by K. V. Rose
I wonder if her mom has passed.
If so, I want to know. And I’m not even sure why. I should let it go. She’s making it easy, ignoring me like this.
But I fucking hate being ignored.
I’m the one that does the ignoring. And she…she’s flipped this on its head.
I shake out two Xanax from my bottle, screw the cap back on, and pick up the beer on the coffee table. Poor choices. I’m starting not to give a shit.
After I swallow them, it’s Riley that startles me when she clears her throat behind me and asks, “What the fuck are you doing?”
I twist on the couch to face her. The fact she asked me that means she saw me take the pills. She’s got a towel wrapped around her body, her wet hair around her face and down her back. And she’s scowling at me, because that’s what most people seem to do when they see me.
I eye her up and down just to see her blush. She averts her wide green eyes and makes to turn around.
“Stop,” I say, and she does, meeting my gaze. For one second, I think about how good she felt, when I was inside of her, Caden behind her. I think about how we needed that, that release. How all of our hatred, everything between her and Caden and Jack, culminated in that moment.
And how me and Caden completely failed her when we let Rolland live.
Of how if Ava ever let me, I’d never let her down. But she won’t let me. She shouldn’t. I need to get her the fuck out of my head.
“Caden is on the way,” I tell Riley, even though I’m sure she knows. She doesn’t seem surprised, so I go on. “Tonight…” I trail off. This time I’m the one to look down. It’s not that I’m against murder. Felix is taking care of the name and the address that was in the mailbox at the winery as we speak.
It’s that…
Well, this feels much, much more personal.
“It’s going to be taken care of.” I meet Riley’s gaze.
I watch her throat bob as she swallows, fisting her hands at her sides, her towel tucked in tightly, so it doesn’t fall.
“Benji,” she starts, and I know she’s about to lecture me about the beer and the Xanax. Ava would have gotten to me. I would have stopped for her. But that kind of manipulation isn’t good for anyone, and I would never tell Ava that.
But then a pounding on Riley’s door makes us both flinch, startling Ava from my thoughts.
“Get to your room,” I tell Riley as I get off the couch and grab the gun from the second drawer on the right set of cabinets in her kitchen, adjacent to the living room.
But she doesn’t.
“Riley,” I growl, warning her. But I hear her take the chef’s knife from the block and she fucking follows me in her towel to the door.
Whoever it is knocks again, more frantic.
“Riley get the fuck back to your room,” I spit at her, but I know she won’t listen and I peek through the peephole, my hand steady on the gun.
But it’s not at all who I expect it to be.
I pull open the latch, undo the deadbolt, and throw open the door.
Tess and Ava stand in front of me, both of them pale, both of them looking like they’ve seen a ghost.
“What the—” I murmur, but they both push past me and walk inside. I close and lock the door behind them, and then turn around, only to see them take in Riley, in her towel, knife in her hand, and then me again, with the gun.
Riley’s brows knit together. “What’s going on?” she asks carefully, eyes flitting between them.
I wait for their answer because I want to know the same damn thing.
Ava’s face darkens as she looks at Riley again, eyes trailing down her towel to Riley’s bare legs and feet but she shakes her head, as if clearing her mind, and I know what she’s wondering. She’s wondering if I decided to forgo Ava’s invitation for a threesome and just fuck Riley by myself.
She can keep wondering because I don’t owe her an explanation for any fucking thing.
“A man,” she starts, and my heart twists, “a man came to Tess’s.” She glances at her friend who nods. “He said he was looking for…you.” She looks at Riley. “He…” she runs a hand through her blonde hair and I wish she’d hurry the fuck up because I need to know what the fuck she’s saying.
“He said he needed to see you. He was…older…” She motions to Tess to add any details.
Her friend tugs on a strand of her dark hair and shifts on her sneakers, back and forth. Both of them are wearing tight jeans, Ava has on a blue cropped top that shows off the curves of her waist and Tess is wearing a pink tee. I can’t decide if they’d planned to go out this Friday night or stay in. From the looks of it, they won’t be doing either now.
“He said to tell you,” Tess’s dark eyes narrow in on me, “‘Hello’, and he…”
“What did he look like?” Riley asks calmly. I’m glad she does or I was going to fucking explode on them.
“Tall, like maybe in his 50s, he had blonde hair, wearing a suit.” Tess leans against the wall at her back in the foyer, as if to steady herself. “I-I don’t know. He—”
“He let you leave?” I ask her.
Ava’s gaze shoots to mine. “We told him my dad was coming over,” she says quickly.
“Did he do anything else?” I press. “Did he touch you?” If he did, I swear to fucking God…
But Ava, thankfully, shakes her head. “No. He was just…he was just weird,” she finishes, and her gaze goes to Riley, who looks to me.
I nod. “Go get dressed,” I tell her. “We can’t wait for Caden here.”
“No,” Riley protests, voice hardening. “We’re staying here. He won’t come here. He can’t get in—”
“Don’t be dense, Riley,” I scold her sharply. “This is exactly where he’ll go—”
“No!” she says again. “I’m not leaving here. If he comes, you’ll get to him first. But how will he get past security?” she asks, gesturing toward the door.
I snort. “Really?” I ask her, walking past all the girls, then turning around to face them. Tess’s eyes are on my gun. “He’s fucking Rolland Virani. Security won’t faze him. Go get dressed.”
But Riley, goddamn her, will not fucking listen because she never does. “No,” she says again. She glances at Tess and Ava. “No. They’re staying here. We’re all fucking staying here because if we move, he’ll follow us. I’m not leaving. They’re not leaving.”
Then she turns around and marches down the hall, toward her room, leaving me with Tess and Ava.
Tess blows out a breath, her hands on her head, and then she makes her way into the living room and flops down on the couch. I remember my beer on the coffee table and wish I had it in my hand right now.
I feel Ava’s eyes on me and meet her gaze.
“I’m sorry to come here,” she says, and she genuinely looks it. She holds up her phone. “I tried to…to call you. But you didn’t answer.” She glances behind me, in the direction Riley stalked off to. “I didn’t mean to interrupt whatever was happening with you two—”
Before she can finish, I close the space between us and push her against the wall, one hand on her chest, the other still clenching the gun. I rest the barrel against the wall beside her.
My eyes roam over her body, down to her bare waist, up to her full tits, then finally resting on those pink lips, parted now as she breathes hard, in and out, her eyes darting to the gun in my hand beside her.
“You think I was fucking Riley?” I ask her quietly, so no one can hear but her.
Her eyes go to the gun again and then back up to me. They’re such a startling blue, it’s like looking at the fucking sky when you’re up in a plane. At the ocean down below. Both at once.
She licks her lips and I watch her tongue roam over that tiny freckle above her Cupid’s bow.
“Weren’t you?” She’s scared, but she’s trying to act like she’s not.
My hand trails down her chest, to her bare waist, my fingers digging in.
“What if I
was?” I lean in close, my brow pressed to hers. “What if I was fucking Riley? Soaking wet from her shower, nothing between us but that thin towel wrapped around her ass. What if I was fucking her, Ava?” I bring the gun closer to her, flip it in my hand so I’m gripping the barrel, and I run the grip down her arm, skimming over her waist, her thigh.
She sucks in a breath.
My fingers dig in deeper to her side. “What if I’m hard for her, Ava, and not you?” I press my cock against stomach, so she can feel exactly what she fucking does to me. “What if it’s her I want to bend over and not you?”
I hear her swallow. Her hands are fisted by her sides, but I see them shaking.
“Then do it,” she growls at me. “Fuck her.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I taunt her, dragging the handle of the gun up, between her thighs as I lean away from her.
She gasps. “Benji—” she breathes.
“What is it, Princess?” I drag the gun up her stomach, over her breasts, up her throat, forcing her chin up with the grip. Her eyes are on mine, and I reach around her, squeezing her ass. “What is it, baby?”
“You didn’t…she’s Caden’s.”
I smile at her and I swear she flinches. “We both had her, Ava. At the same time, we both had her.” I lick my lips and trail my hand up her back, the gun still under her chin. “You want us to take you, too? Fuck, Ava, why not all of us? Your friend can join if she wants. If she wants, she can suck me off while Caden—”
She shoves me, hard. I don’t budge, but she tried. I lower the gun, let go of her.
“You’re disgusting,” she says to me, her brows pinched together as she looks at me like I’m some sort of monster.
Good.
That’s how she should look at me, because she needs to remember that’s exactly what I am. I’m glad she came here looking for protection. I’m glad she’s safe right now. But unfortunately, that also means she thinks I’m a safe person. A safe place.
I’m not.
“Go sit with your friend,” I growl at her, turning around and headed down the hall, to Riley’s room. I can feel Ava’s eyes on me, but I don’t care. I don’t explain anything, and I don’t turn around.
I knock once on Riley’s door, but it’s half-open so I push it open anyway and walk in. She’s got her phone to her ear and she glares at me, but she’s dressed, so who cares?
“See you soon, babe,” she says. “Love you too.” She ends the call and puts the phone in her hoodie pocket. “Caden will be here soon,” she informs me.
I nod. “Great. In the meantime, we can figure out where you three should stay—”
“No,” she cuts me off. “I’m already not okay with not doing this with you—”
I yank her wrist, pull her close to me, the gun in my other hand. “Are you insane?” I bark at her. “You want to be near that fucking creep again—”
She yanks her wrist out of my grip but doesn’t back down. “He killed Jack,” she says, and I watch her lip tremble, her green eyes glistening. “He killed his own son. My…my boyfriend,” she says, putting her hand over her mouth and looking down at the floor between us. “He killed him, Benji,” she whispers without looking at me. “And he fucking assaulted me.”
She moves her hand away from her mouth and looks up at me. “He hurt me more than he hurt you. Maybe even more than he hurt Caden, Benji.” She takes a deep breath but doesn’t break her stare with me. “So yeah, I regret that I’m not strong enough to fucking put a bullet in his skull,” she snarls. “And I’ll be damned if you’re going to hide me away like a delicate child. I’m not a child. Not anymore. And I’m not running.”
I don’t like it. I don’t think she’s a child, not even close. But the idea of her being in Rolland’s arms again, or God for-fucking-bid, Ava…he was already so close to Ava and Tess. If it wasn’t for Ava’s quick thinking and Rolland’s idiocy, who knows what he would have done to her to get to me?
But Riley is strong. And I know she won’t listen to me no matter what I say and dragging her and Ava and Tess out of here seems like something I really don’t want to do.
I throw up my hand. “Fine,” I tell her. “But you’re gonna want to bring your mom in here.”
She clenches her jaw and nods. “I’ll get her now.” She makes to step around me, then stops, bringing her finger to my chest, jabbing me, hard. “We’re not done, Benji,” she says, her voice low. “We’re not done talking about your little fucking problem.”
I laugh, rolling my eyes. “It’s not a problem.”
She steps closer, moving her hand and craning her neck to look up at me. “You might not give a fuck about yourself, Benji, but I do. Caden does. And that hot blonde girl in our living room does, too. She came over for you when she didn’t have to. You’re not going to fuck us up like that, you understand?”
I swallow, averting my eyes. “Whatever, Little Girl.” But the dismissal doesn’t ring true, even to my own ears.
Twenty-Two
I follow Riley down the hall to her Mom’s condo, Tess still on the couch in Riley’s unit. Benji is somewhere, and he wanted to come with us, but Riley stopped him with a look. I don’t know what’s going on between them, but I feel fairly confident they didn’t bang each other before Tess and I got there.
They’re more like brother and sister than lovers, although knowing what I know about them, that comparison doesn’t sit too well in my head either, especially not after I tried to get us all to have sex.
I shove all that aside as Riley pulls out the key to her mom’s condo and unlocks the door.
She pushes it open and I follow her.
“Hey, Mom,” Riley calls out, keeping her voice steady. It’s actually impressive, how calm she sounds, considering the man that bombarded me and Tess apparently wants to kill her.
I don’t want to think about that too long, knowing how close I was to someone who wished me harm.
“Mom?”
I follow behind Riley past the foyer, into the kitchen. It’s the same layout as the other condos, but this one is less decorative. Less like a home.
I scan my eyes around the empty living room, but it’s Riley’s sharp intake of breath that has me frozen. I swivel around to face where she’s facing.
And I see him.
The same man who was at Tess’s apartment.
My blood runs cold but I can’t move. I’m fucking rooted to the spot.
Rolland has his hand on the back of Riley’s mom’s wheelchair. And Riley’s mom, Ms. Larson, has her head flung back, tongue hanging out. She’s not awake.
She’s…hopefully asleep. Or knocked out.
She can’t be dead.
She can’t be.
She has a small, folded blanket over her lap, her hands resting atop of it, and she’s wearing soft pants and a beige sweater. But she’s not fucking moving.
Riley’s hand is over her mouth, and she seems frozen, too.
Rolland smiles at her and it sends a shudder through my body.
“Hi, darling,” he croons. I see he has a gun resting against his thigh. His fingers curl around the back of Riley’s mom’s chair. “Can you do me a favor before we get back to the reunion? Can you lock the door for me?” He raises the gun and presses it against Ms. Larson’s temple.
Riley stumbles forward, toward her mom, but Rolland shakes his head, that sick smile still on his face. “No, darling. The door first. Then you can come to me.”
She doesn’t move.
Rolland’s eyes flick to mine, and his smile falters.
“You bitch,” he says calmly. “You lied to me.”
I take a breath. And another.
Riley slowly turns around, and her gaze catches mine. But she tears her eyes away before I can understand what it is we’re fucking supposed to do. Rolland still has the gun pressed against Ms. Larson’s head.
“Hurry, darling,” he calls after her, but his eyes are on me. “I would hate for my finger to slip on this trigger.
”
Riley walks faster. I hear her steps echoing down the hall. And I hear the deadbolt shift into place.
“And the latch, please, darling,” Rolland calls.
There’s a pause, but then Riley does as he asks. Soon, she’s back by my side.
“Let her go,” Riley says coldly, staring down the hall at Rolland.
Rolland cocks his head, but he hasn’t moved the gun away from Ms. Larson’s temple. “Come to me, darling.”
I can feel Riley tremble beside me, her arm brushing against mine. My mouth is dry and I lick my lips. Maybe if I scream really fucking loud, Benji will hear me. But even if he doesn’t…he’ll know something is wrong. Soon, he’ll know something is wrong.
Riley takes one unsteady step forward.
Rolland’s smile widens and he moves the gun from her mom’s head, letting it hang loosely by his side again. He has on a black and white suit and tie, and I wonder how long he’s been here, following us.
Fucking bastard.
This is what Benji was trying to protect me from. I put a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping. This is why he spent the night in my house, why he snuck into a college girl’s parents’ home. Not to sleep with me, but to protect me.
And that man with the feeding tube…his ex…
Benji is a protector.
His entire persona radiates it. And now I might not make it out of here alive. I might not be able to ask him to explain things to me. To talk to me. To let him be there for me. To be there for him.
And if I can’t tell Mom goodbye…
Riley takes another step. She’s moving slowly, and I know she’s thinking what I did, too. That Benji won’t wait long. And Caden is coming, too. They won’t let us get hurt. They’ll fix this. They’ll look out for Tess.
Rolland steps in front of the wheelchair, and holds his arms out for Riley, gun still in his hand.
Riley falters, and puts her hand against the wall, to steady herself.
But she keeps walking.
Because this is her mom. She’s not going to stop until she’s done everything she can to protect her mother.
