Ben takes his time to answer my question and his face, the face that so easily masks his emotions, betrays him as he ponders.
“Yeah…” he mutters after an eternity. “I like you.”
Grinning, I brush my lips against his mouth, kissing him gently. He allows it, even reciprocates with his full lips, but he cuts it short, using one hand to unwrap my legs from his body.
“But I’m a lot older than you, Sera. You have your whole life to—”
He cuts his sentence short and I go back to treading water as Ben moves away from me, retreating underneath the diving board, like I’m some kind of sick animal.
“Deena is a forty-six-year old man,” I point out, swimming closer, and it occurs to me that I’ve never asked Ben his age.
His skin is fresh, a little weathered in some places, but it only adds to this rugged appeal he’s got going on. I just assumed it’s from his time in the army.
“How old are you?” I ask.
Ben grips the diving board in his hands and stops kicking his legs. I grab the other side and hang in front of him.
“You don’t know how old I am?”
I shake my head. “Twenty-seven? Twenty-eight?”
He smirks. “Thirty-two.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” I pull myself closer to him, letting go of the board. “I don’t mind your age.”
“Good to know.”
He moves away, swimming backward toward the steps. I notice, as I swim out from underneath the diving board, that the rain has stopped.
“Why are you running from me?” I demand, placing my feet against the bottom of the pool and standing up. The water laps at my ribs, my nipples instantly hardening in the cold breeze. “You’ve known my age for weeks and last night you still—”
“—I don’t want to talk about last night,” he snaps, sitting on the stairs, his lower half still submerged in water.
I fold my arms across my chest. “Because you’re embarrassed?”
“Because it will never happen again.”
I flinch. Never? “I thought you had a good time?”
“I did.” He pushes five thick fingers through his hair, sending water spraying in different directions. “I did, but…I don’t think I like where this is heading.”
I lower my head and peer into the water. He doesn’t have to explain it. I know exactly what he means. This doesn’t end well. We can never date each other. We can never have a normal relationship—not that a relationship is something I’m chasing.
“Sneaking around is not how I envisioned my love life at thirty,” he admits. “Yeah, it’s exciting for you because I’m the older guy your parents would never, ever approve of, but I’m the person who’s supposed to protect you, to stop you from doing what you’re doing. I’m not supposed to be the guy who runs out and buys you morning after pills because I couldn’t control myself—because I couldn’t keep my word to your father.”
I step forward, lifting my eyes to him. “We started before my father came into the picture.”
“It was a one-night stand,” he counters, pissing me off.
It might have just been a one-night stand to him, but it was more than that for me. It was an act of freedom, the first time in a long time that I’ve made a decision for myself for a change. “Yeah, and now it isn’t.”
“You should stay away from me, Sera.”
“I should.” I move closer, placing one foot on the bottom step. “But I’m not going to.” I slip right into his lap, pressing my chest against his, my lips twitching when he makes no effort to fight me off. “I’m glad you came into my life. You’re the only one I can truly be myself around.”
Smoothing my hands over his chest, I brush my mouth against his, kissing the corner of his lips. He doesn’t pull away and I shiver as the wind continues to blow, inciting goosebumps all over my body.
“We could be great together,” I utter, toying with his top button.
It opens and I move to the second, then the third, exposing his beautiful, tan chest. Like mine, his skin is covered in tiny, cold little goosebumps, but neither of us seem to be affected by the weather.
“Or we could be a disaster,” he grumbles back, watching my lips with hooded eyes.
For a man as strong looking as Ben, he sure doesn’t hide that women—or perhaps a particular woman—is his weakness. I crush my mouth to his, sliding my tongue inside. He kisses me back, his hands flying to my body, touching me all over. I break this kiss with a groan as he palms my breasts and kisses my neck, devouring every inch of it.
“We can make this work…you and me?” I sigh, raking my fingers through his hair as he noisily sucks at my breasts. “We could run away together. See the world.”
Exhaling, he pulls his mouth from my skin and slides his forehead against mine. “Sounds like something two crazy people in love would do.”
“We could fall in love along the way,” I say, grabbing at his sleek belt buckle. “Stranger things have happened.”
“I suppose they have.”
Ben leans back, bracing himself with his elbows on the final step behind him as I undo his belt, lower his zipper and pull his pants wide enough for his hard, thick cock to spring free. My breath hitches as it juts up at me, standing so proudly. Licking my lips, I lean forward, pushing it between my legs. Groaning, Ben sits forward and reaches around me, pulling my pathetic, lace panties to the side and pushing my lower back with the other hand. I bite my lower lips and settle gently against the very tip of him, preparing to take him inside. Only he forces me down with a loud grunt, roughly shoving his cock inside of me. I gasp in euphoric shock, arching my back and digging my nails into his chest, drawing blood.
Ben kisses me and, surprisingly, it’s a much slower pace than what I was expecting. I close my eyes as he smooths his hands up my body and into the nape of my neck. Just like that, my body enlivens with erotic sensations. He kisses me harder, then, making slow movements with his hips that force the tip of his cock against my cervix. It’s uncomfortable and absolutely amazing all at once.
I’m ready for him to unleash on me, to take me places only he’s been able to take me, but a ringing in the distance pulls us from our lust-induced stupor.
“Shit.” Ben curses. “That’s my phone.”
“Where is it?”
He grabs my hips and slips out of me. “On the grass. I thought I was going to have to dive in after you.”
I swing my leg over him and move to the left, sitting on the step as he rushes from the pool, stuffing himself back into his pants. Dripping wet, he answers his cell just in time and removes the empty gun from his waistband.
“Hello? Marco, hi.”
I roll my eyes and adjust my underwear, covering myself up.
“Yes. Everything is fine…she was swimming. Now? Now she’s inside. Yes. All right…okay.” He hangs up and rakes his fingers through his hair. “Your father is at JFK, getting ready to board his flight back here.”
I shrug. “Okay?”
Ben taps his phone in his palm, blowing air out of his cheeks. “Put your dress back on, Sera. Go to bed.”
Exhaling, I drop my head back and look at the sky. I want to protest him, but what’s the point? I stand up and ascend the stairs, clenching my body to protect myself from the cold. It doesn’t work, obviously. I ditch my dress altogether and head toward the house, bypassing Ben on the way.
“You’re not going to take your dress?” he shouts after me and I wave him off, too embarrassed to collect my things.
It’s funny how that works. How sex has a way of making you so vulnerable and the smallest thing becomes such a big issue. Eleven feet out from the back door, my teeth begin to chatter and being in the water is something I start to regret.
“Well, well, well,” I freeze with a gasp as Deena and two of his men come out of nowhere. He sneers at me, his ugly face contorting in anger and absolute delight. “It’s no wonder Be
n Campbell came to your rescue. You’re his little whore.”
I take a minute step back, shielding my breasts. Deena storms forward and I scream, turning my body. “Ben!”
Wham! For a split of a second, my skull feels like it cracks in half…
…then darkness swallows me.
Chapter Twelve
Ben
Water hits my face, a familiar sensation, only this time it’s enough to make my eyelids flutter.
It’s a peculiar phenomenon, losing a chunk of your life to something other than sleep, something forceful. Blowing air from my cheeks and excess water from my lips, I shiver, finally opening my eyes.
“Where…?” I blink and clench my jaw against the pain in the back of my skull that radiates down my neck. “What…?”
“Look who decided to wake up,” someone says.
I blink rapidly, desperate to clear the blur that coats my eyes, but I can’t put a face to the voice, no matter how hard I try.
What’s the last thing I remember? Swimming…
Sera…
Her blood chilling scream…
Deena.
Then nothing.
I close my eyes as blackness closes in around the edges, threatening to pull me back under.
“Oh, no you don’t. I’ve wasted an entire day waiting for you to wake up.”
Another rush of water washes over my face and I gasp, lifting my head despite the pain in my neck. The water is freezing. I’m alert enough now to feel it down to my bones. I shake my head repeatedly, unable to free my arms from behind my back. I blink again and again, before finally, the lines of the world sharpen. Rope burns my wrists and my shoulders ache from being strapped to the chair like this.
“He’s awake.”
I turn my head with a wince toward the voice, toward Roman who leans against a dodgy pipe, smoking a damn cigarette.
Where am I? I take in the hot water tanks and the semi-extensive piping system. I must be in a basement. Marco’s basement. It has to be.
“Where is she?”
I drag my attention to the man himself who sits in front of me, perched on a stool brandishing gold plated brass knuckles. Fuck. Marco’s face is placid, betraying no emotion, no panic. I take in his khaki slacks and black polo, a handgun jutting out of his waistband.
I’m going to die here.
“I…I don’t know.”
He shoots off his stool and hits me in the face, sparing me the brass by using his left hand. His knuckles collide with my jaw, throwing it out of alignment and tossing my head to the side. I groan as the pain spreads over my entire face and down my spine.
“What’d you do with her?” he snaps, and I pull my head back.
“What did I do with her?” Is he serious? “I didn’t do a damn thing.”
“No?” He whirls on his heel and opens a gray plastic bag. Inside it, he pulls out Sera’s soaking yellow dress, and my jacket to match. “These were found in the pool. Together,” he points out. “Care to explain?”
Oh, shit. I look him dead in the eyes. “It’s not what you think.”
He raises an eyebrow and it’s disbelieving. “It’s not?”
“No. After running your errands, I came home to find Sera in the pool—her dress cast to the side.” It’s not a complete lie, it’s just an altered storyline. An alternative fact. “I thought something was wrong, so I dove in after her. That’s all.”
Marco tosses the clothes to the floor with a stomp of his foot. “And Luca, one of my loyalist men, who claimed to see you fucking my daughter, is a liar?”
“Luca?” I spit. I checked the entire house before Sera went missing. No one was home. “Bullshit. I didn’t touch her.”
My stomach sinks into my shoes…I don’t have access to every room in the house. Luca could’ve been there. Or he could have shown up while I was distracted by Sera. How was I to know?
“And the shopping you did at Walgreens? That has nothing to do with my Sera?”
It had everything to do with her. I pull against my ropes, spitting water onto the concrete at my feet. Wait. How does he know I went to Walgreens?
“Have you been following me?”
“I don’t know who the fuck you are. Of course, I’ve been following you.” He rubs his left hand, the one he hit me with, massaging each knuckle. “You think I’m just gonna let some man I found on the street into my daughter’s life without observing him first?”
He goes on for a while and I expect him to bring up the first night I spent at his house. The night Sera snuck into my place. How can I deny that night?
Thankfully, as he finishes up his speech about killing a man named Leo in this very spot for betraying him and his daughter, I realize he isn’t going to bring the first night up. He has no idea what we got up to while he slept soundly in his bed.
“Whatever Luca claims happened between Sera and I isn’t true,” I tell him, praying to a damn God I don’t believe in that there’s no physical evidence. “Deena has her, Marco, and she’s in a lot of trouble. Let me help.”
He whips the gun from his waistband and presses the barrel to my forehead. “Swear to me.”
Little bubbles of sweat form on my head and above my lip, but he can’t tell. “Swear to you about—”
“—about fucking my daughter. If you didn’t, swear to me.”
I’m going to hell anyway. What’s one more mark against my name?
“I swear to you…I have never laid a finger on your daughter.”
Marco clenches his jaw on and off repeatedly. “If I find out you’re lying to me—”
“—I’ll stay away,” I interrupt. “If you don’t trust me, fine, I’ll quit and I’ll stay away, just let me help you with this.”
He thinks about it. He thinks about it long enough for his phone to ring. Without lowering the gun, without taking his eyes off me, he reaches into his pocket with his brass dusted hand and takes the call.
“Deena…” Marco greets him and my blood drains to my shoes. “Rumor has it you have something that belongs to me.”
I stare back at Marco and watch his coal eyes darken even further, if that’s possible. His usual tan complexion slowly turns red before he explodes.
“I’m going to cut your fucking head off!” he screams into the phone. Veins pop up on his forehead as spit flies in all directions. “How dare you betray me, you cunt! I will end you! I will fucking end you!”
I sit still, my body tightly coiled, as Marco tears away from me and slams his phone against a concrete wall, smashing it into pieces.
“Marco—”
He swings at me with his right hand and I grunt as the metal strapped to his knuckles rips through my skin, splitting my cheek and my lip. “You lied to me, you piece of shit!”
I groan, hanging limply against the rope. Breathing through my nose, I spit blood against the wet floor. When I’m certain I can take another hit if I have to, I lift my head. I betrayed him. The least I can do is look him in the eye. “Yeah, I did.”
Clenching his teeth, he pulls his fist back and lets it fly, hitting me again. I growl in pain as the pointed metal knuckles tear my skin apart. I close my eyes, trying my hardest to ignore the way my brain spins in my skull. He’s going to kill me.
I’m going to die here.
Marco whistles and Roman crosses the room to stand behind me. Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he holds me upright, to face the consequences of my actions. I open my eyes. “I met her…I met her before I started the job. She was the reason I didn’t want it in the first place.”
He hits me again and I survive it, somehow.
“Marco, fuck! What else do you want me to say?”
My face is swollen, my lips refusing to move the way my brain tells them to. Roman releases me, and my head sags. I watch blood as it drips onto my lap and seeps into the fabric of my pants.
“Do whatever you want to me, but don’t judge her. She’s a good girl.” I spit and fail, it dribbles off my lips and down my chin. “
She just wants to enjoy her life.”
Marco snatches a fistful of my hair and yanks my head back. I hiss as he comes face to face with me.
“We’re going to get her back. After that, I don’t want to see your face around Vegas again, understood?”
I swallow hard, and all I taste is blood and metal. I do my best to nod, but he’s not happy with it.
“I asked you a damn question.”
“I…I…” Blood coagulates in my throat, making it harder to speak. “Understand.”
“Good.” He drops my head and Roman cuts the ropes that constrict my arms. Groaning, I fall forward, crashing to the concrete…
…then I die.
***
I float back into consciousness by the motion of the vehicle as it speeds down a sandy track. I groan as I straighten my back. Fortunately, I’m not dead. Unfortunately, I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. What a fucking night.
I haven’t felt this beat up since I was kidnapped and tortured by the Taliban in oh-nine. They beat me within an inch of my life, among other shit I don’t want to recall at the moment.
Marco sits in the passenger seat, grumbling orders at the guy driving, a guy I’ve never seen before. To be honest, I’m in no fucking state for this shit. My nerves wage war. Sickness churns in my stomach over and over, causing a clammy sweat to bloom across the surface of my skin.
I have to do this.
I should have been watching, instead, I was lulled into the false sense of security her house provided—that her body provided. I pissed Deena off. A fucking mob member. Of course, he’s gonna want revenge. How fucking stupid can I be?
I push off of the door and tug my seatbelt, loosening it.
“You’re an idiot, you know,” Roman utters beside me and I turn my head with a wince.
“Yeah, I know.”
He slaps a handgun in the palm of my hand as the car rolls to a stop and the men climb out. I do my best to unclip my seatbelt and then open the door. Everything I do makes my body scream, but I push on regardless, swinging my legs over the edge of the seat and out of the car.
I drop onto the sand beneath my feet with a grunt and step forward as more cars pull up behind us.