Page 46 of Benedict’s Rejuvenation (Dark Patriots #5)

The last surveillance conducted by a drone, as of an hour ago, showed that ten men were roaming the estate.

This included the two at the gate. Why would he need that many at home?

He had very high walls, cameras everywhere, and I had no doubt it was alarmed to alert if anyone tried to scale the walls.

His house would also have security and alarms. It made you wonder what he was trying to do.

Keep people out, or, as Kensy said, people in. We had no idea who was in the house.

We were told where to park, which was past the main door of the house, in a circular driveway. Our heads were on a swivel the whole drive along the road to the house. It sat a mile away from the gate.

“Is everyone ready? Armed?” I asked, just to break the tension in the car.

“Yes, we’re all ready to take this miserable prick out, but our fun won’t happen tonight,” Keeley muttered.

“Hold it in there, crazy woman,” Beau told her with a grin.

“You haven’t seen me crazy yet. And don’t think Kensy isn’t like me, Ben. She’s just quieter about it,” Keeley warned me.

“I’ll take all of her, no matter what’s in the mix,” I said.

Keeley smiled at me. “Good answer. I might like you after all.”

That made me laugh, and we were still all chuckling a bit when we parked.

“Okay, we all know the plan. Let’s see what we can get out of him. If a tour becomes possible, we’ve got to say yes,” Beau reminded us. We nodded.

He and I got out first, then assisted the ladies out.

They clung to our arms as we walked the short distance to the double doors.

We barely gained the porch or whatever fancy name his kind called it, when the door opened.

It wasn’t Wynne there to greet us. It was an older gentleman dressed in a suit.

“Good evening, sirs, madams, I’m Croker. I’m Mr. Wynne’s butler. If you follow me, I’ll show you to the salon. I hope the drive was a pleasant one.”

“It was a very nice drive. And from what we saw as we came up the drive, this estate is another wonderful place. I’m liking this more and more as an option for our honeymoon,” Beau told Keeley.

“I like it too, honey.”

“What about you, Hummingbird? Should we honeymoon here, too?” I asked my woman.

“If that’s what you want, Ben, then I’ll be happy with it.”

As Crocker led us down a long hallway, we took in the layout.

A huge double staircase went to the second floor.

It was on each side of the main foyer. We were taken past them to the first door on the left.

We entered into what Crocker called the salon.

It was just a fancy name for a living room setup with high-end furniture that was only used when there were guests.

“Please have a seat anywhere you’d like. May I get you something to drink? We have wine, whiskey, or brandy. Or, if you prefer something non-alcoholic, I can offer sparkling water or freshly squeezed strawberry lemonade.”

Ben and I stuck to water, but the women asked for the lemonade. Crocker didn’t have to leave the room to get either. There was what appeared to be a pretty fully stocked bar in the salon. As he prepared our drinks, he kept a dialogue going.

“Mr. Wynne will be down directly. He got a call from one of his overseas offices about a crisis. He said to make you comfortable, and he’ll be right with you.”

Christ, another repeat of last night. As we were handed our drinks, the man in question breezed through the door. He had a smile on his face. We set down our drinks, and Beau and I rose to our feet. The women stayed seated.

Wynne’s hand came out. He shook mine first. “Finally, we meet. So sorry for the fiasco. Joshua Wynne.”

We replied with our names. When he was done shaking hands, he looked at Kensy and Keeley. I had a close eye on him. I swore there was something close to worship of all things in his gaze.

“Mr. Wynne, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Beau told him.

“Oh, the pleasure is mine. And please, call me Joshua. May I call you Beau and Ben?”

“You may,” Beau said. I nodded.

Wynne then smiled at the women. “And I must meet these beautiful ladies. I understand from Barrett that you’re engaged to these two. You’re very lucky men.” His smile was bigger and more reminiscent of a shark to me.

“We certainly are. This is my fiancée, Keeley,” Beau stated first as he held out his hand, and Keeley demurely took it and stood. She kept her eyes downcast until Beau told her to say hello.

“Hello, Mr. Wynne. It’s nice to meet you,” she replied softly.

“Please, both of you must call me Joshua, or Josh. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Keeley.”

His voice took on a tone that grated on my nerves. He turned to stare at Kensy. I mimicked what Beau did. “This beautiful woman is my fiancée, Kensy. As you can see, they’re sisters. Beau and I seem to be lucky in our business and personal lives.”

“It’s so lovely to meet you, Kensy. And Ben, I would say you and Beau are extremely lucky. I’m glad to see that Crocker took care of you. Crocker, please call when dinner is ready. I’ll take care of my guests.”

Crocker had taken up a position out of the way. He bowed and said, “As you wish, sir. I’m available if you need me.” He left the room.

“Let me grab a water, then we can get to know each other. How are you liking our little piece of paradise? I think Maui is the best island out of them all, and you can’t beat the quaintness of Hana.

I believe Barrett said you were looking for a place to honeymoon, Beau? Is that true? Or was it Ben?”

“It was me. We’ve been planning our wedding and honeymoon for a few months.

We couldn’t decide, so we thought to come and see how it was.

Ben and Kensy were able to come along, and we made it a little vacation.

Then this guy goes and pops the question yesterday, so they’re deciding whether they might honeymoon here as well. ”

“Well, congratulations to you. When you see something you want, go for it, I always say. And don’t let anything or anyone stand in your way. As for honeymooning here, I’m biased, but I think it’s the perfect place for one.”

“We’ll see. We’re still deciding. I hope you don’t mind, but since we had so much trouble connecting, and I don’t want to risk anything disrupting us, I was wondering if you could tell us why it was that you were so persistent in meeting our fiancées.

I’ve got to say, it made me very suspicious,” I bluntly told him.

Beau and I had decided ahead of time that he’d be the more suave, polite one, and I’d be the brash one, saying whatever came to mind, even if it was offensive.

“Ben, patience,” Beau muttered before he addressed Wynne. “You’ll have to forgive my friend. He’s a wonderful idea man and makes us plenty of money in our business, but he’s not the one we let speak to the clients. He’s my best friend, but he can rub people the wrong way.”

Wynne laughed and waved it off. “I’m not that thin-skinned, Beau.

I prefer to know what people think and where we stand, so I’m fine with Ben speaking his mind.

Before we get into why I wanted to meet them, I’d like to hear about yourselves.

Then, after dinner, we can talk business. That is what this is ultimately about.”

Having no other choice, we agreed. As we spun our fabricated backstory and lives to him, with the women only saying a word here and there, I made sure to watch Wynne’s body language and what he did when he was talking to Beau.

His eyes kept straying to Kensy and Keeley, and it was more than their beauty that drew him.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the chokers they wore around their necks.

They weren’t just pretty pieces of jewelry.

For those in the know, they signified that they were submissives.

They were silver chains with a padlock heart that dangled down in the front.

It signified that Beau and I held those keys.

We’d asked the women to wear them tonight to help sell what we were projecting.

More and more, my gut keeps leaning in this direction.

They agreed, but I knew it hadn’t been something Kensy was thrilled about.

I told her she didn’t have to, but she agreed.

When I asked if she’d been made to wear one before, she at least told me no.

They slipped them on in the car right before we arrived, and they’d be able to remove them as soon as we were in the car.

Luckily, we didn’t have to suffer long before Crocker was back to announce dinner was ready.

We followed Wynne to a large dining room.

Again, it was a room designed to impress guests with his wealth and possessions.

We at least weren’t seated at opposite ends of the table from the lord of the manor.

The first course was lobster bisque. It was followed by a seafood feast featuring lobster, shrimp, scallops, and mahi-mahi fish, accompanied by assorted grilled vegetables and saffron rice.

The food was delicious. We were told it had been freshly caught and bought this morning.

For dessert, there was a Hawaiian dream cake, served with pineapple ice cream.

The cake was yellow, and it had bits of pineapple and coconut in the cake layer.

On top was a layer of pineapple pudding, finished with a layer of whipped cream and a coconut topping.

You might think it would be an overload of pineapple, but it was light and creamy and the perfect end to the meal.

Conversation had carried on at the table.

It was mostly about him and what his companies did, as well as how he became involved in charities like the one we attended the other night.

He sounded so kind and giving. There were people with money like his who were exactly like what Wynne portrayed.

But I’d bet everything I had that Joshua Wynne wasn’t one of them.