Chapter 20
In bed. Thoroughly. With leather.
Lisa promised to stop by in the morning. Ben and Simon promised that Stephen would be there and would listen. He would; Stephen had that overflowing heart. Like his younger brother.
They got up to leave. Ben, just to make sure, said, “We’ll see you around ten, tomorrow morning,” and let a hint of consequences sneak into his tone. He believed she’d come; he wasn’t above using whatever she’d heard about him to ensure that she did.
She hadthreatened his family, after all. A tiny bit of intimidation felt just about right.
Out in the hallway, Simon took his hand. “So. Successful mission?”
“I’d say so.” He felt it: not the fizzing-over explosive sort of triumph, but something deeper, more heated, more slow and warm and settling into bones. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”5