I feigned confusion as I looked at him. "What? I just wanted to show you how appreciative I am for your generosity, sir," I said.
"Just like I told you upstairs, don't push your luck. That's your second warning," he said, just as Saint walked in carrying Giselle in his arms.
"Aurora! You got new hair!" she exclaimed, pointing at me.
I smiled at her and nodded. "I did. Do you like it?" I asked.
"Yeah! It's pretty!" she said and smiled, nodding her head.
"Hey, am I invisible now?" Bennett teased from his seat. I rolled my eyes as she giggled.
"Hi, Uncle Benny," she said, giggling again when he stood up and tickled her side.
"Ready for all the fun I have planned for you guys today?" he asked her.
"Yeah!" she exclaimed, kicking her legs. "Daddy said I can bounce on the bouncy castle!"
"Yeah, you will. Once everything is set up outside, you all can go play, okay?"
"Okay," she said with a grin.
Bennett looked to Saint and frowned. "What's she doing up here anyway?"
He shrugged. "Just wanted to get her out of there for a few minutes. I'm sure she and the rest of the kids are going stir crazy looking at those concrete walls. I was just walking her around though. I'm about to take her out to the backyard since everything is calm right now." He paused and raised an eyebrow. "Unless you need something?"
"No, we're good here. You can go ahead," Bennett said. Saint nodded and walked out of the dining room with Giselle singing a song I didn't recognize. Bennett looked to me.
"I have a few phone calls to make. I'm sure you can manage yourself in my absence," he said.
I nodded as I cut into my pancakes. When he didn't move from his spot, I suppressed a sigh and met his gaze. "Yes, sir. I can manage," I bit out.
"Good. I'll see you in a bit then," he said and walked out of the dining room, leaving me alone.
I released a deep breath and sank a little bit in my seat. Savannah peeked into the dining room, looking around before she fully stepped in, sitting in the empty seat next to me.
"Are you okay?" she murmured as her eyes scanned over me.
I dropped my gaze to my plate. I was as okay as I could be in this kind of situation. "I'm fine," I answered, my voice low.
"I was so worried about you when I saw you the other night. Bruce said that you weren't talking and—"
"He bought you?" I interrupted, remembering what she'd told me when she came to visit me. She gave me a small smile.
"Yeah. I officially belong to him. I don't have to work in the bunker anymore and he says that when the war is over, I'll go live with him in his townhouse at the back of the property."
"That's good, I guess," I said, stabbing at my eggs.
She looked over her shoulder before she leaned in a little closer to me. "His townhouse isn't as secured as this house is. I think once we move into that one, I'm going to plan my escape. I don't want to spend the rest of my life trapped here."
I shook my head. My mind went back to when I first arrived here, the house in chaos because Alice had tried to escape. Alarms were going off at the corner of the properties and when she was caught, I'd killed her to save my own ass. The thought of Savannah being the next one in the Retribution room due to an escape attempt didn't sit very well with me.
"That's not a good idea. You wouldn't make it off the property," I mused, shoveling a forkful of eggs into my mouth.
Her brow creased in confusion. "Why wouldn't I? I mean I would learn the layout of the property first to figure out the best way to escape. I would plan days ahead—"
"Every girl that Bennett has in his possession is chipped," I said with a sigh, putting my fork down. "You're chipped, I'm chipped, we're all chipped. It's how he keeps track of us." She looked at me with wide eyes. "Even if you do manage to escape, all he has to do is track the chip inside of you and he'll just go and bring you back here. If you end back up here after trying to escape, you'd be better off just committing suicide."
"Not to mention," I continued, "I'm sure Bennett sold you to Bruce on the promise that you'd stay in line. If you were to run off or something, that'll fall back on Bruce and Bennett won't hesitate to kill the both of you."
Savannah's eyes were full of tears as she looked at me. I knew the pain she felt. There was a different kind of helplessness when you thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel to take you out of your nightmare, only to find out that the light was just from your captor shining a flash light at you. Bennett's words bounced around in my head. There was no way in hell I was going to sit around and "accept my fate" of being here. I didn't survive all I did just to settle for a meager existence.
"I'm sure it's easy for you to accept being trapped here when you live up here," she ground out. "You weren't the one who had to deal with being raped over and over by multiple men at all hours of the day and night. You weren't the one who had your dignity ripped from you while your violation was broadcasted all over the internet somewhere."
"I haven't accepted it, Savannah. I don't know what you want me to say. I'm chipped just like you are, so the same restrictions apply to me too. There isn't anywhere we can go where Bennett can't find us as long as we still have these chips. It's not like I know where it was inserted to be able to take it out," I argued.
"So we're really stuck here," she said, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
There's a way out of everything, I remembered Stephanie saying in my dream. I sighed. "I'll do everything in my power to figure out a way out for us," I said.
She scoffed and wiped her eyes before standing up. "You mean like you said weeks ago?" she ground out. "I'll find my own way out."
I watched her as she stormed out of the dining room, leaving me at the table alone. I could understand her frustration, but I couldn't dwell on her emotions. Now I understood why Bennett told me I should worry about myself instead of being so focused on Savannah. I had my own agenda that I needed to put into motion and I couldn't afford to be distracted by her.
After I finished eating breakfast, I wandered through the house until I made it to the glass patio door leading out to the backyard. I walked out to the backyard, which was being turned into what looked like a small carnival. What was usual empty land beyond the garden was now filled with concession stands, game booths, a petting zoo, a bouncy castle, and water activities. Even though the sentiment was nice, having an outside fun day for the kids didn’t seem like the best idea when his psychotic father could show up at any second and attack us. I supposed it was a risk he was willing to take in order to make the kids happy.
Men in all black policed the yard, all of them wearing guns on their hips. No matter what happened, the kids would at least be protected. A small grin formed on my lips as I watched Giselle a few yards away, jumping up and down in excitement as the bouncy castle was blown up. It was refreshing to see such innocent, genuine joy from a child. While a war was on the horizon outside of these gates, the only thing on Giselle’s mind was jumping on the bouncy castle when it was ready. Sometimes I wished I could go back to that naïve, blissful ignorance of childhood.
I walked along the cobbled pathway that led to a wall of roses. Bees lightly buzzed from flower to flower, the smell of the roses growing stronger as I got closer. I reached up and stroked the silky petals. The cobblestoned path continued beyond the wall, so I moved forward, realizing that it was a maze.
“Why the hell would anyone have a maze made from roses?” I mused to myself. I couldn’t see Bennett—or any of these hardened guys for that matter—wanting to get lost in a rose maze.
Maybe it was Stephanie that wanted this here, I thought, brushing my fingers against the blooming flowers as I passed them. I could hear the faint bubbling of water in the distance, peaking my curiosity. I walked a little faster, stumbling upon a clearing still surrounded by walls of roses. A stone fountain bubbled up in the middle of the clearing, three benches perched in front of three walls. My heart spe
d up a bit when I saw what looked to be a shiny, granite ledger grave marker on the ground.
I slowly walked over to it, my heart breaking when I realized it was Stephanie’s grave. The stone had a picture of her smiling encased at the top, the rest reading:
In love memory of
Stephanie
January 27, 1991 - June 14, 2016
My heart will mourn you for eternity.
I love you, amore mio.
Bennett had encased his most prized possession in a wall of roses so that everything would always be beautiful for her. There wasn’t anything beautiful about the darkness that came with this life and she ended up being consumed by it.
You have to admit that this is a bit heartbreaking, the small voice said in my head.
And it was. Seeing this, how he protected the very person he grieved, made my heart break for him. It broke for the future they wouldn’t get, the pain that hadn’t healed for him, and the man that was lost the night she died.
Tears burned my eyes as I got down on my knees next to the grave, my fingers running over the engraved stone as I thought back to the young girl I’d met so many years ago.
BENNETT
“Keep going….keep going…” I called out, waving my hand. The male kids scattered across the yard as I held the football in my hand, all of them watching me as they pushed each other. Seeing the kids with smiles on their faces made me smile. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying this fun day, probably a little more than the children. The peace and normality that innocent fun brought made it easy to forget the war with Wilson and the people I needed to avenge. Right now, the inner child in me that never had moments like this was soaking all this up. It was impossible to not feel good during a moment like this.
I leaned back and threw the ball, watching as Josh’s 7-year-old son, Logan, caught it. He caught the ball and fell to ground briefly, but immediately jumped back to his feet in excitement.
“Fuck yeah!” he screamed as he threw the football on the ground and did a victory dance.
I pointed at him. “Watch your mouth, kid, or else I’m going to duct tape you upside down on the side of the house,” I warned.
“Yeah, loser,” Tank’s 10-year-old, Spencer said, slapping Logan behind the head.
“Hey!” Logan shouted and tackled Spencer to the ground. I sighed as I watched them rolling around on the ground. So much for the peace when you’re amongst young boys, I mused to myself.
“Knock it off,” I stated, my voice firm. They pushed each other and rose to their feet, glaring at one another. “Today is supposed to be fun so that you can get some fresh air and not be in the bunker all day. If you don’t want to behave, I can send you back down there and take away your iPads, videos games, and TVs. Is that what you want?”
“No,” they both grumbled, pouting.
“Then knock it the hell off,” I said and held my hand out. “Pass the ball back to me.”
I threw the football with them before I noticed Bruce standing a few feet away with his hands in his pockets, smirking at me. Aurora was nowhere to be seen, a sliver of dread creeping through me at the thought of what the hell she could have gotten herself into.
“Here, you guys can toss this around for a bit. I’ll be back in a little while,” I said, tossing the ball to Spencer before making my way over to Bruce.
“You know it’s a little odd to see you playing with kids, right?” he said as I approached.
“What’s odd about playing with kids? I know how to not be a raging maniac sometimes,” I said and chuckled.
“For some people, that may be debatable,” he said. “I’m starting to wonder if this fun day is for the kids or if you’re using the kids as an excuse to have one. You seem to be having more fun than the kids.”
I shrugged. “It’s a nice distraction with everything that’s going on, I’ll admit that.”
We walked over to a concession stand, grabbing a funnel cake, and resumed walking the grounds. When we were a comfortable enough distance away from the children, we got down to business.
“Aleksi wants a meeting,” Bruce started before popping a piece of his funnel cake into his mouth.
I frowned. The last time I had a meeting with him and the rest of those Russian fucks, it initiated a war within my own damn organization. Despite what he’d said when he called me, I couldn’t trust that this wouldn’t be another set up where they try to get get their revenge after killing the head of their mafia.
“A meeting for what?” I finally asked.
“He wants to talk in further details about what the plan is with Wilson and his contacts. He says he’ll let you deal with him as you choose; he just wants the contacts he mentioned.” Bruce looked to me. “Do you plan to take over the entire organization?”
I sighed deeply. Dealing with my own sector was enough work; I couldn’t even fathom being in control of everything. It was a miracle that my father was able to handle everything on his own once my grandfather passed and my uncles retired. My dad’s entire life was comprised of nothing but his business. We didn’t do many family outings or vacations. There weren’t many birthday parties or going out for ice creams. I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to pass down that isolation and selfishness to a new generation if I ever settled down. By taking over the business as a whole, that was definitely going to be in my future. That wasn’t what Stephanie would’ve wanted.
It wasn’t what I wanted.
“No. I have enough to worry about here.”
“So, do you want to schedule the meeting?” he asked.
“Set up another call. I want to know what he’s willing to pay for the information he wants. I have too much to do and I’m not keen on wasting my time,” I muttered. I didn’t want another scenario like the last meeting I had with the Russians. If I did meet with him, I’d have a lot more men with me than I did last time.
“I’ll let him know then,” Bruce said with a nod. “If you don’t take over your father’s business—“
“I don’t even consider myself a part of his organization anymore after the shit he’s pulled,” I growled. No one on my property even wore the Moreno emblem anymore, as I couldn’t be associated with someone who could betray me in the way that he had. This wasn’t only about the active contract he had out for me; it was for everything. The death of my mother. The murder of Stephanie and my unborn child. He’d never been loyal to me—or anyone for that matter—so I had no desire to remain until his rule.
“Fair enough. I wonder what the guys he’ll leave behind are going to do,” Bruce mused.
I shrugged. “That won’t be my problem. They definitely can’t come here after what happened at the meeting.” I sighed and looked around the yard at the children. There was so much for them to do out here. Games, a petting zoo, water activities, concession stands. I wanted to have moments like this if I had a family of my own. I wanted to do more than just work and watch life pass me by. “Besides, unlike my father, I want a life that doesn’t revolve around business,” I said.
Bruce looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve been working nonstop since you acquired this part of the business. What made you have a change of heart?”
I shrugged. There were so many things I’d missed doing with Stephanie because I was too consumed with work-related things. We didn’t fight often, but when we did, it was always because I worked too much. Even when we’d have date nights, I’d be so distracted with my phone that she’d become annoyed with me and want to go home. On quiet nights in, I could interrupt cuddling, movie-watching, or even sex because business called. I’d taken my time with her for granted and didn’t have nothing to show for it but a few pictures, memories, and her grave. I didn’t get to travel the world with her like she wanted, we didn’t have kids like she wanted, and I didn’t rescue us from the darkness like she asked. There was so much that I’d lost and sacrificed for the sake of “business” and I wasn’t too sure I wanted to keep paying that price.
“Beca
use when you’re younger, you think you have all the time in the world to do things with people…until you don’t,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t want to make the same mistake with Aurora that I made with Stephanie.” Bruce stopped walking and gawked at me. I turned to look at him, my brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”
“So you’re going to make things work with the girl? I thought you were going to let her go after the war since there’s no contract for her,” he said.
“She knows—”
“You can’t really say that she knows too much for you to let her go. She has just as much blood on her hands as you do. And considering everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t be surprised if she left the country entirely. She wouldn’t want that media circus just as much as you don’t,” he interrupted.
I sighed. He wasn’t wrong in the slightest, which forced me to have to realize the truth about my situation. Maybe I liked the little smart ass I lot more than I led everyone to believe, including her. A part of me wanted to believe that she was brought here as a sign from Stephanie, and maybe I was afraid to let her go in fear that I’d be losing the last part of the woman I loved. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that if given the choice to stay or leave, she’d leave in a heartbeat. I wasn’t in a rush to confront that demon long before I had to.
“I guess so,” I said and bit into the funnel cake. We continued to walk in silence for a while, finishing out funnel cakes and throwing the plates into a nearby trash can.
“If she stays, what do you want with her?” Bruce asked after a while.
With everything I’d done to Aurora, I wasn’t even sure what could become of us. I didn’t just snatch her from her life; I destroyed everything that she was, everything she’d build, everyone she’d known. I could only imagine what she saw when she looked at me. She probably saw the fear her parents and late fiancé had in their eyes before I took their lives. She probably saw the hard work of her business gone up in smoke. She probably saw me as the key to her freedom that she couldn’t have. If I were her, I’d resent me. That definitely didn’t make my job of convincing her to stay any easier.
Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection Page 38
