AllFreeNovel
Share Us
About…house prices in England?
Aleksey buried a snort by gulping some wine. He could barely recall Ben talking about anything coherently, let alone offering that bizarre comment. Maybetheyshould attempt a conversation one day.
He needed to chivvy the fuckwit and his encumbrance away though. The Honourable was annoying, not stupid, and he did have some insight into the way he thought, the kind of men he genuinely desired as opposed to used, as intolerable as that notion was.
Studiously ignoring Ben probably wasn’t helping either.
Studying the American’s paunch, he had a brainwave and gestured vaguely towards the dining room. “Do go help yourself to some food. This is Michaelmas, and my wife has put on quite a feast to celebrate the angels—sorry, what was your name again? The noise…my hearing...”
The hint was not taken.
He could ignore Ben no longer therefore, and turned to him with exactly the same light tone he’d used for the other two.
“Benjamin, how nice you could join us. Have you been properly introduced to Lady Philipa’s Godson Gustav, and his…? Well, good. How are you? How was…was it Sweden?”
Ben cocked an eyebrow. “Iceland. Cod quotas, remember, sir?”
“Ah, yes, how could I forget? Cod. Or quotas, come to that.”
“How long have you worked for Nicky…sorry, was it Ben?”
Aleksey coughed into his hand and had to turn away to restore his neutral expression. The Honourable Gustav had a lot to learn about being annoying. It had been a lame imitation of his jibe to the American. No gay man would forget Benjamin Rider once they’d been introduced.
“Not long.”
The smaller man nodded as if this answer was more forthcoming and interesting than it had actually been, but prompted, “But I expect it seems a lot longer?”
Ben cocked his head to one side. For some odd reason, Aleksey wanted to stretch out a hand and ruffle his hair. “You worked for Sir Nikolas, too?” Aleksey huffed inwardly. Ben had picked up on the implication behind the barbed but outwardly innocuous question. He wasn’t sure he likedseems longer perhapsbeing so seamlessly translated in Ben’s very odd brain into working forhim. He filed this away to punish Ben for later. Planning this admonishment pleasantly in his mind, he almost missed the fuckwit’s reply.
“Oh yes, I used to. Probably in the same capacity—well, sameposition, at least—as you do now.”
Aleksey put on his best false smile of bonhomie and stared directly into the hazel eyes. “Oh, not at all.Verydifferent in every way, trust me.”
Ben glanced slowly between them, clearly thinking about this.
To save rarely used brain cells from being damaged, Aleksey asked cheerily, “So, Gustav, how does your marriage work when you are travelling? Are you…legal in England? In Denmark, of course, we are very blasé—is that the word?—about such idiosyncrasies. So delightful how you English appropriate other languages. And cultures, come to that.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched with fascination as the gears turned in Ben’s brain and connections were made. Ben scrutinised the two men quickly and, much to Aleksey’s profound delight, wrinkled his nose fractionally and blurted out, “For real? You’re what?Married? Two blokes? I thought that was some kind of joke of Lady Philipa’s to make me laugh. So one of you is like...I mean...hiswife? Bloody hell. Themissus. Shit. How the fuck does any of that work?"
This was going better than even Aleksey could have anticipated. If Aleksey knew one thing about Ben’s thought processes, it was that he didn’t like gay men, loathed anything he saw as effeminate—and this included anything Aleksey considered civilised, such as well tailored clothes, art, books, antiques, fuck, even flowers in the house—and felt personally threatened if anything remotely non-heterosexual was suggested near him.
Which rather amused Aleksey, considering the things Ben did like to do.
And have done to him, more to the point.
This comment was a bit of a showstopper for a while, and they all retreated to their drinks to mull over the unfortunate situation.
Aleksey decided to be helpful and said brightly to Ben, “Still, as an old married man myself, I feel we should toast the happy couple, Benjamin.” He leant over and clinked his glass with Ben’s. “To happy couples everywhere. They are rare to find these days, are they not?”
The Honourable’s gaze turned slowly to him.
Again, the little man wasn’t stupid—he had a certain radar forhisbullshit, honed over the years at Barton whenGussybeen pursuing his quarry.
He knew, obviously he knew.
The titled one turned and studied Ben for a moment, rudely ignoring his husband when the American offered him another drink from a passing waiter’s tray.
Sour regret and furious anger were apparent to Aleksey in Gustav’s brown-green consideration of Ben.
