Rushing the Goal (Assassins #8)

by Toni Aleo

  Shutting the door behind him, Rick rolled his eyes when he saw her dad sitting in the corner, his arms over his chest. “Why’s he here?”

  Her dad shrugged before setting him with a glare. “I’m here to support my daughter.”

  She really didn’t like that answer since she wanted him there as her lawyer, but she wouldn’t address that. Her dad’s statement sure didn’t make Rick want to talk either. “I want to talk to her alone.”

  “Oh. Well, then, I’m here for my client. No can do, buddy.”

  Glaring, Rick looked to Lucy. “I need to talk to you about that lowlife you have around my daughter.”

  She scowled at that. “Benji is not a lowlife. He is good to her.”

  “Oh, is he? I told you he was a pedophile,” he spat back, doing something to his phone and then holding it out so Lucy could see. Mark came over as he pushed play. In the video, Angie sat fidgeting on the couch. It was clear she wasn’t medicated, her body twitching and her hands moving as she bounced in the seat.

  But most of all, she was terrified.

  Tears welled up in Lucy’s eyes as her heart started to thump in her chest.

  Glancing at Rick, she glared. “What the hell is that?

  But he shook his head as his voice came over the video. “Does Benji give you money?”

  Angie nodded. “Yeah.”

  “What for?”

  “For whatever I want. I don’t know. Can I go to my room?”

  “No, tell me.”

  “Stuff.”

  “Has he touched you?”

  Lucy’s heart stopped. She looked to her dad, and he was glaring, his neck turning red as he held on to the desk.

  “Dad, please. I want to go to my room.”

  “Answer me! Does he touch you?”

  “Yes!”

  “So he kisses you?”

  She made an obvious face. “Yeah?”

  “Does he make you touch him?”

  “I don’t know! Can I go?”

  Before he could ask anything else, she got up and ran.

  The video went black and Lucy was fuming.

  “What the hell are you implying?” she spat out, her eyes burning into his. He had a smug look on his face as he shrugged.

  “Pretty obvious.”

  But it wasn’t and Mark started yelling. “That doesn’t mean anything. Of course, he touches her. He hugs and kisses her. He lives with her. He is like a father to her.”

  “He’s a pedophile, and this is what I need to get custody of my child,” Rick snapped back at him and Lucy just shook her head as she stood, her body shaking with anger.

  This was not happening.

  “He is not. That video is bogus, and you know it. How dare you?” she roared as Mark laughed.

  “That won’t hold up in court, you idiot. Do you know what will happen if you bring that forward? Lots of investigations. Do you want that?”

  “I don’t care. They need to happen because my daughter is important,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he sneered at them. “I mean, tell me, what man just automatically takes to someone else’s child? Moves them in in a month? They’ve only been together for three months.”

  “Because he is a good guy! Is that what this is about? You’re jealous?”

  “Bitch, please. I don’t give two shits about you,” he sneered and Mark shook with anger.

  “You are about to cause a big fucking mess, Rick. Don’t show that in court. It’s a lie and you know it.”

  “All I know is that bastard is raping my kid.”

  Rage. That’s all Lucy saw.

  “You stupid son of a bitch,” she screamed before lunging at him. She slammed her knee into her desk but that didn’t stop her. Jumping onto him, she whaled on him, slamming her fist into his face as he tried to push her away. “Benji would never,” she screamed, her fist coming down against his mouth before her father pulled her away. “How dare you? You are scum. You are worthless. You piece of shit!”

  Rick laughed as he slowly got up, wiping his mouth as he shook his head. Mark’s arms held her tightly as she thrashed against him, nowhere near done. There was no way she would let him do that. Accuse Benji of something so horrible.

  Not listening to her, though, he yelled, “And now I have an assault to add to the list of reasons my daughter needs to leave you, you stupid bitch.”

  “Rick, I swear to God, if you don’t stop this, you will lose her. I promise you,” she warned but Rick just grinned.

  “Who has the proof? This guy. Fuck you, and fuck you, Mark. See you guys in court.”

  As he walked out, slamming the door behind him, Mark let Lucy go. It took everything out of her not to crumple to the ground. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. This was a joke. The video was a joke, but the allegation wouldn’t be good. Turning to her father, she pleaded with her eyes as she asked, “Does he have grounds?”

  Mark shook his head. “That video is bogus, Lucy, we know that,” he said and she exhaled loudly. Oh, thank God. When he cleared his throat, she looked back at him and knew there was more. Shit.

  “But, they’re going to investigate for sure, and that’s going to be bad for Benji. It will hit the media, I’m sure, and then everyone will know. This won’t stay quiet. Fuck, this is complicated.”

  That’s what she thought. As her body went numb and the tears rushed down her cheeks, she closed her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. They were happy. They were together. Damn it. Crouching down, she covered her face as she cried into her hands.

  What in the hell was she going to do?

  Sitting on her and Benji’s bed, she felt the tears drip down her face as she stared down at her phone. He and Angie looked back at her, making pig noses. She’d cried the whole afternoon. When she picked Angie up, she couldn’t even look at her, only sent her to her room to pack. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she had to do something. After talking to her father, and his calling Rick’s lawyer, she knew it was a done deal. Rick was going forward with the video to open a can of fucking shit. Her heart was aching, her eyes hurt from crying, and she couldn’t do this to Benji. She couldn’t. She thought about calling her mother, but she knew that would lead to everyone in the family knowing, and she didn’t want anyone to know what Rick was trying.

  She wouldn’t let Benji’s name be tainted.

  No, she would handle this herself.

  She would be okay.

  She was always okay.

  Dialing his number, she held her breath as she waited. When he answered, her eyes fell shut.

  This was going to suck.

  “You’re calling me. That’s weird,” he said, and his voice made her heart skip a beat. “Did you hit the wrong button?”

  She bit into her lip as she held back the tears. “No, I’m in a rush.”

  “Oh, okay,” he said slowly, and she knew he was aware of the lie she was telling. But he went with it and asked cautiously, “What’s up?”

  “Um. Well…” she started, but then she couldn’t do it. She clammed up, her heart in her throat, and she just couldn’t do it. Why would she do this over the phone? And did she really want this? But she had to. She couldn’t put him through this. “I…ugh…”

  “Lucy, babe, what’s going on?”

  As the tears rushed down her face, she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She had every intention of breaking up with him, but she just couldn’t. She loved him so damn much, and she just couldn’t bring herself to break his heart and annihilate hers. Losing Benji would destroy her. But what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t let Rick do this to him. To his career. Maybe if she told Rick Benji wasn’t in the picture, he would stop all this and be gone.

  But wouldn’t that let him win?

  What other choice did she have?

  God, she just needed to fucking think!

  Clearing her throat, she held in her sob as she said, “I need some time.”

  “Time?”

  “Yeah, to think.”


  “Um. Okay? I don’t understand. What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice filling with nervousness. She hated to worry him, but she knew him. He wouldn’t let her go if he knew the truth. “You’re worrying me here, Lucy. What’s going on?”

  “I’m going to go to Florida with Angie, alone,” she said then. It suddenly seemed like a genius idea. She’d go, clear her head, figure it out, come back, and let Benji go. Then she’d fight Rick by herself. The thought sucked and it hurt, but she had no choice. She loved Benji way too much to put him through that shitshow. She didn’t care how much he said he would stand by her. No one deserved that.

  She wouldn’t do that to him.

  “What? Why?”

  “’Cause I need time to think.”

  “About?”

  “Us.”

  “Us?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause.” She paused. “I just do.”

  “No, what the fuck is going on, Lucy? Tell me,” he said roughly. “Can’t you wait till I get there?”

  “No, we are flying out early,” she said then, even though it was a lie. “I need to clear my head, and I need to do it alone.”

  He didn’t say anything for a long time, and each second that passed, her heart broke even more. “I feel like you’re breaking up with me.”

  “No,” she tried, but it sounded more like a sob. “I just need to think.”

  “I don’t understand the needing to think thing. We were fine four fucking hours ago when I talked to you. What the hell is going on? I have a right to know,” he said, his voice full of panic. “You know what? Stop, just stop. I’ll be home in a couple hours and we’ll talk.”

  But she knew she couldn’t do this face-to-face. She couldn’t walk away, and she knew she’d let him talk her into letting him go through what Rick was about to do. No, she couldn’t do that to him. It wasn’t fair.

  Life wasn’t fucking fair.

  Nothing ever was.

  She had everything she ever wanted, and just like that, it was about to be ruined.

  But that was her life.

  She’d always said, if she didn’t have bad luck, she’d have none at all.

  Such bullshit.

  “I can’t. I already paid, and Jace and Avery are expecting us.”

  “What? Did I do something wrong?” he asked, and she came undone, holding the phone from her face as she cried into her legs, her body shaking with the pain. “I mean, I know I’m a little dense sometimes, but I thought we were good. Are you still mad about the bank thing?”

  “No, I just need to go.”

  “Without me?”

  Her lips quivered as she shook her head. But she said, “Yes. Just me and Angie. I need to focus on us for a few days.”

  She heard his voice break and everything inside of her went dead. What was she doing? How could she do this? But, how could she not? Breaking his heart was one thing—he could come back from that. But ruining his career, his name… That wasn’t something he could come back from. She had to do this. “So you are breaking up with me.” He said it so calmly, so painfully that Lucy was speechless. “Just tell me the truth. Is that your intention?”

  “No, that’s not what I want.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “I want time. I need to think.”

  “And you can’t tell me about what?”

  “No, I need time.”

  He growled, but it wasn’t out of malice, it was in complete frustration. “I have no clue what to do here.”

  “Let me go for the rest of the week. To think.”

  “No,” he roared, and her tears came faster down her face. “I won’t let you just go and be fine with it. I’m fucking pissed. My chest hurts and I’m scared when you come back, it will be to pack up your shit. So, no, I won’t just let you go. I’m going to ask questions. I’m going to try to figure this out. Shit, I might still fly down there to talk to you if you don’t give me something to work with here.”

  She should have known he would. Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Do you love me?”

  “Of course, I fucking love you, Lucy. What kind of question is that? Is that what the problem is? Baby, I love you,” he stressed and she bit into her lip so hard it hurt. “I love you so damn much, and I swear, I’m here for the long haul. What the hell is going on?”

  “I love you,” she said. “So please, let me go. Let me think.”

  Sounds of frustration met her as he said, “Do I have a choice here?”

  He didn’t, but she wouldn’t say that. Instead, she whispered, “I love you, Benji. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry? For what?”

  “For all of this,” she said, and as he went to say more, she hung up.

  And felt nothing but complete and utter heartbreak.

  What had she just done?

  When Benji got home, for some reason, he was convinced that Lucy would still be there.

  She wasn’t.

  Neither was Angie.

  Not that he assumed she would be, but it still hurt to find she wasn’t. Thankfully, though, all their things were still there that they didn’t take to Florida with them. Lucy’s boots were in the corner where she had left them last week. Angie’s hockey set was all over the place, and while the mess made his eye twitch, it was their mess.

  His family’s.

  Or so he still hoped. He didn’t have a clue what was going on, but he was going to find out. One way or another. Looking down at his phone, he swallowed hard and dialed her number. She had been ignoring his calls. It had been two hours since the last time he’d called since it took him that long to fly in from New York. Instead of calling as soon as he landed, he figured he’d check the house first. But as soon as he pulled up and found her car gone, he knew she wasn’t there.

  Hitting her number, he waited as it rang and then her voice came over the line. “Are you home?”

  “I am. You’re not, though. Did you make it there okay?”

  “Yeah, about an hour ago. Angie is already in bed.”

  “Oh, I’m sure she’s exhausted,” he said and it irritated him. Why were they making stupid idle chitchat?

  “Yeah. We both are.”

  Swallowing hard, he said, “I can fly out tomorrow.”

  “Don’t.”

  Letting out a long breath, he ran his hand down his face. “Why not, Lucy?”

  “’Cause I need to think.”

  “About what, baby? Please, I’m dying here. Let me help you fucking think,” he yelled, hating that word. “I don’t know what I did, how to make it better. Please, give me something here.”

  “You did nothing, Benji, I promise. I just need to think through some things. I’m going to be working. It just doesn’t make sense.”

  “It made sense a month ago when you wanted me to go. When Angie and I planned to make a mermaid castle. I mean, shit, Lucy, what changed?”

  His heart was pounding so hard, he was sure it was going to come out of his chest and melt right in front of him. He had never sweated like he was at that moment because, as much as she said she wasn’t breaking up with him, he truly believed she was, and he didn’t understand. This wasn’t her. She wasn’t one to hold back on anything. What in the living hell happened?

  “I just need—”

  “I swear to God, if you say ‘time’ one more fucking time, I’m going to lose it. What you need is for me to come down there, wrap my arms around you, and then you tell me what is wrong so we can fucking fix it together. That’s what you need.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “No, I fucking do,” he stressed, feeling like he was already losing it. “Do you hear my voice, Lucy? I’m dying here. I miss you. I miss Angie. I want to be with my family.” That was when a sob left her lips and her soft cries filled the line. Closing his eyes, his heart just shattering in his chest, he whispered, “Lucy, baby, please, tell me what to do here.”

  “Stay home,” she cried. “Just
stay there. I’ll see you in a few days.”

  And then the line went dead.

  “Fuck!” he screamed, his ears rattling as he covered his face with his hands. Should he just fly down there? But he didn’t even know where Jace lived. “Fuck.”

  Letting his head fall back, he swallowed hard and picked his phone up once more. “Bro, tell me you know what’s wrong with your sister?”

  Jayden paused. “Um. No? I thought you guys were leaving for Florida?”

  “She left without me.”

  “What? What happened?”

  “I don’t fucking know. She says she needs time.”

  “For what?”

  “I don’t know, Jayden! Have you not heard anything? Your family is one big grapevine.”

  Jayden’s voice was full of worry as he said to Baylor, “Mom tell you anything about Lucy?”

  “No, what’s wrong?”

  “I have no clue,” he said into the phone. “Let me call my mom.”

  “No, I will,” Benji said and he hung up, dialing Autumn’s number. It was late, but thankfully, she answered. “Have you talked to Lucy?”

  “No? Why? Is she okay? Are you guys engaged?”

  He fucking wished. “No, Autumn, she left for Florida—without me. Claiming she needs time. I don’t know what is going on.”

  “What in the world? No. I don’t know anything. Let me call her.”

  “No,” he said quickly. That wasn’t what he wanted. “She’ll get pissed that I called you. I just was hoping maybe you knew something.”

  “No, sweetheart, I don’t, but I’m still calling her,” she said and then the line went dead.

  “Fuck!”

  Dropping his phone to the island, he let out a long breath as he rubbed his eyes, asking God what the hell he should do. This made no sense. It didn’t seem right, and he couldn’t even think of what he had done. He had been gone, so he knew that he didn’t leave the toilet seat up or use her toothpaste. He had only talked to her, and he had been checking that whore Nikky Jiggler’s site, and nothing. What in the world could be going on?