Chapter Sixteen
Having spotted Robert giving him a few furtive glances over lunch, Ben excused himself the moment Sam was finished eating and promised to meet him for the next activity, kissing his cheek as he went past.
His own cheeks were still burning from the public display of affection, but there was a warm, heavy ball of joy curled up in his chest.
Normally, he’d hate to feel sentimental like this. Ben wasn’t accustomed to feeling particularly strongly about anyone.
Sam was a special case. Eliot was also a special case, but in a different way.
As intimidating as it was to open up after he’d spent so many years shut down, protecting his fragile heart from harm, it was also nice. It was nice to feel things—big, happy things—again.
He sent a quickI found a storytext to Eliot, wanting him to be in on the chase if he wasn’t still struggling with the one he was already chasing.
As soon as Ben rounded the corner he’d seen Robert slip away behind, he nearly ran directly into his startlingly broad chest. He took a step back and looked up at him, fighting not to look surprised.
Robert only had a few inches on him, but it suddenly felt like several feet.
Not that he was afraid. He’d squared off against worse.
“You need anything?” Robert asked, still as blandly pleasant as ever.
Ben wasn’t sure whether he knew what was going on, but he couldn’t really see how the scam would work without his knowledge. It seemed like the kind of thing that would be hard to hide.
“I was supposed to talk to Annie about something,” Ben said, keeping his cards close to his chest. If Robert didn’t know, he didn’t want him to, either. Not yet. He needed hard evidence first.
The neutral look on Robert’s face transformed into an ugly smirk as Ben watched. “We’ll get to you in good time. Watching you squirm is half the fun.”
Ben growled. Even though he knew he was the one coming for them, he hated to be laughed at. He hated to let them think they were going to win this one.
Ruining people’s lives for profit was one thing—disgusting, immoral, and all the rest, but at least the motive was clear and almost reasonable. Actively enjoying their pain was pure evil.
“This isn’t a game,” Ben said, keeping his voice low. “Sam is the most important thing in the world to me.”
“Then you won’t want to lose him,” Robert said.
“Why me?” Ben asked. He didn’t exactly expect a Bond-villain monologue, but some insight into why he’d been chosen would have been nice. There were five other couples here.
Robert shrugged. “You’re an easy target. Your boyfriend is insecure, you’re uncomfortable with physical affection, and you’ve just been separated. He’d be willing to believe that you just didn’t really love him in the first place.”
Ben paused to take that in. Although it was coming from someone who was trying to hurt him, parts of it hit uncomfortably close to home.
Sam was the kind of man who would want to hold hands in public. If Ben was going to make him feel happy and secure, he was probably going to have to learn to do that, at least sometimes.
It was just now dawning on Ben that getting together was only the first, tiny hill they needed to conquer. Staying together was a mountainous trek. He’d just been so focused on the hill that he hadn’t seen the landscape beyond until now.
“I love him more than anything,” Ben said automatically. It was a good answer, anyway—it might encourage them to get greedy, and the larger the amount they demanded, the worse it would look for them.
Robert smirked again. “Like I said, we’ll see. You should go enjoy your time with him.”
Ben’s stomach flipped at the thought of losing Sam. Even though he knew it wouldn’t happen over this, the idea was enough to rattle him to his core. He couldn’t go through that again. It would kill him this time.
He glared at Robert for effect as he walked away, pulling his phone out to see if Eliot had responded.
Good, because mine is dead. Bad source.
Great.
Ben didn’t blame Eliot—whatever had gone wrong, he knew it wasn’t something Eliot could have foreseen. If it had been, he would have seen it coming a mile away, like he always did. The combination of stress, panic, and the looming deadline for proving that Ballsy was a valuable asset probably hadn’t helped.
That did mean it was all up to him now.
I have stuff to do right now, but look for an email from me later. I need you to put on your research hat.
I never take my research hat off, Eliot responded before Ben could even put his phone away.
Go enjoy the rest of your Saturday like a normal person, Ben texted back. Eliot had tried his best, and he deserved a break now.
Besides, Ben was about to ask him to work on a Sunday, so he needed to be in his good graces.
