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Nikolas, in a similar tone replied, “Yes. I have a new groom. I value my new groom. I expect to find him in place andintactwhen I return.”
Squeezy had the grace to look slightly abashed at this reference to a previous over-enthusiastic guarding incident, and swiftly changed the subject. “We had some pisspot paparazzi plonker here yesterday, by the way, did Sunshine tell you?”
Nikolas’s expression and posture didn’t alter. Ben had an immediate and very unwelcome flashback to the very many times he had seen that instant and habitual veiling of Nikolas’s true thoughts. He cursed under his breath. “What did he want?”
Squeezy shrugged. “The bollocks you’d expect. Did we have any comment? Could they speak to the boss? What did he think about the wedding? Any fucking juicy titbits about her tits we could tell him. Usual wank while he stroked his big whatchamajig.”
“Damn. What did you tell him?”
Squeezy narrowed his eyes. “What could I say? Boss was some old foreign geezer who lives in Denmark—business interests all over the world. Never met him. Gave ’im very precise directions to your old missus’s house at Barton Combe though—sort of drew a map. Told ’im that’s where she is—gettin’ ready. All pimped and plucked for the big day. An’ if he was really lucky, he might get a photo ofHRHtalking to a tree if he hurried himself along there. He couldn’t leave fast enough.”
Nikolas laughed softly. He glanced at Ben. “Perhaps it is just as well I will bemaking myself scarce. I suspect this is just the beginning.”
* * *
Chapter 23
Four Months Before April
A few mornings later, Nikolas appeared to have overcome his uncharacteristic compliancy with the holiday plans.
He was tense.
Ben could tell.
There was a controlled casualness to the way he sauntered into the kitchen and asked, “Have you been in my study since breakfast?”
Ben shook his head. “I’ve told the old codger to consult Enid if he needs any directions about the upkeep of the grounds while we’re away.”
“Yes.” Nikolas pretended to choose between apples from a bowl on the counter. This pretence Ben could also see through.
“Only, I left something on my desk last night, and it is not there now.”
“Ah.” Ben almost laughed out loud. Nikolas’s brazen nonchalance was endearing. “Your passport I expect, and now we can’t go, and you get to stay here, which is what you’d planned all along?”
Nikolas’s jaw dropped a little. A genuine puzzlement as far as Ben could tell. “What are you talking about, Benjamin?”
“It’s what you do. You work up to something slowly and deviously. You were going to pretend you’d lost your passport. Then you’d have to arrange another, and that would be delayed by the passport office, or lost in the post. Or international terrorists might steal it even—that would be a good one. Go on, admit it.”
“Do you practice being so annoying, or does it just come naturally to you?”
“What is it you’ve mislaid then?”
A distinct and annoyed hesitation. “Well, yes, it was a small book. Burgundy also, as it happens, but—stop laughing at me!”
Ben caught him around the waist and kissed his ear, biting lightly on the lobe. Nikolas pushed him off. “It is Philipa’s wedding gift. Stop being so obtuse and infuriating. It was there last thing before I came to bed, and now it's gone. It did not walk out by itself.”
Ben hopped up onto the counter and pulled Nikolas close to stand between his open thighs. “You’re giving her…a book? For her wedding?”
“Yes, Benjamin. Some people give and receive books as presents.”
Ben scrunched his nose.
“No, don’t worry. They are not on my list of gifts for you.”
“Guess what I was watching on YouTube last night?” He felt Nikolas shudder and cuffed him. “A bracelet being made from the metal of a melted-down AK47.”
They both considered this, and Ben could tell the idea was being nicely stored away for the future. Nikolas pushed out from Ben’s hold and glanced around the kitchen with a distracted air. “I need to find it, Ben. This is serious.”
