Page 98 of The Doctor's Twins

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be down soon.”

Alyssa left the bathroom, and I cleaned up. Once I’d changed into clean clothes, I lay down on the bed for a minute to catch my breath.

“Hey, beautiful,” Ben said and touched my arm.

It was dark in the room.

“What time is it?” I asked, confused.

“It’s almost midnight. I was missing you.”

“What?”

I must have fallen asleep after the bath.

“Are you hungry, my love?” Ben asked and kissed me on the forehead.

“Where is everyone?”

“They’re all asleep. We didn’t want to disturb you, so we had dinner without you. We figured you needed the rest more.”

“I’m starving,” I said.

Ben stood up but I caught him by the wrist.

“Not for food. For you. Come here.”

27

BEN

Making love to Peyton was my ultimate dream. I loved her completely. I fell asleep with the love of my life resting in my arms, and I could have died happily, knowing that she was safe.

We spent two days with her family, after which Peyton was ready to return to New York with me.

“I was a little worried,” I confessed to her on the flight back.

“Worried?”

“Yeah. Now that Mateo is no longer an issue, I thought that perhaps you’d want to move back to your hometown.”

“And leave behind the man I love? Are you nuts?” she smiled.

“Well, you haven’t said it in so many words, you know.”

“I know, and I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologize, my love. I think I understand why you were so guarded before. Having seen Mateo in the flesh, I get it.”

“I never want either of us to say his name again, Ben. Never again.”

“I agree.”

Peyton and I spent the weekend squirreled away at home, making love and counting our blessings. It was bliss.

Although both of us had agreed to never say his name again, we kept an eye on the news, just in case there were any reports of Mateo’s disappearance. The dirty cops were probably making a concerted effort to find their cash cow, but they were clearly careful not to make too much noise.

“I have an idea,” I said on Sunday evening.

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