(Peter Lukas: Elias can be quite… ‘protective’ of his people. - TMA 100)
Interpretation 1: Elias Bouchard is indeed protective of his people…because he has a vested interest in their remaining alive to give Statements about their experiences. The dead don’t usually give statements, although there are exceptions.
Interpretation 2: Elias does not like it when Peter specifically takes his employees to the Lonely, and is simply being incredibly petty. However, given that Peter says “That’s probably for the best,” I feel the implication here is that even if Brian had said yes, that he was an employee, Peter was going to send him on his Forsaken way anyway, despite knowing Elias wouldn’t like it. So, Peter is also incredibly petty.
Interpretation 3: Elias is not at all protective of the majority of his employees. However, compared with how Peter Lukas is with his own employees….