“Fuck!” I roared.
“We’ll get there,” Bruce said, taking off when the light turned green.
I ground my teeth to keep from snapping at him. I had no intention of giving Aurora to him, so even if Carrie was okay now, she’d be in danger until my father got what he wanted.
What did he want with Aurora anyway? He had the opportunity to have her for himself but decided to give her to me instead. What the hell changed, aside from him wanting another way to fucking torture me?
Bruce skid the car to a stop in front of Carrie’s house. Her door was slightly opened, the front window smashed out. I jumped out of the SUV and ran up the walkway with Bruce on my heels and burst through the front door.
“Carrie!” I called out. The living room was completely destroyed, the couch cushions cut up, the coffee table turned over, and all the books on her bookcase strewn about on the floor. “Carrie!” I moved down the hallway. “Carrie! Fucking answer me, or I swear to—”
“I’m here,” she answered weakly.
Bruce and I rushed over to her, relief nearly choking me that she was still alive. She was in bad shape though. Her lip was busted, her right eye had swollen shut, and she was curled up on the floor, holding her ribcage.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked and looked up at Bruce. “Find a towel or something from the bathroom over there.”
He nodded and quickly went into the bathroom. I focused my eyes on Carrie, who winced as she tried to sit up.
“Wilson called me and told me he would show me what happened to people who didn’t mind their business,” she said, coughing speckles of blood from her mouth.
“What the hell did you find? He texted me and said you were next. I thought you were fucking dead,” I scolded. “You have to stop digging when you have no one around to protect you.”
“He can’t get away with what he’s doing, Bennett,” she said through her teeth. “I’d rather die with the truth than live with lies.”
I sighed deeply and looked around at the mess of her bedroom. “Well, you can’t stay here. It’s not safe anymore. You’re going to have to come back to the house with me until we can figure something out,” I said.
“Before we leave, I need to get my evidence,” she said. “That’s what they were looking for when the ransacked the place.”
“Where is it?” I asked as Bruce got down on the floor next to Carrie to clean her up.
“Tucked in the bathroom vent,” she forced out before she started coughing again.
I got up and walked the few steps to the bathroom, looking around until I located the vent on the floor beside her laundry basket. I wiggled the metal grating off the vent, revealing a manila envelope tucked inside. I pulled it out, reading “Proof” on the front of it.
I looked inside, seeing papers and small USB drives in it. I was curious as to what could possibly be on there to have my father tear up her house looking for it.
“We need to get you out of here,” I said, moving to help Carrie off the floor.
“I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” she mumbled, her head falling forward.
“Carrie, I need you to focus on me,” I said.
She looked at me briefly.
“Aurora was right,” she whispered. “She was right about everything.”
“Right about what?” I asked, confused. But she passed out before she answered, leaving me with even more unanswered questions.
What in the hell was my father after, and what did Aurora know that I didn’t?
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.”
Mary Oliver
BENNETT
Hickory dickory dock.
The snake went up the clock.
The clock struck one, I cocked my gun
Between the eyes he was shot.
“Before we start, I want to make something very clear,” I murmured.
My men and I were down in the conference room in the bunker for more privacy in the event that Kyler was sneaky and potentially planted bugs around my house for Wilson. I looked around at Bruce, Josh, KC, Saint, and Nyxin, the men who had been with me since I first took over my father’s trafficking sector.
“What I’m about to ask you to be a part of is dangerous business.” I gazed over at Saint, Nyxin, and Josh. “I know some of you have families, and this could put you all at risk. If you want to bow out to keep them safe, I’ll understand and won’t hold it against you.”
And I meant it. I knew all too well the pain that came with losing your lover or your family. Despite me wanting everyone on board, I couldn’t be selfish. I didn’t want my men to suffer because of my decision to hunt for blood.
Josh scoffed. “I knew what I signed up for and so does my family. I can get them somewhere safe by tonight and be ready to go as soon as you are,” he said.
My lips ticked up in a small grin when Nyxin nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Amber is on vacation in Bora Bora right now with her friends. I’m sure she won’t mind extending it for a little bit longer,” he said with a shrug.
I nodded. “Glad to hear that.” I looked around the room. “Anyone else having second thoughts?”
“Fuck second thoughts,” Saint stated, cracking his knuckles. “I’m ready to spill blood.”
“I second that,” Bruce said with a low chuckle. “So, what’s the plan, boss?”
I sighed and leaned back in my chair, stroking the stubble growing along my chin. “The first thing I need to do is verify everything Carrie collected,” I said, nodding toward KC. “Think you can hack Wilson’s shit?”
After learning the truth about the bastard, I couldn’t bear to call him father. A father wouldn’t leave his son motherless and lie about it for years. A father wouldn’t have his son’s lover and unborn child assassinated. A father wouldn’t use his only son as a puppet, only to be the main source of his pain and grief.
He was no fucking father of mine.
“I don’t see why not,” KC said with a shrug.
“Good. I want you to find the contracts for my mother, Carrie’s father, Stephanie, and whatever you can find on Vinnie. I want the names of every fucking soul on those contracts as well.”
“You got it,” he said and opened his laptop.
“Nyxin,” I stated.
“Hit me with it,” he said with a devilish grin.
“Hit up your connection to the black market. Tell them we’ll have some organs for sale soon.”
“Fuck yeah!” he exclaimed. “Any in particular?”
“Everything useable. I’ll also need two of the surgeons we have on payroll. Don’t want to fuck anything up.”
“On it right now,” he said as he slipped his phone out of his pocket and tapped around on it.
“Got the contracts,” KC said, just as I was about to speak again.
I raised a brow, a slight smirk on lips. “That was fast.”
He grinned. “Your father’s firewalls and security are shit. That’s what happens when you hire mediocre people to protect your things.”
“Well, good. Print those off for me,” I said.
My heart raced a little faster at the thought of finally knowing the truth. I didn’t think Carrie would lie to me about anything, but you could never be too careful when it came to Wilson's lies. Sometimes he’d plant false shit just to throw someone off his trail, which he could’ve easily done with her. Too bad for him, as he’d taught me everything I planned to use against him.
“How are we handling these cocksuckers?” Josh asked.
“Patience, my friend,” I said with a chuckle as KC placed the papers in front of me. “I need to know what I’m dealing with before I proceed.”
“Fucking hell, man,” he muttered.
My phone vibrated on the table, displaying an unknown number on the screen. I hit the decline button, only for it to light up again with another call from the same number. Assuming it was Wilson,
I hit decline once more. He was the last person I wanted to talk to.
My phone lit up yet again with another call, irritating the shit out of me. Grinding my teeth, I answered the call and put it on speaker.
“What?” I hissed.
“Now that’s no way to talk to a potential business partner, is it?” a thick, Russian voice taunted.
Bruce looked at me with a raised brow, but I only shrugged. After killing both of his bosses and them attacking us at the safehouse, I had no fucking idea why business was still on the table at all.
“Who is this?” I demanded.
The man chuckled. “You can call me Aleksi. We met…briefly at a business meeting.”
I glanced around at my men, who looked just as confused as I was. This felt like a trap, which put me further on edge.
“Why the fuck would I want to do business with someone who sent men to kill me?” I asked, fighting to keep my irritation at bay.
“If something happened to you, it wasn’t my men,” he drawled.
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “I know Russian flags when I see them.”
“No one on our end arranged an attack. Maybe you should look into your father’s new security detail,” he said with a chuckle. I looked at KC, who nodded and began typing on his computer. Aleksi continued to speak. “Besides, why would I kill the man who did me a huge favor?”
A favor?
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.
He laughed and released a content sigh. “Your father was right about you. I told him I needed those two slobs out of the head seats, and he said he knew the perfect way to do it. You reacted just as planned and secured my spot as the new mob boss.”
“What the fuck?” Josh whispered, his eyes wide.
The muscle in my jaw ticked with anger as I processed his words. How the fuck didn’t I see that? I should’ve realized it when he specifically asked for me to bring Aurora instead of one of the girls who actually worked for me. Not many of them were as gorgeous as Aurora, so having her as a “showcase” was false advertisement.
That man had a way of pulling my strings and making me look like a fucking idiot afterwards while he kept his hands relatively free of blood. This new revelation also meant the goons who attacked us at the safe house were his men who were working on his orders. He’d wanted me dead that night, not because of what I did, but because of what he knew I’d do once I found out the truth.
Fucking coward.
“So, what do you want?” I finally asked. Everyone in the room was silent, staring at the phone and waiting on bated breath for the man’s response.
“An alliance,” Aleksi answered.
“Bull fucking shit,” I spat. “I don’t want an alliance with a single soul who does business with Wilson.”
“That is where you misunderstand,” he tsked. “Recent events have shown me your father cannot be trusted. I cannot do business with men I can’t trust.”
“How do you know I can be trusted?” I taunted, leaning back in my chair.
“I have a…how do you say…hunch?” he replied. “Besides, I think he’s our common enemy.”
“And why do you think he’s my enemy?” I drawled, getting bored with the conversation.
“I suppose you wouldn’t be friendly with someone who has a bounty on your head,” Aleksi said, his voice dripping with amusement.
Anger swelled in my chest at the thought of Kyler and the shady, traitorous shit he’d been up to. My trigger finger itched to pump him full of lead as I watched him walk around the compound with a smug expression on his face, as if he was convinced he’d pulled the wool over my eyes.
Even when we’d discovered Vinnie’s dismembered body in front of the gates of my property, Kyler was the only one unmoved, as if he’d already seen it or expected it. Just the thought of his lack of sympathy and nonchalant demeanor made me want to break every bone in his body. But all of that would happen in due time.
“So what do you want?” I repeated with a growl, turning my attention back to the conversation at hand.
“What you and I both want, friend,” he said, his voice carrying a cheery tone. “Your father dealt with.”
“No one will touch him but me,” I ground out.
After all the shit that man put me through, I wanted to be the one who spilled his blood. I wanted to watch him take his last breath. I wanted to watch the life drain from his eyes just as he probably did for everyone he took away from me.
“No, not kill him, friend—”
“Stop calling me ‘friend’,” I snapped.
He chuckled. “I want his connections. I want everything he has that makes him as powerful as he is.”
“Why the fuck would I do that when I can keep that for myself?” I countered.
“You can keep your whores. I just want everything else,” he said.
I looked around the table to see my men shaking their heads no. My thoughts exactly.
“I’ll have to get back to you on that. I have too much shit to deal with than to discuss your bullshit. I’ll be in touch,” I said and hung up before he could say another word.
The room was silent for a moment as I processed everything I’d learned so far. Wilson had planted an assassin in my house. He set me up with the Russians to cover his own tracks when he attempted to kill me at the safe house. And because I would soon know the truth, I was a threat to him because he knew I’d come after him.
“So back to Kyler,” I finally murmured. “Did you find out anything else about him? Family? Girlfriend?”
“That information should start on the third page or so,” KC answered.
I flipped through the sheets, pausing briefly when my contract came into view. I never thought I’d see the day when my own father would order a hit on me, but here we were. Lines had been crossed that we couldn’t come back from, our familiar structure severed forever. I ground my teeth. At the end of all this, one of us would be dead, and I didn’t plan on dying anytime soon.
I looked over Kyler’s brief information. He only had a college-aged younger sister and a girlfriend listed in terms of family, both of which were going to suffer a great deal due to him.
I leaned back in my seat with a sigh. “Find his sister and girlfriend and bring them here. KC, put the cameras out back on a loop so he won’t see anyone coming or going.”
“We’re doing this tonight?” Josh asked.
“Do you think I should wait any longer so the fucker can try to kill me?” I snapped.
He quickly shook his head. “Hell no. Just tell us what you need us to do.”
“Find his bitch and his sister and bring them here,” I said as I stood up. “When they're here, I'll deal with him.”
“Weapon of choice?” Bruce asked.
I looked to him and grinned. “Sledge hammer, pressure washer, and ammonia.”
After dismissing the men to their tasks, I walked down the hall to the Retribution room. I replayed the conversation in my head, everything suddenly making so much sense. I'd only told my security detail my location when I was at the safe house, and Kyler must’ve passed the info on to Wilson. I ground my teeth. Wilson gave him the green light to kill me that night, sending men we thought were the Russians to ambush us.
Pushing the thoughts aside, I unlocked the Retribution room and opened the door. The light from the hallway spilled on Aurora’s naked form, her face hidden by her hair as she bowed her head.
I’d tried to be patient with her, giving her chance after chance to fall in line, but all she’d done lately was test me. Between her harping about these “new revelations” she’d had from her dreams to her becoming bolder and mouthier since we left the safe house, I was done playing with her.
The injuries she’d sustained at the safehouse were nearly healed, and the stronger she became, the more fuckery she got into. That woman surprised me with how much shit she could get into while in captivity with no one to conspire with but herself.
So, for the
past few hours, I’d made her relive what she’d considered to be the worst day of her life. I played our little violent tango in the Retribution room on a loop, electrodes stuck to her body in sync with the video. Anytime she was hit or violated in the video, the electrode stimulated pain in that area. After hours of that, you’d think she’d finally learn her lesson, but Aurora didn’t learn from pain like the average person. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was a fucking masochist.
"New rules, slut, " I said when I entered the room. She squinted against the light when I flipped the switch.
"Bennett?" she croaked.
I tsked and shook my head. “Who else would I be, idiot? Jesus?” I taunted. “From now on, you'll refer to me as sir. You don't have the privilege to use my name anymore, pet."
Her gaze hardened as she stared at me. "Is that all?"
“As I showed you at the safe house, as my pet, you're here for my pleasure, and I’ll use you in any way I want—"
"What?!"
"And you won't speak without permission. The only thing you'll say is 'yes, sir.'"
"Why are you doing this?" she wailed.
I slapped her hard across the face, satisfaction flowing through me when she whimpered. "You didn’t have permission to speak, slut,” I growled. “I’m not even done telling you your new rules and you're already breaking them."
She bit her trembling bottom lip, tears glittering in her eyes like rare, beautiful jewels.
“Are you going to shut the fuck up so I can finish?”
She nodded. When I raised a brow at her, she finally sputtered, “Yes.”
“Yes?”
Her breath hitched when I flexed my hand. “Y-yes, sir,” she stuttered.
"As I was saying," I continued. "When I'm not using you, you'll be locked in your room until I need or want you. And last but not least, you’re going to stop with this Stephanie shit or else you’ll be in here again for another punishment. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes,” she said, barely above a whisper.
I cupped my ear. "What was that?"
She cleared her throat as a single tear fell. "Yes...sir."
Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection Page 22
