Bennett

by Sybil Bartel

  The driver nodded then left the same way he’d appeared, silently.

  “You don’t have to wait with me.” I stared at my lap.

  “Following orders, ma’am.”

  Awesome. “If I tell you to leave, will you?”

  Two heartbeats later, when he still hadn’t answered, I looked up.

  Serious brown eyes, close cropped brown hair, olive skin, he looked at me with determination. “Even if you weren’t my assignment, I wouldn’t leave you here alone.”

  “You don’t know me.” Or Marcus.

  A smile spread across his stern face, replacing the formidable soldier with a roguish boyish charm. “Once a marine, always a marine. We don’t leave anyone behind.” He winked, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

  A shitstorm of emotions already swirling in my head, I didn’t comment. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off and Marcus was in the hands of the doctors, I was reeling from the scene in the alley.

  As far as I knew, Marcus had never hit anyone except me, but seeing him slap that girl…. I inhaled sharply and buried my face in my hands.

  “He’s going to be okay.” André’s hand settled on my back. “They’ll take care of him here.”

  I wasn’t sure anyone could take care of Marcus. I pushed to my feet and walked to the window. Leaning my forehead on the glass, I stared at the waiting room floor.

  Black boots appeared in my line of vision. “PTSD?” André asked quietly.

  “Yeah.” I didn’t see any point in denying it.

  “How long has he been hitting the hard stuff?”

  “He doesn’t do drugs. He drinks, but he doesn’t touch the illegal stuff. It interferes with his medications.”

  “Looks like he upped his game.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “What’s your plan?”

  Good question. “Before or after I kick his ass for tonight?” I didn’t mean to show my frustration, but the words just came out.

  André chuckled. “After.”

  “No clue.”

  “VA’s got a program to help him with this.”

  “I know. He’s in it.” Nothing worked.

  André was quiet a moment. “Lot of guys turn to the circuit after getting out. They try and fight their way to peace of mind. Sometimes it backfires.”

  “Marcus isn’t in the circuit.” At least, not that I knew of. “He just trains like he is.” He’d wanted to be in the circuit, but I suspected even the trainer he’d had knew he was a loose cannon and dumped him. But that was another thing Marcus hadn’t talked with me about, so I didn’t know what was really going on. And any attempts to get him to find a regular job had ended in an argument, so I’d given up mentioning it.

  Andre crossed his arms. “Did you know he’s been making the rounds here in Miami in the underground scene?”

  “No, but I’m not surprised. He was a mess.”

  “He’s had three fights that I know of.”

  I looked up at André. “In one week?” He knew where Marcus had been and he hadn’t said anything to Ben? Or Ben hadn’t bothered to do something about it?

  He nodded once. “The last match, he lost. And before you jump to conclusions, we only found him today. I know the situation. I wouldn’t have let him fight if we’d found him sooner.”

  “Thank you.” Exhaling, I focused on what he’d said about Marcus losing. He’d never lost a fight. Marcus was relentless. “He never loses.”

  “Rumor has it he threw the fight. He was favored to win. A lot of people lost a lot of money.”

  Oh God. “Let me guess, and a few people made a ton.”

  “You got it.”

  This was worse than I’d thought. “He was with some guys in the gym….”

  André nodded. “Killian Crowd.”

  “Is that the guy with the dragon tattoo?”

  André tipped his chin, but he looked pissed.

  I hated fighter names, they were stupid. “He’s a piece of work.”

  André sighed like he was tired. “A piece of work you embarrassed in front of a gym full of his fighters.”

  “He was in my way.” It wasn’t my fault he was an asshole.

  André’s smile was more resignation than humor. “I give you credit, girl, I do, but you sure know how to step in it.”

  I didn’t get a chance to ask exactly what I’d stepped in because a doctor walked into the waiting room.

  “Elyssia Maher?”

  I stepped forward. “That’s me.”

  He was about fifty with a stern expression and a take-no-crap attitude. I knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “Ms. Maher, I’m Dr. Hudson. Do you know what kind of drugs your brother took tonight?”

  I shrank under his disapproving stare. “No, sir. I’ve never known him to take drugs. He takes medication for depression and he drinks alcohol, but never drugs.”

  The doctor’s lips thinned out. “Yes, well, we’ve got him stable, and we’re running tests. He’s unconscious, and he has a concussion. The bones in his left cheek are fractured, and he’ll need surgery for that after we clear this hurdle.”

  Tears welled in my eyes.

  “He also has two fractured ribs, and he’s lost one of his lower molars.” The doctor rattled off his injuries like a grocery list.

  I clutched my arms around myself and bit my lower lip.

  The doctor wasn’t finished. “Until we get the test results back or until he wakes up, we’re in a holding pattern. Any questions?”

  I shook my head.

  André’s hand landed on my back. “Can she see him?”

  “Yes. The nurse will take her in. I’ll be back later to check on him.” He nodded crisply and turned to the nurses’ station and spoke quietly with one of the nurses. She glanced at us then smiled professionally.

  A few seconds later, she was leading us through a maze of hallways that all looked the same. André kept pace with me while my mind struggled with a jumbled mess of emotions and questions. How did Marcus get a molar knocked out if he had a mouth guard in? Why was he taking drugs, what drugs had he taken? Why was he beaten so badly? Marcus didn’t go down easily. I’d only ever managed to get the upper hand on him one or two times when he was really drunk, but he never drank before a fight, not ever.

  I walked into his room, but when I saw him in the hospital bed, my step faltered. André’s hand caught my arm to steady me as I stared at the tubes and machines wrapped all around Marcus’s still body. He looked half dead.

  “I’ll be outside if you need me.” André gently pushed me forward then stepped into the hallway and shut the door.

  I forced myself to close the few feet between me and the side of the bed, then I stared at the only family I had left. Inhaling, I let it out slow and fought back the sense of déjà vu.

  “I’m not burying you too,” I whispered.

  Machines beeped and hummed.

  I hated him for doing this to me. I hated myself for hating him. I hated my mother for dying, and I hated whoever had done this to Marcus. I wanted to rip all the tubes away from him and shake him until he woke up while I screamed at the world to stop sucking.

  But mostly, I just wanted Ben.

  I dragged a chair next to the bed and sank into it.

  A few minutes later, a knock sounded at the door. I looked up and André walked in.

  “I’ve got a change of clothes for you.” He handed me a neatly folded pile in a plastic bag.

  I stared at the bag. “These are my clothes.”

  André nodded. “From your motel.”

  “You know where I’ve been staying?” I should’ve realized what was going on when he appeared in the alley behind the gym, but I’d been too upset to process it. “You’ve been following me?”

  “Just doing my job, ma’am,” he answered formally, before nodding at Marcus and quickly changing the subject. “How’s he doing?”

  A new wave of tears threatened. “The same.”

  “I’m
sending one of my guys for takeout. Have you eaten dinner?”

  I glanced around the room until I saw a clock on the wall. I was surprised it was almost ten. “I’m not hungry.”

  André nodded and went back in the hall.

  I used the soap in the bathroom to wash up and change, putting my dirty clothes in the plastic bag and tying it shut. In a fresh pair of leggings, sports bra and zip-up sweatshirt, I returned to my post and sat. I tried not to think about my mother, but everything about the stupid room reminded me of her last days. I dropped my head to my hands as another knock sounded at the door.

  André strode in with a takeout container, and the room filled with the scent of meat and spices. He pulled the bedside table up to my chair, lowered it and placed the container on top. “Cuban, from my cousin’s place. It’s the real deal. It’s good and there’s nothing you’re allergic to in it.” He pulled a water and prepackaged fork and napkin out of the cargo pocket in his pants and set them down like a place setting. “Can I get you anything else?”

  I frowned. “How did you know I have food allergies?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “I make it my business to know these things.”

  I stared at him, trying to figure out how my life had come to this or why he was even here. I was sure whatever favors or however much Ben had paid him, it didn’t include hospital meal delivery of allergen-free food. “You didn’t have to do this.”

  His dark eyes studied me a moment. “I don’t have to do a lot of things. Doesn’t mean I won’t.”

  The almost angry tone in his voice made me drop my gaze.

  “Eat, chica.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  “Welcome. I’ll be outside.”

  I heard the door shut, and I opened the container. Pork, black beans, yellow rice, pickled onions and plantains. My mouth watered. I ate, but it felt wrong with Marcus unconscious next to me. When I’d finished as much as I could, I stepped out into the hall. Andre was in a chair right outside the door. His long legs stretched in front of him, his arms and ankles crossed, he looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

  I held the container out. “There’s a lot left, are you hungry?”

  “I ate.” His brown eyes studied me like he was trying to figure something out.

  “What do I owe you?”

  “Stay away from Tension, and we’ll call it even.”

  “I already planned on it.” I never wanted to go back there.

  “Good.” He glanced at the container and started to get up. “I’ll get rid of that for you.”

  “I’ll take care of it. I need to stretch my legs.” I looked toward the nurses’ station and saw a trash can by the elevator. “Be right back.”

  André inclined his head at me, and I made my way down the hall. Most of the rooms were occupied with various signs on the doors I didn’t want to look at. I was shoving the container in the trash when the elevator dinged and the doors whooshed open. I turned and came face-to-face with Killian and two jerks from the gym.

  “Looks like we got the right floor.” Killian sneered at me.

  I glanced back at the nurses’ station, but it was empty. Damn it. I glared at Killian. “Leave.”

  Laughing, he stepped forward and tugged a strand of my hair. “Not yet. Besides, I think you and I have unfinished business.”

  I smacked his hand away. “No, we don’t.”

  His smile turned vicious, like he had something to prove to his asshole friends. “Tell you what.” His fingers snaked around my upper arm and squeezed hard. “When I’m done talking to Marcus, I’ll show you how a woman should treat a man. What do you say?”

  “She says no.” André stepped up next to me. “Let her go.” Even though his voice was quiet, André’s command made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

  Killian’s two men moved to either side of him as his fingers dug into my arm. “You too stupid to see you’re outnumbered? Take a walk. This is private business.”

  “You ever serve?” André asked calmly.

  Killian smirked. “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”

  As if on cue, four VA security guards and two male nurses who looked like they’d just stepped off the battlefield appeared, surrounding Killian and the two guys with him.

  Killian shoved me away from him.

  André caught me around the waist and drew me into his side. “VA Hospital. VA Security. Veteran staff. If you’d served, you would’ve known what you were walking into.” André glanced at the nearest guard. “Escort them out. If they return, arrest them.”

  The guard nodded and closed in on Killian. “Move.”

  Right before Killian turned to go, he caught my eye. “Marcus owes us.”

  André pulled me away. Halfway down the hall, his arm still around me, he quietly spoke. “You okay?”

  My heart was pounding, my arm was smarting and it was hard to breath past the panic. “Fine.”

  “I’ll make sure they don’t come back in here.”

  “Thanks.” But that wouldn’t solve the problem. What the hell was I going to do when Marcus got released?

  “We’ll worry about your brother’s release when he’s better,” André said, as if reading my thoughts.

  “Okay.”

  He led me back into Marcus’s room. “I’m gonna check to make sure they left, then let the nurses know to keep an eye out. Tyler is replacing me in a few minutes. If you need anything, let him know. I’ll check in tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, for everything.” The few words didn’t seem like enough.

  “De nada, chica. Take care of yourself.” André tipped his chin and left.

  Hours passed and nothing changed. The doctor had come in and said we just had to wait till Marcus woke up. A nurse came twice to check his stats but still nothing changed. As the night bled toward a new day, exhaustion took over and my eyes closed.

  RUNNING ON ADRENALINE WHILE guilt gnawed at my gut, I pulled into the hospital’s parking lot and went in through the emergency entrance. I showed my ID and gave the room number, and they let me in like André said they would.

  A guy in a black Luna and Associates polo nodded at me as I approached Marcus’s room.

  “Tyler?”

  “Yes, sir.” He held his hand out and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark. I’m a big fan.”

  “Thanks.” I shook his hand. “How is Marcus? Elyssia?”

  His demeanor turned all business. “She’s inside. She’s fine. No change in her brother’s condition, and the doctor doesn’t expect any tonight.”

  “Thanks.” I handed him my rental car key. “You get her stuff out of her hotel?” I’d asked André to check her out.

  He took the key. “Yes, sir. Her bag is in my vehicle.”

  “Can you put it in the black Yukon parked by the emergency exit?”

  Without being conspicuous, he sized me up. “I prefer not to leave position, sir. Give me twenty minutes, and I’ll have someone bring her bag up.”

  I appreciated he was doing his job, but I wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to get to Elyssia, and I wanted her shit in my rental. “I’ve taken Marcus down. I can handle anything else that’ll happen in the ten minutes it will take you to run downstairs.”

  Tyler nodded. “Consider it done.”

  I didn’t wait to see if he took off. I quietly pushed the door open, and my heart fucking leapt at the sight of her. Curled on a lounge chair pulled up next to his bed, Elyssia was sound asleep. Her hair falling over her face, her hands tucked between her knees, she was so damn beautiful, my chest hurt.

  Quiet, so I didn’t wake her, I squatted in front of her chair and just breathed her in for a moment. Unable to resist, I brushed a strand of her hair from her face just so I could look at her.

  Her breath hitched and a small sound escaped from her throat. She frowned in her sleep.

  “Shh,” I whispered, kissing her forehead. “It’s going to be okay.”

  Her eyes opened and s
he blinked. Then she sucked in a sharp breath. “Ben?”

  “Right here, baby.”

  Her eyes welled, and she burst into tears. “What are you doing here? You’re on tour.”

  I couldn’t not touch her. Pulling her into my arms, I stood to my full height, and her entire body weight, which wasn’t much, dissolved into me.

  “You’re here,” she quietly sobbed.

  “I’m right here, baby, right here.” I held her tighter. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”

  She cried harder. “I ignored you.”

  “I know.” Trust me, I fucking knew. “We’ll talk about that later, but you’re done not returning my calls and texts.”

  “Okay.” She choked back another sob and held me tighter. “I missed you. I missed your smell and I missed your arms and I missed your voice, but I was so angry with you.”

  Hating the way she felt, but loving the fact that she was being honest with me, I stroked her hair. “I know, baby.”

  “You lied to me.”

  “I didn’t lie. I withheld information. And if you’ve been reading my texts or listening to my messages, you know I won’t do it again.” I’d said I was sorry. I wasn’t going to repeat myself. “We both made mistakes. You should’ve let me know you were okay.” I was still pissed about the dump André told me she’d been staying in.

  “I’m sorry,” she breathed.

  I set her on her feet. “Me too.” Grabbing her face, angling her head, I fucking kissed her.

  I didn’t hold back. Eight days felt like a lifetime, and there wasn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t give up for her. I stroked through her sweet mouth and groaned like a starved animal the second she kissed me back.

  Forcing myself to pull away just enough to see her, I searched her face, both loving and hating what I saw. She was so damn gorgeous, but there were dark circles under her tired eyes and worry and pain in her expression. More than anything, I wanted to take it all away. “Come on, we’re going to get some sleep. Tyler will stay here, and we’ll come back in the morning.”

  She glanced at her brother. “I can’t leave him.”

  I wasn’t taking no for an answer. “The doctor doesn’t think there will be any change tonight, and you need rest.”