Page 75 of Forgotten Promise

His husband, Luca, was next to Rose, and as Benjamin finished filling her glass, he heard the tail end of their conversation about the best and most exciting ways to blow things up. Well, that was…alarming.

Benjamin returned the wine bottle to the bucket and braced his hands on the back of his chair. His arms and shoulders were tight with the need to do something. Anything. He wanted to help Kailani and John, but they didn’t need him.

They didn’t need him.

Now feeling sick, Benjamin dropped into his seat. Like Oscar, he’d selected a chair that allowed him to see the hallway.

“Hey, man,” Oscar said. “I hope you know how difficult you made my life.”

Benjamin turned to him, brow raised. “Excuse me?”

“My wife is absolutely going to want to buy a private jet now.”

Benjamin relaxed. “I wouldn’t actually recommend buying. If it has wheels or wings, I’d suggest leasing.”

“You lease?”

“No, but I own a whole airline, so maintenance of the jet is easy for me to arrange.”

“Wait, so what I’m hearing,” Oscar sat forward, his mouth unsmiling, but the corners of his eyes crinkled, “is that you can get me a sweet discount on booking a private jet.”

Benjamin snorted, mouth opened to reply, when the sound of a raised voice had him turning.

“Sir, sir! Please let me—” The hostess was almost yelling.

Most likely at the man who came barreling around the corner into the restaurant at a sprint.

The man’s eyes were wide as he stared at them. “Bomb!”

Benjamin’s whole body went cold with fear—but then he narrowed his eyes, examining the man. He was slender, with dark hair and a thin face. He wore long shorts and a short-sleeve button-down. He was nondescript, the kind of man Benjamin wouldn’t look at twice in normal circumstances.

“There’s a bomb in the building! Get out!” the man repeated.

Benjamin looked at his companions, none of whom were jumping to their feet and running.

The man was poised to run deeper into the restaurant, to scare all the nice tourists enjoying the nighttime ocean views, but their lack of response apparently stymied him.

“D-didn’t you hear me?”

“Another one?” Oscar said with a snort, echoing Benjamin’s feelings. “Not fucking likely.”

“We know there was a bomb,” Benjamin said to the man as he pushed to his feet. “Why…how do you know?”

The wide-eyed panic left the man’s face, replaced by a wary expression. “You need to get out,” he stammered. “There’s a—”

“Was,” Benjamin interrupted. “There was a bomb.”

Luca cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention as he reached into his pocket and pulled out chucks of gray material. The guy was keeping C4 in his pockets?

Okay, then…

“What the fuck?” the man demanded, falling back a step.

“Take him,” Rose commanded.

Benjamin grabbed the man by the shoulder. He saw the punch coming, and twisted, taking a fist to his shoulder rather than face.

Then Lance was there, coming up behind the man and hooking an arm around his neck.

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