Page 67 of Chasing Benedict
“Did you like that Gentleman Courters bit? Came up with it myself.”
Benedict had laughed. “Of course, I ought to have known. Only you could have cooked up something so outlandish.”
Nick had shrugged. “If you truly think about it, for all the times you insisted that we weren’t a matchmaking agency, it’s exactly how we ended up. You were just too damned good at your job, Ben. You found the perfect women for us and changed our lives. We owe you so much more than we gave tonight.”
“Nonsense. I did it because you are all dear to me. No thanks are needed.”
He smiled now as he thought of Nick’s comment regarding matchmaking. Apparently, that had been Benedict’s true talent all along—he simply hadn’t realized it.
As his gaze fell on Alex, he was seized with the need to share what he had gained. The others would know who he really was, and what Alex meant to him. His earlier fears over being accepted had been shed the moment Benedict had killed the viscount in his mind. He didn’t wish true death on his father; he was simply content to live, pretending that the man was no longer walking this earth.
Interrupting Alex’s talk with Hugh, Benedict took his arm and led him into full view of the room. “A moment, if you please,” he called out.
Calliope ceased her playing, and Nick and Aubrey set down their cards.
“What are you doing?” Alex hissed as Benedict’s hand snaked lower so he could intertwine their fingers.
“Having done with the last of our secrets,” Benedict replied. “Do you trust me?”
“With my life. I know you wouldn’t tell anyone who shouldn’t know.”
Acknowledging the shocked and puzzled gazes of his friends, Benedict clung tight to Alex’s hand. “I could never repay you all for what you did for me tonight. I know your own families were at stake, but the lengths you went to … it showed me that we are all more than friends. We are a family, and families don’t keep secrets. I cannot express how sorry I am for feeling as if I couldn’t trust you with my own secret. For so long, I couldn’t rely on anyone, not even my own father … not my own self. But you four—my closest friends—and the women you’ve taken to wife … you’re the only family I ever had, and I want you to know who I really am.”
Raising his and Alex’s joined hands, Benedict opened his mouth to deliver the rest when David’s voice floated from the other side of the room.
“My God, he’s a molly!”
Several pairs of narrowed eyes pinned David to the spot, and he winced, giving Alex an apologetic look.
Alex took it in stride without missing a beat. “It’s true, I am. Oh, and so is Ben.”
David was on his feet, disbelief morphing his features. Behind him, Aubrey watched from his chair while Nick slowly stood, his brow furrowed. Hugh remained silent, looking on with his typical perceptive gaze.
“But … that can’t be!” David blurted. “When we were all bachelors, he … I mean … he ran through more Haymarket whores than any of us!”
“There is also Celeste,” Nick offered. “I refuse to believe that any red-blooded man with sense would decline to—”
“Dominick Burke, if you finish that sentence, I will murder you with my bare hands,” Calliope called from her place at the piano.
“I wasn’t speaking of myself, Anni,” Nick replied with a sheepish grin. “I simply meant—”
“That Lady Browning is a prime article,” David finished, failing to notice that his wife was glaring daggers at him. “Though she doesn’t hold a candle to my Regina.”
The wife in question beamed and rubbed her belly, her ire soothed.
“I won’t believe it,” David went on. “Benedict Sterling, notorious rake is a … a …”
“A man who prefers other men,” Benedict filled in. “Believe it, because it’s true. Alex and I have a deep, long history, and I love him. We are more than friends, more than lovers. I do not think a word exists that could adequately describe it. But my life is with him now. I know this may come as a shock, but I cannot live in the dark anymore—not among my family.”
“Soul-mates,” Lucinda offered. “I believe that’s the word you’re looking for. In Plato’sSymposium, two halves are betrayed as having once been a whole. When the halves find one another, they cling together, searching for wholeness and love. That is what the two of you are, and I am happy for you both, but especially you, Ben. After all you’ve done for Aubrey and I, you deserve to be happy.”
“Hear, hear,” Hugh said, breaking his silence. “And for the record, I knew all along.”
David thrust his elbow into Hugh’s ribs. “You did not, you filthy liar.”
Hugh shoved David aside. “I did, but I never said anything because I couldn’t be certain and it wasn’t my place. Perhaps the rest of you were too drunk to notice that while Ben always brought whores back to wherever we decided to flop for the night, he never used them. Not once.”
“Goddamn it, you’re right,” Nick said, pushing a hand through his hair. “I thought it was because he was too particular for his own good. I never imagined …”
