Lucifer had sorely miscalculated.

Over the years, he'd been graced with Adam's presence at various state-sponsored events. He wasn't the oddest apple in the basket, but he was the most reserved. The most careful. One of the few politicians in the country who didn't lie out of his ass every single moment he was given the chance. A man with that type of reputation was often easy to mask and unmask. Easy to understand. Lucifer was of the opinion that he'd understood quite enough.

After all, people with hands that clean tended to operate on a certain level of naivety that was easy to break or destroy.

Not Adam.

Lucifer had thought there'd be events in his honor, events of pretense meant as an excuse to celebrate Lucifer's presence without coming out to say that they were trying to get on his good side. He'd prepared for that much. Prepared to spend most of it getting into the graces of Adam's people, finding the cracks he could fit through, places he could wedge doubt in order to dismantle the man's entire operation. Because nobody was as clean as they actually claimed to be.

But none of that had happened. Adam's people weren't rallying around Lucifer looking for favors. They weren't coming to his residence to "visit" just because they knew he was Chetachi's right hand man. No. Instead, he'd received three invitations to tour Uyo on official business with the aid of a state-paid tour guide. He'd even been invited to have dinner with Adam and Evelyn at a very public restaurant. Not a place with Adam's people. And every time he tried to initiate after hours contact with them, he was informed that they had a curfew.

"Hmmm," Lucifer said, squatting in front of the bleeding man who was kneeling in the garage of the guest house that Lucifer was lodging in. "So you're saying he has that much control of his people."

"I-I-I... he usually let's the-them-do their own thing," the man said, sobbing as he bowed his head before Lucifer.

"But he imposed a curfew and everyone obeyed."

"Ye-yes, Sir," he said, choking and trying to calm himself.

Sherimiah had searched every single member of Adam's staff and found nothing on them. They were all above board, with the latest of any of their atrocities being years before they got on Adam's staff. Like a fucked miracle, Adam had created a garden of blameless men and women who were unlikely to cause a scandal for him. Lucifer was impressed, as much as he was irritated.

Until he found the crying man in front of him.

"I had to search really hard to find you, Gregory," Lucifer said as he lifted the man's chin to reveal the gash on his forehead from where he was bleeding. "Not many people like you around here."

"Please, Sir. Please." He clasped his hands together. "I have a wife. I have children."

"Excellent," Lucifer agreed, getting up as Sherimiah handed him a tablet of Gregory's petty crimes.

And by crimes, Lucifer meant the word incredibly loosely. Because all Gregory had done was have an affair with a woman who worked for him. And then he'd spent some money on her. Very little money. If not for that money, Sherimiah never would have caught him because Gregory went from home to work everyday and never strayed. If they hadn't dug deeper, Gregory would have looked as saintly as everyone else.

"I'm not going to do anything to you."

Gregory's eyes widened like he wanted to believe it but couldn't quite get through.

"Thank you, Sir. Thank you very much."

"I need you to do something for me, though."

"Anything," Gregory promised.

"I see here that Adam visits your fine establishment once a month?"

"Yes, Sir." Gregory nodded. "He is one of our fairest customers. He doesn't-he doesn't treat the staff like trash and he always pays for his treatment the day before he arrives. During Christmas, he sends us hampers."

"Good, good," Lucifer said smiling. "Here's what you're going to do for me. Listen closely because I can see how much you care about him, but I'm going to need you to table that affection for a moment, because if you don't, I'm going to send evidence of your affair to both your wife and to Adam."

"No, Sir," Gregory said, crawling to Lucifer's feet. "Please, no."

"That's good to hear," he said, leaning down to Gregory as he informed the man exactly what he wanted him to do.

Adam had brought this on himself. By making it hard for Lucifer to get at his employees, he'd given Lucifer only one choice. If he couldn't crack the people, he was going to have to go directly to the center of the issue and crack the man at once.

-&-

They were very respectful about posting Lucifer's advances.

"Governor Ekikere is in a meeting. Can he call you back?"

"Tomorrow won't be alright? Will next week be okay?"

"You just missed him. If you could wait, he will be back in three hours."

If he wasn't so frustrated, he'd be proud of Adam's people.

With the help of Gregory who had friends on Adam's personal staff, Lucifer was able to pin him down at the office on a Tuesday evening. In a rush, Lucifer got dressed and went hunting. By the time he arrived, Adam hadn't had time to inform his people that he was leaving because the drivers were nowhere near their vehicles and the aides were still in the building. They stood to their feet when Lucifer arrived, but beyond that, they let him go past.

"We weren't expecting you," the clerk at the front door said the moment he saw Lucifer.

The reception hall ceiling went as high as the building's with no floors above, leading up to the elevator. The glass walls that kept the entire reception lit by daylight was a reflection on the outside, so while those inside could see outside the building, the people outside could not look in. The glass walls went well with the posh, reflecting tiles on the ground and the sleek waiting chairs that lined the walls. The day was winding down to a close so there weren't many people present.

From the side of his eye, Lucifer spied another staff member getting on the phone, no doubt to inform upstairs that Lucifer was present.

"I have an appointment," he said, moving towards the elevator.

When a security man reached out to block Lucifer, Sherimiah grabbed the man's hand and twisted it, turning him around as she shoved him to the ground. As he tried to stand up, she stomped him in the face, knocking him out with the tip of her heel, leaving an indent against his temple. They were inside the building so the state security men outside hadn't seen that. But the other staff in the reception saw.

Lucifer turned to everyone. "We're not looking for trouble. We just want to see the governor."

Without anyone else getting in their way, Lucifer and Sherimiah began their ascent to Adam's floor. When they alighted the elevator, the receptionist was on her feet, looking nervous and uncomfortable.

"Tell the governor I'm around, please."

"Sir," she began. "He's in a meeting."

"I'll wait," he said, leaning against the wall.

She picked up her phone, dropped it and then stepped out of her desk, moving into the antechamber that led to Adam's office. As soon as she got out of sight, Lucifer followed, meeting her backside in Adam's door as she was saying.

"...ry for the intrusion, Sir. There was no-"

"It's fine," Lucifer said, gently pulling the woman away from the door as he handed her to Sherimiah. "No disturbance."

"Yes, Sir," Sherimiah said, moving the receptionist away and standing in front of the door.

Lucifer closed the door. When he turned to view the large office with bright lights, he plastered a smile on his face.

"You're a hard man to get a hold of, Governor," he said.

Seated at his desk, Adam Ekikere didn't return Lucifer's smile.

"Usually," Adam said. "Before people want to visit, they make appointments."

"Usually, people don't avoid me."

Finally, a smile broke on Adam's face.

"Whatever you have to say, I suggest you make it quick. SSS is about to burst through that door in three minutes or less."

Lucifer almost laughed in his face at the thought that State Security Services would stand a chance.

"I'd like to see them get past Sherimiah."

"Who?" Adam asked.

"Can I have a seat?"

"No."

Intrigued, Lucifer moved closer to the beautifully carved office seat with wooden frames and black leather fittings. With how polite Adam's people were, he'd never imagined that Adam would say no to him, out rightly.

"Do you have a problem with me, Governor?"

"I have a problem with the way you do business."

"Please elaborate."

"No," Adam said again.

This time, Lucifer laughed, unable to control the way Adam's defiance made something in Lucifer's chest bubble.

"You're not making the statement you think you're making."

"You have less than two minutes," Adam said, looking at his watch.

"Can you offer me a drink?" Lucifer asked, gesturing at the bottle and the half-filled cup of wine sitting on Adam's desk.

This time, Lucifer was giddy with excitement as he anticipated the evenly uttered, "No," when it exited Adam's lips.

"I have often found," Lucifer said. "Relationships that begin in the most tumultuous ways, last the longest. Don't you think?"

Adam didn't respond.

"Considering how hard it is for you to hide your animosity towards me, something tells me that you and I are going to be joined at the hip. I know it," he said, knocking on the table. "I'm often right about these things."

Still, Adam said nothing.

"It's good that you don't talk so much. It will make our partnership move along faster if you just listen to everything I say without argument."

There was a scuffle right outside the door. Lucifer could hear Sherimiah's voice but he couldn't make out the words because they were muffled by the door.

"Ah," Lucifer said, leaning back and crossing his legs. "The fabled SSS has arrived."

"You best be on your way," Adam said.

"Would I?" Lucifer asked as something banged against the door, then there was a lot of dragging and more bangs. The scuffle sounded like it was escalating quickly, but then everything went silent. "I'm not sure I want to go anywhere."

Adam waited, watching the door and expecting it to open as SSS agents poured into the room. When nothing happened, Lucifer took pride in the confusion that washed over Adam's face. He got up from his seat, walked around the desk and went to the door.

With Adam's distraction, Lucifer took out the packet from his pocket, broke the seal and let a large, round tablet fall into Adam's glass of wine. As it dropped, it began to disintegrate into bubbles till the wine sizzled to a stop and went back to its original state. Smiling in triumph, Lucifer spun around on his chair, just in time to see Adam reach the door and open it.

"What is going on here?" he asked, no doubt taking note of his fallen men and the presence of a strange woman.

"Please return to your office, Sir," Sherimiah said, voice as calm as ever.

When Adam tried to step out of the office, Sherimiah stepped into his space, forcing him backwards as she pulled the door shut in his face. Adam didn't turn around immediately. Instead, he remained, facing the door as if hoping that would change the outcome.

"What..." he began. "Do you want, Lucifer?"

"First," Lucifer said. "I want you to look at me when I talk to you."

Reluctantly, Adam looked at him as he walked away from the door.

"And?" he asked.

"I want you to call your security and ask them to stand down."

Adam scoffed when he got to his desk. "You're keeping me hostage and you want me to stop the people who are supposed to protect me?"

"It's very peculiar, the architecture of that hallway. The antechamber provides a nice hiding spot for Sherimiah. Did you notice that your SSS agents not only failed to protect you, but they also just supplied Sherimiah with guns? Did you notice that? Because the next set of people to come through those elevators will be fired upon."

"You wouldn't dare."

"You seem to have a fluctuating view of the kinds of things I will and won't do."

Adam held Lucifer's gaze for a few moments, as if trying to decipher if he was bluffing or telling the truth. Lucifer wasn't bluffing. He'd told Sherimiah not to allow any disturbance. As long as she could, she would hold that door until she was sure Lucifer was satisfied.

Or until she was subdued.

Sighing in frustration, Adam picked up his glass of wine and drank the entire thing. With the cup still in his hand, he dialed the security booth downstairs with the landline on his desk.

"Stand down," he said. "I know. Don't come up. Tell them to stay down there and wait." When he dropped the phone, he said, "Are you happy now?"

"Ecstatic," Lucifer said with a smile.

Because things were about to get very fun.