Spencer belongs to the section of society that is only recently suffering economically, and he's a little defensive about it. His family is set in their ways, but the world that those ways were developed in is slowly disappearing, and Spencer can see with a horrible clarity what will happen if nothing changes; his family will struggle on until they ( Read more... )

They're doing pretty well, they work with aboveground deals on solid work, but everyone knows that if you want to be really successful, you've got to have an in with the black market, and for years anything anyone's heard about under-the-table trade can be traced back to some rumor of this 'Brendon' person.

Spencer and Bob have been trying to make a ( Read more... )

Ryan likes Spencer from the get-go, so of course he expresses it by instant overt distrust, pranks, tests...

"Seriously, Ryan," Brendon finally says.  "You threw his pants over the rafters. After you took them from his unconscious body. He's allowed to be a little freaked around you."

Ryan just pouts and slinks off. Brendon keeps a close eye on Ry ( Read more... )

"We'll have a little help on this venture," Brendon says, and Bob nods, because going over the plans on this one, he couldn't see how the usual crew would have managed on their own.

Ryan stiffens at his words, though, says, "B, you promised--"

"--That we'd only take her help as a last resort, but Ryan, we had a couple people pull out at the last ( Read more... )

Ryan takes one look at Spencer's woebegone face as he says, "Nothing, really, I'm fine," to Ryan's concerned query, and replies, "Yeah, no. Not buying it. Come on, we're going out."

'Out' seems to refer to a bar nearer the foundries that their neighborhood, an establishment Brendon actually doesn't own.

Ryan's not a chatty guy and Spencer's not about ( Read more... )

For all that she loves the business of serious espionage, simple gossip has always been something she appreciated, and Alex and Cash know how to do it right. And they're smart about it, too. They know how to cause a scene that sets a ball rolling that makes people go how they want One of the reasons Cash's such a good officer is he can see things ( Read more... )

Brendon had never gotten around to fully trusting Lady Victoria. So when Bob and Spencer, whom he considered friends, started being seen more and more in her company, Brendon was a little taken aback ( Read more... )

It's a good thing Spencer and Bob like Alex, because the first few weeks that they move into the Manor, he spends an awful lot of time there. When they're alone, they discuss the probability that the little slip of a kid is vetting them ( Read more... )