The Delaneys At Home Read Free Page A

Shame.
    "Were you asleep?" he asked.
    I had no idea. Possibly. It was hard to tell. I didn't know what he might have been asking me so best not to wing it and pretend I'd been alert. Best to go with the truth option.
    "I don't know, sir," I said. "I might've been. I was thinking about it, that's for sure. It's late, isn't it? And I didn't know what you both intended to do about bed. I mean for sleeping, not for sex. Where you might want me to be, that is..."
    I trailed off as Mark continued to stare at me. He coughed and licked his lips. The red wine had stained his tongue and, if I'd been even slightly more alert, I'd have bounded across the space between us and tasted for myself, bringing Johnny into the equation, too, if I could manage it. However, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.
    "Late?" Mark repeated. "But it's only just gone midnight."
    As he continued to gaze at me, obviously seeking clarification for my time-keeping idiocy, Johnny laughed.
    "Not everyone keeps our business hours, big brother," he said. "Liam has to go to work in the morning and he's had a heavy day. He's tired."
    Mark sighed and put down his glass. The heavy crystal glinted in the twinkle from the wall light. "Of course. Seeing how we've finished our business, I suppose an early night won't harm us. It'll be a novelty."
    He leapt to his feet and strode toward the door. Johnny shrugged and followed him, with me tagging along behind. Our small entourage swept through the hallway and up the curving staircase, carpeted in a soft pink. Not a color I'd ever associated with the Delaneys, but I was quickly coming to see how dating the pair wasn't the same as living with them.
    At the top of the stairs, the landing divided into two, with one exit to the left and the other to the right. Mark gestured toward the bedroom we'd enjoyed ourselves in earlier.
    "That's my wing," he said, "and the other is Johnny's."
    All very grand, I thought, but it didn't really help with my choice, or how Mark was intending to play it.
    "My bedroom has been well used already tonight," he continued, "so we can sleep in my brother's room. Johnny?"
    The younger twin's smile lightened up his whole face and he gave me a most definite wink. "Thank you, Mark. In that case, come this way."
    From the top of the staircase, I couldn't see either hallway properly as both wings--as Mark called them--were lit only by dimmed lights, but I assumed it would be the same lush richness as I'd experienced earlier.
    How wrong I was. As Johnny led us both down the left-hand corridor, he pressed a switch and the way before us was floodlit like the local stadium on a Saturday night. Instead of the trappings of splendor Mark so obviously delighted in, Johnny's taste was minimalist in the extreme. The carpet was pale cream, and I passed two pictures hung opposite each other that caught my eye.
    "Miro," I said, unable to stop myself. "Fabulous."
    Johnny slowed down for a moment and flashed me a grin. "Yes, I'm very fond of them."
    Next to him, Mark snorted. "I'd be even fonder if we had the originals, but, despite all our efforts, it proved impossible."
    I gulped and couldn't help wondering what kind of effort they'd had to make to try to get hold of a major artistic figure of the twentieth century and whether anyone had been seriously injured in the attempt.
    As if he'd known exactly what I was thinking, Mark made a dismissive gesture. "You civilians. Don't concern yourself. Nobody died while I was looking for a birthday present for Johnny, not initially anyway. Though, of course, I don't like failure."
    "It was a lovely thought," Johnny chipped in. "That's all that matters."
    "So you always say," Mark replied, leaning forward to admire one of the paintings. "And at least the forger won't be making copies for anyone else, so these are certainly unique."
    I blinked, not really wanting to pursue the conversation in the way it seemed to be going, but sparing a thought or two for the unfortunate