For Her Benefit

by Nana Malone

  He was quick though. He jabbed his fingers back at me, almost catching my eye, and I had to release him.

  But I was able to deliver a knee to his back, which sent him falling forward.

  And Liv, my beautiful, sweet Liv... As he staggered forward, back turned to her, she stuck out her leg and delivered a kick straight to his groin.

  That sent him to his knees as he muttered, "You bitch."

  "Yeah, I heard that before." She then picked up a handful of something and threw it into his eyes.

  It must have been dirt or sand, because his hands flew up to protect his eyes, leaving him unprotected, which gave me the opening I needed. I hooked my arm around his throat, put him in a headlock, and pulled him back. His hands slashed at me, and I leaned back just out of range so he couldn't reach me.

  Livy's eyes went wide. "Ben, don't. Don't kill him."

  "I'm not going to kill him." I pulled back as he continued to fight the hold.

  "Stop fucking moving. You might kill yourself."

  "Fuck you," was his groan back.

  And then up ahead, we heard a car engine attempting to turn over.

  Fucking Christ, was that April Van Linsted?

  Livy's head snapped up. "That bitch. She's trying to leave us here."

  "You go deal with that. I'll be right there. I'm right behind you."

  She gave me a dubious look that said she didn't believe me and that she wanted to be sure.

  In my arms, the brute still bucked and kicked. "Shhh... just go to sleep."

  The truth of the matter was I could have killed him. I could have put an end to all of this.

  But then how would she look at you?

  And honestly, I didn't want him dead. I wanted him to pay. There were victims who deserved to look him and the people he worked for in the eye.

  Finally, he stopped fighting me. He stopped moving at all and slumped.

  Livy was up ahead, shuffling as she ran through the debris-strewn warehouse lot. God, what had they done to her?

  I shoved his big body away from me, patted myself down for some zip ties, then proceeded to restrain his hands and then his feet. "You're going to stay right here. The police are coming to get you." I pushed away from his body and started toward Livy.

  Sure enough, April Van Linsted, was trying to make the car they'd escaped in move, but the engine refused to turn over. She was banging at the steering wheel as Livy stood in front of it shaking her head.

  I held up my own keys. "Liv, here." I tossed them to her and glowered at April Van Linsted. "You can either choose to stay here and hope that the police get here before his friends do, or you can come with us."

  The older woman scowled at me, but then she pushed open the driver's side door and stumbled out. "I thought you were going to die. I wasn't going leave you here." Her words started to slur together. Was shock starting to set in?

  Livy had pulled my rental close to the wrecked car they’d been driving. She hopped out and opened the back door for April. "Just get the fuck in."

  "I think it's better if I sit up front."

  "Not happening old lady. Get in or die here. I don't care which."

  There was something hard in her voice, and I knew it was a direct result of what she'd been through. Will she be okay?

  I had no way of knowing. All I knew was that I had her back and she was safe. When she was settled in next to me, I started the engine and put my hand on her lap, gently stroking her knee. She wrapped her hand over mine, held it tight, and just nodded. "Thank you for coming for me."

  "Well, from the looks of it, you rescued yourself."

  "Still, thank you. I'm not sure where I was running to, but I was prepared to go out fighting."

  I turned her hand over and kissed her palm. "I will always come for you."

  She squeezed my hand and then turned to face the window as I made a U-turn, heading back toward the city. When she was safe and at home, we would talk. But for the moment, I let her have her silence.

  3

  Ben

  On the car ride home, I hadn't really let myself inspect Livy.

  But when we got back to East’s loft, when I let myself really look at her, I saw just how shook up she was. I wanted to take her home, but we still had all our planning materials for the Gem Gala at the house. And wonder of wonders, Livy was with April Van Linsted, so we’d had to go to the loft instead.

  For starters, she was fucking bleeding. Her face was bruised. Her hair was knotted. The evening gown that she'd worn was torn and wet on the bottom. One of the straps was broken. and it looked like she'd made a makeshift knot to keep it on. She looked like she had crawled out of a Fight Club pit.

  But she's alive.

  That she was. Her heart was beating, and she kept giving me these soft smiles. As if I'd done something worthy of her. No. I hadn't. It was because of me that she was in this mess. It was because I couldn't let sleeping dogs lie, even though she was the one who’d said go forward.

  She might have made that choice on her own, but that didn't assuage my guilt any. She could have died. And then where would I be? If I'd been left broken by Lila, a woman I barely knew and certainly didn't love, then what would happen to me if something happened to Livy?

  You would be irrevocably broken. But luckily, you don't have to worry about that.

  When we returned to the penthouse, April was still out. She had fallen asleep on the ride back to East’s. Livy said she was afraid their captors had drugged the water they’d given them and it might be a while before she’d wake up. We put her in a guest room, and the doctor was on his way to check both of them out. I was hoping April just had a mild concussion or had been mildly sedated because dealing with Marcus if something else was wrong with her was going to be a problem.

  I reached tentatively for the woman who had my sole attention. "Liv."

  Her smile was tremulous. “Hey, you.”

  I grasped hold of her, and I knew I couldn't let go. I couldn't walk away. I might never let her go. She held on to me just as tightly, sobbing lightly into my chest.

  “Hey love, you’re okay. I have you.”

  She nodded. “I know. And I knew you were coming for me. I just also knew I had to give you some help. I always believed—”

  I pulled back slightly, framing her face with my hands. “Hey, look at me.” Watery eyes lifted to meet mine. “I am so proud of you. You fought to survive, and I couldn’t have done a better job myself. You are so incredibly strong.”

  She nodded and a fresh wave of tears began. Leaning in, I gave her a kiss. She tasted salty and sweet. “I was so scared.”

  I wasn’t going to tell her that I was terrified I wouldn’t find her and I’d never see her again. I wasn’t going to tell her that part of me thought I’d be too late. Besides, my fear was nothing compared to what she felt.

  I couldn’t even comprehend that type of terror.

  Never let her go.

  Like I could. She was mine, and our insane plan was almost over. She was never going to have to face danger like that again.

  And then I couldn't be sure if she crashed back into my arms or if I dragged her in. But she was there, warm and soft. She smelled like gasoline and something musty. But underneath it all was her scent. Coconut and lime.

  I could still smell it. As if her skin was infused with it. She was fucking alive. I didn't want to let her go. I just tucked her into me, my heart hammering against my ribs. I was certain she could feel it, feel the pain and concern I'd had over the last twelve hours. "Please tell me this isn't a dream."

  She chuckled a little, but still wrapped her arms around my waist and held on tight. "It's not a dream. Unless I'm the one who’s dreaming, because I swear to God, I had this dream from the moment I woke up."

  "It's not a dream. I have you. I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to you."

  "How did you know where I was?"

  "Your dress. In the zipper. I had East put another tracker in it."

 
For once, she wasn't perturbed or angry or annoyed. She just nodded. “Thank God.”

  It wasn't long before there was a knock at the door. Two detective inspectors, both wearing stern expressions, appeared in the living room.

  The man was fairly tall, reed thin, and had a hawkish look to his face. The woman was short and pleasantly plump with rosy cheeks and dark hair. And they both looked very no-nonsense.

  I didn't want Livy to have to do this right now, but it was better now than later while it was still fresh and we would be able to get everything directly from her.

  Except, you weren't the one to save her. How had she gotten free? Where had she been?

  "Are you okay to do this?" I murmured into her ear.

  She nodded as her tongue peeked out to lick a bloody lip. "Yeah. Let’s get this over with."

  Her voice was a hoarse whisper as her gaze roamed over me.

  The man stepped forward and introduced himself as Detective Inspector Spencer and his partner as Detective Inspector Jones.

  "Inspectors, thank you for agreeing to do the interview here. Both Livy and Mrs. Van Linsted have been through quite an ordeal. Mrs. Van Linsted is still out in the spare room, and medical personnel is on its way. If we can do the most pressing questions first, then I can bring her down to the station for more later if that’s okay with you."

  Detective Inspector Spencer nodded slowly as if trying very hard to appease me, but it was obvious he was still bent out of shape at not doing this interview at the scene. "We appreciate that, Mr. Covington. But it's better we ask questions as quickly as possible. And if she's still in danger, we can provide protection."

  I scoffed. "I will be protecting her."

  DI Jones said, "Forgive me for pointing this out, sir, but weren't you the one who was in charge of her when she went missing?"

  Direct fucking hit. It might have been the truth, but I still narrowed my gaze. "We did have a team on her, yes. But as you might have heard, she was attending a gala. Plenty of event security was on hand, so I gave my men the night off. Obviously, we couldn't have foreseen what might happen."

  In truth, I could’ve kicked myself. We should have brought Erik and his team in on it. But there was absolutely no way I could have them participate in grand larceny. That had been my call. Between Roone, Lucas, Bridge, and the Chase brothers, she should have been safe. But thinking that way had almost cost Livy her life.

  DI Jones lifted her chin, her gaze not missing a thing, cataloging how I held Olivia, how Olivia tucked into me. Her gaze also flickered down the hall where April Van Linsted now shuffled along the hardwood floor. “Why are there no servants to get me water?”

  East cursed then hurried to meet her. “Mrs. Van Linsted, allow me to help you. You really should lie down. A doctor is on his way.”

  “I don't need your doctor. I need my own. I demand you take me to my husband.”

  When she reached the living room with East in tow, she scowled at the two DIs. “Who the hell are you?”

  DI Spencer stepped forward. “We’re the police, ma’am.”

  She wrinkled her nose as she eyed his suit up and down. “Well, I haven’t done anything wrong, but I would like to make a statement against her.” She pointed at Livy, as I turned to shield her from the brunt of April’s words. “She endangered my life by forcing me to leave with her and then nearly got me killed in a car.”

  DI Jones lifted a brow. “You want to file charges because she rescued you?”

  She seemed just as incredulous as the rest of us. “So you didn’t want to leave captivity? Did you know your captors, Mrs. Van Linsted?”

  April scowled at the shorter woman. “Of course not. Don't be daft. My husband would have paid whatever ransom they asked for, but she insisted we had to leave. Thereby endangering my life. She dragged me through filth. Then we were rammed by that car. None of this would have happened if she hadn’t been following me at the gala.”

  Jones turned back to Livy. “You followed her?”

  Olivia’s voice was clear and even. “Yes. It was right after we’d all been robbed. I was trying to organize everyone who was hurt to one area so we could do the basic injury assessment. I saw April leaving down a corridor. I followed and called out to her. I was concerned that she was hurt, but I think she was headed for an exit.”

  Jones watched April carefully. “Where were you off to, Mrs. Van Linsted?”

  “First of all, I don’t have to explain myself to you,” April huffed. “Secondly, I was trying to get to my car and my security. I would have called the police to give a statement eventually.”

  Jones again lifted a brow. “But instead, you were taken?”

  “Yes. And then this woman forced me to escape. I could have been killed.”

  DI Jones made a note as she muttered. “Seems to me, you were lucky to be kidnapped with someone so resourceful.” She turned to Livy. Now, Miss Ashong, can you run us through what happened?”

  With a sigh, Livy ran through their harrowing escape. When she finished and leaned against my side, I was sure Spencer was half in love with her overall badassery. Jones’s expression was all respect. Jones tapped her tablet. “Do you know which way they took you?”

  Liv shook her head. “I don’t know. They drugged me before they took me from the gala, and when I woke up, we were in some kind of industrial building.” She swallowed hard. "But I do think we were in a warehouse outside of Harringay. There were some signs as we drove out. I’m sorry I should have paid better attention. I was more concerned with getting away.”

  Jones nodded. “You did fine. And Mr. Covington, how did you find Miss Ashong? How handy that you came up on her car just at that moment.”

  There was no way around that one. So I told the truth. “Tracking chip. When she didn’t phone after the Gem Gala, I went looking for her. As I’m sure you know, she was attacked in our home several weeks ago. The perpetrator wasn’t caught, so I went to extreme measures."

  Jones blinked. “You didn't call the police? Instead you went to go find her by yourself?”

  “Well to be fair, the police have been dragging their feet on finding the man who terrorized her. Or do you have something to go on to find Spivey?”

  DI Jones sighed. “You realize you could have put her in more danger?”

  “But I didn’t.” I had to end the interrogation for Livy’s sake. “Are we done here?”

  April Van Linsted spoke up then. "She almost got us killed, taunting them. My husband will hear about this."

  Livy sounded bored, as if she'd been listening to April’s complaints for far too long. "I'm pretty sure your husband will be as thrilled as I am when he has you back.“

  DI Spencer ignored my attempt to end the meeting. "Do you know who took you?"

  Livy shook her head. "No. They were Eastern European though. They did speak English at times, but mostly in terms of talk about ransom for her." She indicated April. "I got the impression I wasn't for ransom. At one point, one of the guys did say that I had another purpose. He didn't elaborate, and obviously, I didn't ask questions."

  "Right. So after you liberated the car, you were on the main road when you were rammed from behind?"

  She nodded. "Yes. There was a car coming in just as we’d made it out." Her gaze met mine then. “The driver had a burn on his left hand. I could see it under the streetlight.”

  My gut knotted. I’d been too late to get him. Too late to stop him.

  From her chair, April whined. "I told her to take me to my estate, to have my husband deal with it, but she did not comply."

  "Well, your husband would only be concerned about your welfare and safety, not mine. For all I know, he would have given me back to those idiots who took us. And I really wasn't in the mood. So like I said, since I was driving, and I had planned the escape, I wanted to go where I felt safe."

  DI Jones looked curious. "Why do you believe that Mr. Van Linsted would have given you back to your captors?"

  Livy rolled her ey
es. "I don't. Not really. But if it was between keeping me or that one safe, I had no doubt where his loyalty would be. After all, she herself tried to sell me out to the kidnappers."

  When I heard that, I glowered at April. "You daft cow. You were always a self-serving bitch, weren't you?"

  "You know each other?" DI Jones asked.

  It was East that jumped in then. "Yes, professionally. We grew up with her son, Bram."

  Another note in their goddamn notebook. Everything was unraveling right in front of our eyes. But somehow, Bridge was keeping it together. "How lucky it was for Mrs. Van Linsted that she was taken with Livy, who obviously kept her cool under pressure. You probably should be thanking her. Thanks to her, you didn't have to wait for your husband to mount some sort of rescue or ransom."

  April's eyes went wide. "You weren't there. You don't know. She was antagonizing them. Spitting in their face, calling them names, she was hardly a benefit."

  DI Spencer gave Livy another once over. "Well done then. You managed to escape. Did anyone look familiar? Do you know them from somewhere?"

  It was the only moment Livy hesitated. "The one with the burn on his hand. I'm doing a research book for my mother. She passed away recently. The book was about the disappearance of Caroline Ritter. She was a diplomat. The man with the burn was in a couple of her photos.”

  DI Jones nodded at Liv. “You’re very brave. We’ll need to talk to you again. Where can we reach you?”

  I was already on it. I pulled a card out of my wallet and handed it over. “You can reach her here for questions.”

  “Thank you. Miss Ashong, you’re very brave and very lucky. Tonight could have turned out very differently. But thanks to your quick thinking, it didn’t. I don’t want you to worry though. We will find your assailants. We just need to know why you were taken in the first place.”

  Livy’s gaze met mine and spoke volumes. She didn't give away anything to do with London Lords or the Elite, but her gaze said it all. This might not have anything to do with the Lords at all, but rather to do with her mother's book, which led us to a whole new set of questions that I didn't have answers for right at that moment. All I wanted to do was grab her in my arms and never let go.