it won't be easy, and he'll probably put a bounty on my head for not backing down from him tonight." He shrugged and straightened up in the chair. He really needed a drink. He didn't care if alcohol didn't mix well with his pain meds. Anything to numb the soul-aching gut punch Stephanie had delivered to him.

"I thought he was just Stephanie's assistant when she took over after Sebastian's 'death.'" He made air quotes like he had seen on American TV. Too much of that while he was recovering. "But he manipulated an entire room of people with just his voice to make Shaw's speech seem great."