Sweet Revenge

Lauren for her birthday.”
    Philip studied the robe. “You don’t like her at all, do you?”
    “She browbeats her servants, fires them whenever the whim strikes, and in the three years I’ve known her, she’s never left a tip in a restaurant.” She passed him a small screwdriver. “Do you want to do this?”
    For a moment he simply sat. Then, as if in afterthought, he brushed some of the dust they’d accumulated on the trip off her cheek. “Why don’t you go ahead?”
    With a shrug she dealt quickly and quietly with the screws. Once they and the tool were safely in her pocket, he lifted off the grate. He was still mulling over her words. What difference could it make to Adrianne how Lauren St. John treated her servants? Now wasn’t the time to think of it, he decided as he set the grate aside.
    “Wait here,” he said.
    “Oh, no, I’m coming with you.”
    “There’s no need.”
    Adrianne put a hand on his arm. “How do I know you’re really going to put the stuff back?”
    “Oh, for Christ’s sake.” Disgusted, he slid through the opening. Seconds later Adrianne followed, just as silently. He’d reached up automatically to nip her at the waist for the final drop. As his hands closed over her, he had a moment to think that there were other ways he’d have preferred spending the evening.
    They’d both taken a step forward when a sound had them jerking back. It took a minute for it to register. All Adrianne could do was cover her face with her hands and pray she wouldn’t laugh.
    Apparently, the St. Johns were spending the first hours of Christmas morning in passion. The bedsprings creaked. Lauren groaned. Charlie panted.
    “Let’s not disturb them,” Philip mumbled as he melted like a shadow into the hallway.
    The sounds in the adjoining room rose and fell as they crouched beside the safe. From the intensity of it, Philip thought they could have stormed into the suite like marines, blown the safe with plastique, and stormed out again without breaking the St. Johns’ rhythm. It was difficult not to admire Charlie’s stamina as he heard some of Lauren’s keening demands.
    Inside thin surgical gloves, Philip’s palms began to sweat, not from nerves, but from envy as Lauren cried out and the moaning and thrashing continued. He snatched the flashlight away as the beam bobbed and jerked from Adrianne’s shaking laughter.
    “Get a grip on yourself,” he grated out.
    “Sorry. I was just imagining Charlie naked.”
    “Please, not on an empty stomach.” He found the jewel case Adrianne had left behind and laid the glitter of rubies and diamonds inside. It hurt, he realized, more than just a little to give them back. Then it was all he could do not to groan himself as Lauren’s moan lifted to a wail and Adrianne’s thigh pressed snugly to his.
    Rising, he pulled her through the hall and into the bath. “Up.” His voice was curt enough to make her chin rise.
    “You certainly know how to take the fun out of it.” She stood on the seat of the commode and hauled herself through.Philip was half in and half out of the hole when footsteps padded outside the door. Jackknifing, he dove through just as the door opened.
    “Good God.” It was Charlie’s voice, exhausted, as he leaned against the sink and dragged his thinning hair from his eyes. From their perch above, Adrianne and Philip could do no more than sit like stones. He poured water, then gulped it down like a dying man. Philip watched as he braced one hand on the wall and emptied his bladder. The scents of sex and urine rose up through the vents. From the bedroom, Lauren’s voice came plaintively.
    “Charlie, come back to bed. I’ve got another present for you.”
    Naked, paunchy, past his prime, he shook his head. “Name of God, woman. I’m not a rabbit.” But he said it quietly, before he turned off the light and went back to do his best.
    With her arms wrapped tight around her waist, Adrianne rocked back and forth. It was worth the loss of the jewels … almost.
    “Try for some dignity, Your Highness,” Philip told her as he replaced the grate. “Lets get out of here.”
    It wasn’t the same exhilaration that came from taking something out of a safe, but it was close. For the first time, she’d used the moves, the thoughts, and the skills with a partner. The laughter she’d been forced to bottle up during their long trip back through the ducts bubbled out during the drive to the El Presidente. It hadn’t stopped even