Mia’s eyes widened as she backed up against the wall. ‘Have you heard yourself? You stood there, not five minutes ago, and you told me men like you could change, but you’re wrong. Listen to what you’re saying, Ben. You’re wrong.’
‘I can’t stand it, what he did…’ He bowed his head, leaning over the sink, his fingers gripping the edges as he tried to push the image of Coby fucking Mia out of his mind, but it wouldn’t shift. It was like it was engrained there, forever, a constant reminder of how his past had infringed on the future he’d so badly wanted. Was that the way it was always going to be now? Was what he’d done in the past always going to fuck up his future? ‘Did it feel good, Mia? When he touched you? When he slid his fingers inside you…?’ He turned around to face her, her expression one of confusion mixed with a growing fear. ‘When he fucked you? Did it feel good?’
‘I don’t… I don’t understand…’
He walked over to her, and once again she felt those invisible shackles snap back around her, rendering her unable to move.
‘I saw, Mia. I saw what Coby did to you. What you let him do.’
‘No, Ben…’
He cocked his head, his eyes burning into hers, his hand resting against her cheek. ‘He can’t get away with that, you see that, don’t you? He betrayed me.’
‘We weren’t together, Ben. I wasn’t yours…’
‘That makes it all right then, does it? Forgive me, Mia, but you let the club president – a man who is with your sister – put his cheating dick inside of you, and you didn’t fight him. And I know you didn’t fight him because I watched everything. I saw it all. And it killed me, darlin’, because I still love you. So fucking much.’ He leaned in closer, and Mia closed her eyes, unable to stop the kiss from happening, his mouth closing in on hers so fast and so hard it yanked every last breath out of her. ‘I love you, Mia. And you let Coby Walker touch you, like that. I can’t forget that happened. I can’t forgive him for being so weak. So he needs to go.’
‘You’re not thinking rationally, Ben. It doesn’t need to be…’
‘It does. So don’t stand there and tell me we can sort this out, because you know what happens. You know. And so does he. Only, this time, it won’t be as simple as allowing him the chance to leave town. This time he needs to be taught that you can’t fuck around and get away with it. You can’t do that.’
‘You’re evil,’ Mia hissed, trying to kick out at him but he stopped her, grabbing the top of her leg, chuckling quietly as his hand snaked further up and under the robe she was wearing.
‘We were happy, Mia. You and me,’ he whispered, nuzzling her neck, covering it in tiny, light kisses that, against her better judgement, sent a shiver rippling through her, but one that ultimately turned her stomach.
‘I was happy with Ben Salter.’ She tried to push him away but he was like a dead weight against her.
‘I don’t want to hurt you, Mia.’ He pulled back slightly, his expression softening, and Mia felt that wave of confusion and fear wash over her again. ‘I don’t really want to hurt anyone, but Coby… I can’t ever forgive him.’
‘Then you’re a weak man.’
He stepped forward, his hand on the side of her neck, that softer expression disappearing as quickly as it arrived, his eyes once more blazing with something that terrified Mia. ‘He’s the weak one, don’t you see? He has a beautiful woman, a baby boy, a warm, loving family around him and yet he chose to risk it all for a five minute fuck with his sister-in-law-to-be. He’s the weak one, Mia. And I need to know, darlin’, if it happened again.’
‘It only happened once. That one time.’
‘You sure?’ He raised an eyebrow, his expression disbelieving.
‘I’m telling the truth, Ben. It only happened once.’ Full sex had only happened once. She was choosing to forget the first finger-fuck had happened. Telling Ben about that could only make this already volatile situation even worse.
‘I’m giving you one more chance, Mia. To tell me the fucking truth here.’
From somewhere deep inside her Mia felt a strength rise up and she breathed in deep, knocking his hand from her leg and kicking him away, so hard he staggered backwards. But he was quick to steady himself. He just hadn’t banked on her fighting back.
‘It happened once, Ben. And I regret it, Coby regrets it, it was a huge, fucking mistake…’
‘You think? But as for it happening just once, well, I have it on good authority that he was here, just a day or so ago, in this house. And you were alone. So, you still gonna stand there and tell me it was just once?’
‘I’m telling you the fucking truth, are you listening to me? He came over, I’m not gonna deny that, but nothing happened.’
‘But he wanted it to.’ It wasn’t a question.
Mia turned away, pushing a hand through her hair as she tried to steady her breathing. ‘He wanted to. I didn’t. And in the end, neither did he. We both knew it was taking things too far. We’d crossed a dangerous line, one we needed to step back over before things got out of hand.’
‘How ironic, huh? That you took that step back when you might as well have just gone for it. Once, twice, a hundred fucking times, it doesn’t matter. He did it. You let him. Game over.’
‘I didn’t want it, Ben.’
‘That’s not what it looked like to me, when he had you slammed up against that wall with his filthy, lying dick buried deep inside you. From what I could see, darlin’, you were taking it like a true biker whore…’
She slapped him hard, the smack sending out a satisfying echo around the tiled bathroom. ‘I’m gonna tell Coby what’s going on, you hear me? Because you don’t scare me, Ben. Men like you, you’re pathetic with your threats and your metaphoric dick-waving that amounts to fuck all most of the time…’
He grabbed her wrist, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous vibe that made Mia’s stomach turn again, the nausea rising fast. ‘Don’t do that, Mia. Don’t.’
‘This isn’t gonna happen, Ben. I won’t let it.’ She broke free of his grip, running from the bathroom but he came after her, slamming her back against the hall wall.
‘Don’t go there tomorrow, Mia. I’m begging you now, don’t go to that wedding.’
‘What do you care, huh? If you can stand there and tell me what your sick and twisted club are gonna do and not even the tiniest part of you can see how wrong that is – if you can do that, what do you care who gets caught up in the fallout?’
‘I love you, Mia.’
‘You’re incapable of that emotion, Ben.’
‘I love you.’
There was a part of her now that felt a sudden, inexplicable shot of sympathy for this man in front of her. And she hated herself for even acknowledging it. ‘You really think I can stand by and let my family – my club – go down like that? When I knew it was coming? I’m going to my sister’s wedding, Ben. You want to do this, then you do it with me there.’
‘Jesus!’ Ben sighed, letting go of her and stepping back, throwing himself against the wall opposite. ‘Jesus!’
She just stood there and watched him for a few, long seconds. His body language was nervous, agitated, and she knew she should have been more scared than she was, but she also knew why she wasn’t feeling as terrified as the situation should have been making her feel. He really didn’t want to hurt her. If that had been his intention, he’d had plenty of opportunity to do it before now. So he didn’t want to hurt her.
‘I’m going to my sister’s wedding, Ben.’
He looked at her, and for the briefest of seconds she saw the man she’d fallen in love with, but he didn’t stay long. In the blink of an eye he’d disappeared, to be replaced by a man Mia didn’t know. Didn’t understand. But the fear had gone now. In fact, she felt strangely calm.
‘Then I’m gonna have to try and stop it.’
‘You said you couldn’t do that.’
‘Sol’s on my side, Mia… Shit!’ He pounded the wall behind him with his fist, fru
stration overwhelming him. ‘I don’t want the Lone Riders to suffer, I really don’t, but Coby…’
She took a tentative step towards him, stopping in her tracks as his head swung round to face her, his eyes wild as he stared her down. But then the wildness disappeared, and a softness took over, which unsettled her slightly, this ability he seemed to have of switching between emotions so quickly. But she risked another step forward.
‘You can end this, Ben. Whatever the hell it is, you can end this.’
‘I can’t forgive him, Mia.’
‘Try. Please, try. For me. For everyone who doesn’t deserve it… please. And all that stuff with your dad…’
The fire in his eyes was back in an instant, and Mia stepped away from him, immediately wishing she hadn’t mentioned that. She shouldn’t have brought his father into this. ‘Me and Hector – that has nothing to do with this.’
‘Doesn’t it?’
He gritted his teeth, his hands balling back into fists and he closed his eyes, breathing in deep to try and usher back the calm. ‘My dad will be dealt with.’ He opened his eyes and fixed Mia with a look she couldn’t read. ‘I can’t let that go, Mia. You have to understand, what he did…’
‘I really wish it hadn’t come to this,’ she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself, a pain cutting right across her chest as she once more allowed herself to remember how happy this man had once made her. Had that all been a lie?
‘I’ll talk to Sol.’
His voice pulled her back to reality, and she looked at him. His handsome face was engrained with a hardness she didn’t recognize now, and those brief flashes of softness – were they enough to make her think that, underneath this almost manic, agitated front, was the man she’d fallen in love with? Could he still be in there, somewhere?
‘It really doesn’t need to be this way, Ben.’
He threw her a weak smile. No. It wasn’t enough to make her even think about taking a risk. She needed him to go. To leave. To sort out this mess that had somehow built up. But the terrifying finale – that could be avoided. Couldn’t it?
‘It’s dragging me back, Mia.’ His expression changed again, the smile gone, a vacant, tired look replacing it. ‘And I don’t even know how I got to this point, I just know that stepping back into it, that world; everything that’s gone on… despite it all, it’s dragging me back. And I don’t know if I’m strong enough to walk away a second time.’
She felt a sharp pain pierce her heart, confusion swamping her. ‘You can do anything, if you really want to.’
He looked down, shaking his head. He seemed almost defeated, and that scared Mia more than anything.
‘I need to end this,’ he whispered, raising his gaze, his eyes locking with hers. ‘But I promise you, Mia, I will stop what’s happening tomorrow…’
‘I’m sorry, Ben.’
He frowned slightly, but said nothing.
‘For what happened with Coby.’
He broke the stare. He didn’t want to hear apologies or reasons why she’d done what she had. It was Coby’s fault. He should have known better, kept well away from her.
‘I’ll stop what’s happening tomorrow,’ Ben continued. ‘Maybe this has gone too far now.’
But even as he said the words, he knew it hadn’t gone far enough.
Twenty-Four
‘Where the fuck is your brother?’ Hector was on edge. Ben should be here, with the rest of them, making sure everything was ready. Today was a big day, the day the Dark Angels took over Paradise, yet he couldn’t settle. Something didn’t feel right.
‘I’ll try calling him again.’ Sol pulled out his phone, stepping out of the clubhouse as he waited for Ben to answer. But once more it went straight to voicemail. ‘Shit!’ He slid his phone back into his pocket and looked out at the trucks being loaded. He had a bad feeling about this. If Ben had gone rogue, tried taking things into his own hands, he could wreck everything they had planned. Why wasn’t he answering his fucking phone?
‘You’re still going through with this?’
Sol turned to see Sheriff Bailey standing there, his hands in his pockets, a resigned look on his face. ‘It’s happening, yes.’
‘You know I should really be dealing with this, through the proper channels. I should be warning the police, the Sheriff’s Department…’
‘And you know what’s gonna happen if you do that… Look, Michael, things are gonna change, OK?’
‘Well, forgive me if I show no surprise. I’ve heard that line so many times before, Sol.’
‘Hector will be gone soon. I’ll be running this club, with Ben at my side… brothers in the true sense of the word.’
‘Where is he? Ben?’
Sol pulled out his phone and checked for any messages. ‘No fucking idea,’ he sighed. ‘And that’s making me nervous.’
‘Call this off, Sol. Please. What you’re doing…’
‘I need to go find Ben.’
‘Sol! Wait!’
Sol turned back around, eyeing the sheriff with a more than wary expression. ‘You got something else you want to say? Only, we’ve kind of got a busy day ahead, y’know?’
‘Ben, he… the reason he killed Shane. Did he tell you why he did that?’
Sol’s wary expression deepened. ‘Did he say something to you?’
‘Coby Walker – Ben caught him with Mia. Caught them – they were together, if you know what I mean.’
Sol frowned. ‘Together? Oh, Jesus…’
‘He killed Shane to get him out of the way, so he could get to Coby. Your brother, I think he wants Coby dead. And I don’t know if that’s got anything to do with why he’s disappeared, I just thought you should know.’
‘Shit!’
‘Call this off, Sol. Because if Ben’s out there, and he’s got his own agenda, this is gonna end up one hell of a mess.’
‘Keep out of it, Michael. And tell Hector nothing, you got that? Just stay out of the way, get as far away from here as you can, then you’ve got every right to play dumb when it all kicks off.’
‘Jesus, Sol, come on…’
‘I’ll deal with Ben, OK? And I’ll deal with whatever shit that kicks up.’ He fixed Michael with a look that told him to back off, and disappear. Or he’d quite happily make that happen, for real. ‘I’ll deal with everything.’
And those were words that gave Michael no peace at all.
***
Ben opened his eyes, running a hand along the back of his neck, wincing slightly at the sharp pain that shot through it. That’s what you got for sleeping up against a tree all night.
Looking at his watch he scrambled to his feet, pulling out his phone, leaning back against the tree as he waited for Sol to answer. And when he did his brother’s voice wasn’t exactly welcoming.
‘Jesus Christ, Ben, where the fuck are you?’
‘I’m at the wedding venue.’
‘What the hell are you doing, bro? Hector’s going ape shit here, and I’ve just had an interesting conversation with Sheriff Bailey…’
‘They’ve put the wedding back.’ Ben cut Sol off mid-sentence. He needed to get this out before he ran out of time.
‘Listen to me, Ben. If what the sheriff told me is true; if you’re after Coby…’
‘Are you listening to me, Sol? Fuck Coby, I’ll deal with him another time. But you need to tell Hector that they’ve put the wedding back, which means they might know something.’
‘You been talking to people you shouldn’t?’
‘No. But it’s possible someone else, somehow, has got word to them about what we’re planning. And if they’ve been forewarned…’
Ben listened to the uneasy silence coming down the line. Sol was wary, he could tell. And he had good reason to be. None of this made sense, but it was the only way Ben could think of to get the job done. His job. Nothing else mattered. The game had changed again, and he had to play it out his way now.
‘Shit!’ Sol sighed. ‘How’d you know about
this?’
‘Got talking to a couple of the guys they’ve got manning the place down here. Told them I was a guest, they had no idea who I was. I’m telling you, Sol, Coby’s sure gone second rate on security for this gig.’ Ben closed his eyes, hoping Sol was falling for his lies. Because he needed to stall them, if only for an hour or so. ‘He told me they’d put the wedding back a couple of hours. Something to do with Lexi, but what if that’s just an excuse, huh? What it that’s just giving them time to amass more manpower?’
‘OK.’ Sol’s voice was heavy with frustration. ‘A couple of hours you say?’
‘A couple of hours.’ By that time Ben hoped to have ended it, sought his revenge; finished the job. By that time, Ben hoped it would all be over.
‘You stay there. If I need you, I’ll call you. Best you keep an eye on things… And, Ben?’
‘Yeah?’
‘You’re not gonna do anything stupid, are you? I mean, Coby Walker… he’s gonna get what’s coming to him, brother. Let it happen how we planned, OK? Things are gonna change, remember? Things are gonna get better. What Coby did, you can live with that, bro. Mia, she ain’t yours no more anyway. Forget her. Walk away. After today you’re gonna forget that club ever existed… Jesus, man, you’re making me nervous here, Ben.’
‘I’m fine.’ Ben closed his eyes, his heart beating so loud he could hear it. He was far from fine. He wasn’t thinking straight, he didn’t even know what rational was anymore, he just knew what he needed to do. And how he had to end it. Because, after a night alone, outside in the darkness, with nothing but his thoughts and his fears and his future running round and round in his head, he knew there was only one way he was going to find any peace. There was only ever going to be one way…
***
Mia watched as Lexi pulled on her dress – a short, white strapless baby-doll style dress that flattered her curves and gave just the hint of a nod towards something verging on traditional. She looked stunning with her long blonde hair piled up messily on top of her head, her colorful tattoos accentuated against the white material, her legs long and slender in sky-high heels. Her beautiful sister. And she deserved today, she deserved happiness, but Mia couldn’t rid herself of the guilt she felt at what had happened between her and Coby. She couldn’t stop the fear she still felt at the back of her mind that everything Ben had told her, about stopping the Dark Angels from turning up here today – she could only hope he’d tried his hardest to make that happen. Because she was close to telling someone – Kip, Luca, anyone – she was close to telling them what she knew.
Resurrection (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 3) Page 17
