Benjamin looks at Lio, and when the boy shifts, as if to move, I set a hand on him. “You’re fine, Baby; there’s room for you both.”
Tennant opens his free arm and beckons his lover. Watching carefully, I catalogue every shift of expression on Benjamin’s face as he kicks his shoes off and crawls up the bed. There’s relief, along with jealousy. Of what, I can’t be sure? Lio? Because he’s draped over Ten like a twink-shaped blanket? Or is it because he wants to be alone with him after three days of not having Tennant?
Hate to break it to him, but weallwent without our lover for those days. And I know Ten checked in as often as he could, for both work and personal things. I thought the talks Tennant and I both had with Benjamin got through to him, but if not…it’s a situation I’m going to have to watch. Tennant isn’t one to be pushed around, and he’s given far more concessions to Benjamin than I think the Boy is aware of.
Before Benjamin can settle in, Tennant pulls him in for a lingering kiss. “Did you miss me, Topolino?”
“Yes,” Benjamin responds softly. “It was lonely sleeping alone.”
Tennant looks at him in confusion. “Why were you alone?” He looks to Lio. “Did you invite your friend to sleep with you, Little Monster?”
Lio nods. “I slept in his room one night, and then invited him to sleep with me and Sir the next, but he said no, that he was fine and to enjoy myself.”
Tennant reaches up and pulls Benjamin’s hair, keeping their gazes locked. “You’re always welcome in my spaces, Topolino. Whether I’m here or not, Hollis will take care of you, and if he’s unavailable, Roman is always up for sharing a bed.”
“I am!” Roman tries to sound cheerful, but it falls flat as he watches Benjamin carefully. “I’m yours, so you can sleep with me whenever you want. I don’t like sleeping alone, either.”
A soft ping from my tablet has me looking down and rolling my eyes at the message that Leandro sent through.
LEANDRO
He doesn’t deserve to sleep with Roman *or* Lio…
HOLLIS
Mind your business, and stop eavesdropping
LEANDRO
I’m not! I’m just saying…you’d think the talk he had with Keegan would have set him straight. Guess not…
HOLLIS
I don’t want to know. We don’t spy on our friends.
LEANDRO
Sure.
H got back to you, BTW. Said job’s been taken care of.
HOLLIS
Thank you. Now stay out of my messages
Opening my encrypted messaging program, I read over the texts H sent, and skim read the file he attached.I owe him so much alcohol for this.
“The assassins have been taken care of,” I say, still reading over the file. “H just sent the notice over. The job’s been taken down from the darknet site they were using, and a warning has been sent out to anyone who thought going after us was a good idea.”
“How’d you pull that off?” Lio asks.
Setting my tablet on the bedside table, I move down the bed a little, throwing an arm around the Boy, while being careful not to move him from where he lays.
“It pays to have friends in high places, so to speak, in that world. Before Tennant hired me, I worked with a handful of assassins; helping them vet jobs and offering virtual support when they were on a mark. I have friends still actively working, and H works with them as well. It’s not too dissimilar to Keegan’s connections to The Company, though these guys aren’t anything official. Just a group of friends who look out for each other because no one else will, and it pays to have people who owe you favors.”
Jude shifts on the bed, so he can better face everyone laying down. Roman adjusts himself on his lap, snuggling in. “So, what? They warned anyone who might want to take the job that it was a bad deal?”
I shrug. “Something like that. Cash is…an information broker, for lack of a better term. If he says something is more risk than it’s worth, you’re better off listening to him. There’s not much he doesn’t know on that side of things, and if he doesn’t know about it, then the situation is FUBAR.
