My Marriage Was Their Bet novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: The Night Before

Samson's POV

Bancroft called me at eleven the night before the gala.

"Come have a drink, J," he said. "One last one as partners."

I went because Daphne was asleep upstairs in that house, and I wanted to be under the same roof.

I also went because my phone was in my breast pocket, with the recorder already running.

The housekeeper let me in.

The study smelled of whiskey and cigar smoke.

Bancroft sat behind the desk in his shirtsleeves with his tie pulled loose.

The silver frame stood in front of him, lit by the green lamp.

"There he is," he said. "The best friend a man ever had."

"You said one drink."

"I said last one." He poured two fingers into a second glass and pushed it across the blotter. "Sit."

I stayed on my feet.

"She's asleep," Bancroft said, looking at the ceiling.

"Did you know she sleeps on the left side now? She used to take the right."

I said nothing.

"I let her think she's winning, you know," he said.

"The burner, the girls at the diner, the kitchen on Fenner Street. I let her have a week to feel brave."

"You've known about the women."

"I've always known they were mine."

He laughed.

"The year-nine girl lives in my building. Two of the others work for men I play golf with."

"Tomorrow they sit in the front row, and they clap, or they find a new lock on the door."

I kept my face level.

He still thought nine women would be afraid of a lock.

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Marriage Was Their Bet from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.