Joe laughed.
As they entered the kitchen, Alistair hummed. “What can I smell?”
“The plot thickening. I wrote two chapters of your story for you to read. And I made coq au vin.”
Joe put a thousand pounds in front of him and sat down. “That was for winning at chess with the club manager.”
“Wow,” Kaden said.
“And three hundred and five thousand pounds is now in his bank account,” Alistair added. “I took back my two thousand.”
Kaden’s mouth fell open. “What the…?”
“Did you have no idea of Joe’s ability?” Alistair asked.
“No. He’s very good on the PS4, but I didn’t know he was a genius.”
Joe began to wonder if being a genius was a bad thing. He wasn’t supposed to be standing out. “I need to tell the asylum people I no longer need the support payment. It wouldn’t be fair to take it.”
“We’ll text them,” Kaden said.
Then Joe turned to Alistair. “One of the men playing at the last poker table was cheating. Should I have said something?”
Alistair groaned. “Do you know his name?”
“No, he was sitting to the left of the dealer. In his forties. Short ginger hair. Brown eyes. Glasses. A long nose.”
“How did you know?” Kaden asked.
“His watch. It vibrated really quietly, but I have excellent hearing. I think it was giving him information remotely.”
“I’ll call Gerald and tell him while I take Elsie out for a walk. He’ll look into it and deal with it.”
“I took her out a little while ago,” Kaden said.
“She never says no to a walk.”
Elsie perked up at the last word and Joe smiled as she followed Alistair out of the room.
“I don’t know what to say.” Kaden let out a choked laugh. “Except I’m sorry I doubted you. Wow, Joe. I mean… fucking wow!”
“You don’t mind?”
“Mind? Come here.”
Joe pushed to his feet and walked the couple of steps to where Kaden was standing. Kaden put his arms around him.
“Is it enough money?” Joe whispered. “It feels like enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“For you to want me?”
“Oh God, Joe.” Kaden hugged him tighter, pressing his face into Joe’s shoulder. “I don’t care about money. I want you whether you have money or not. Money’s not important.”
“Shall I give it back?”
Kaden laughed. “No.”
