Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection

by Ember Michaels

  "There's literally no food here," she whined. "We should order something. I'm starving." She pulled out her phone. "Anyone up for room service?"

  "Please. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I could eat a horse," I mumbled as I stood up. "I'll order it. Give me a second." I strolled over to the bedroom and grabbed my phone from the nightstand, unplugging it from the charger before grabbing the room service menu. Before leaving, I peeked into the crib to see that Liam was still soundly sleeping, idly sucking his pacifier while he hopefully dreamed of happier things that wasn't about the dangers that lurked around him. I gently rubbed his back, my chest tightening at the thought of something happening to him. I knew I had to trust my husband to fix this situation and to keep us safe. And with everything I'd gone through since Bennett had been in my life, I was more than capable of protecting him as well. Maybe it was time for me to stop taking a backseat to the mafia and join my husband at the helm of the family.

  "Aurora?" Carrie whispered behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see her standing in the doorway, watching me. After a beat, she moved and joined me beside the crib, looking down at Liam. "He's gonna be okay, you know. Bennett is his father."

  I blew out a soft breath. "I know he will be. I just...that moment was so surreal that I can't stop thinking about it." I shook my head. "I thought if I took less of a role the I could keep him sheltered a little longer, but that was so delusional of me."

  Carrie gave me a reassuring pat on the arm. "You're the wife of the devil and the mother of his heir. Regardless of the role you have, there will always be a target on your back because of your relationship with him. I don't even think you'll be safe if you were to leave him because as the mother of his son, he'll always care for you."

  I nodded to acknowledge that I heard her as I continued watching my sleeping son. I should've known better. I mean, I'd practically be on the run from the mafia my entire life, having to live away from my parents and create a brand new life for myself just to be safe. But you weren't ever really safe from them. If they wanted you, they would have you and no amount of hiding would change that. Trying to shrink myself so that no one would notice me obviously didn't work. After my encounter in the bathroom, it was time for the dark princess to return to wreak havoc on anyone who wished to bring harm to my husband or my son.

  "Well, enough sad talk. I'm starving and I want to eat before Liam gets up again," I said, changing the subject.

  "Thank god. If we don't get food soon, I think my stomach is going to start eating my back," Carrie said sarcastically as we headed back to the living room.

  Forty-five minutes later, we were surrounded with more food than we knew we'd realistically be able to eat. Saint shook his head from the couch as he went back to scrolling on his phone.

  "You sure you don't want any, Saint? There's literally enough to feed an army," I offered. He glanced at the food sprawled out around the living room and shook his head.

  "Nah, I'm good. I'm sure your husband will want some though," he said, just as the door to the room opened.

  We all looked to see Bennett, Bruce, and Nyxin walk in. Considering that Bennett still looked relaxed, I could only assume the meeting went as he'd planned. A grin settled on his lips as he looked at all the food around us.

  "Are we celebrating something I don't know about?" he asked. "What's with all the food?"

  "We kinda...underestimated the portions on some of this stuff," Carrie said sheepishly. "It's not like they have many pictures that allow us to see how much food we're ordering."

  "Then I hope you girls don't mind if I help myself because my stomach is talking to me," Nyxin stated as he sat next to Carrie.

  I giggled. "Help yourself. There's more than enough." I looked to Bennett and patted the empty spot on the floor next to me. "Come sit. You haven't had breakfast yet."

  "I had breakfast before I left," he replied, smirking. His men groaned around him and I blushed, dropping my eyes to the pancakes, eggs, and bacon platter on my lap.

  "It's too much good food in front of me right now for you to ruin my appetite, man," Nyxin complained.

  "That's rather funny coming from you considering that you were the main one telling me I needed to fuck my wife last night," Bennett joked as he settled down next to me, kissing my cheek.

  Saint chuckled from the couch. "That's true. He got you there, Nyx."

  "In fact, he told me that I should've taken a few hours off just to go home long enough before killing Garrett and Caleb," Bennett continued.

  "And why didn't you?" I asked, frowning. Had he done that, we wouldn't have got into that big fight last night. I wouldn't have had to leave home, and we wouldn't have been in this penthouse. Liam and I would've been safe at home, and I'd probably be a happy, sated wife. But considering how the night still ended, everything happened as it should have. Besides, makeup sex was always amazing after a fight as big as we had.

  "Because I knew I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else other than dealing with the two fuckers stealing from me. I wanted you to have my full attention when I got to you and I knew you wouldn't get it if I didn't deal with them," he explained.

  I shrugged. "Fair enough."

  As everyone else chatted amongst themselves, Bennett leaned in close to me and whispered, "We need to talk after you've eaten."

  I looked over at him. Despite the fact that his face was wiped of any emotion, there was a sense of urgency in his tone that set me on edge. "Is something wrong?"

  "Not necessarily, but I have to make a suggestion that you're probably not going to like," he murmured, grabbing a piece of bacon from my plate.

  "Then why can't we talk now? How am I supposed to eat breakfast when I know you have to tell me something I may not like?" I asked with a frown.

  "It's not anything big, baby. I'm just saying." He chucked me under the chin. "Eat before the food gets cold."

  I put the plate down and stood to my feet. "No. Kitchen, now."

  I heard him sigh as he pulled himself off the floor, the conversation ceasing around us as I walked to the kitchen. I leaned against the counter and Bennett slowly approached me, his hands in his pockets. This whole situation with the Russians had me on edge. I had no idea what Bennett had to tell me, but I didn't have a gut feeling about it.

  "You know my main priority is keeping you and Liam safe, right?" he started. I nodded. "Hilcrest agreed to allow us to use his men if we need the manpower in this war with the Russians—"

  "You're declaring war? What about the wedding?" I interrupted with a frown.

  "We'll still have the wedding, babe. This isn't about the wedding though. I'm thinking about right now." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "I think we need to go back home."

  "What do you mean? Like right now?"

  He nodded. "I know you wanted us to have time away from the mafia family, but I can't relax here knowing that if something happens, we may be in a vulnerable position. At least if something happens at home, there are panic rooms and a house full of men who will die for you and Liam to ensure your safety. We don't have that here."

  I nibbled on the inside of my cheek. I literally couldn't fight with him on that. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about our safety here. If they were able to find me at a restaurant, which Carrie and I decided to go to on a whim, who was to say they didn't know that we were at the hotel? For all we knew, they could be waiting for the guys to leave and ambush Bennett and I knowing we were alone. As much as I didn't want to go back to the house and leave this erotic, loving bubble Bennett and I were in, I knew it was for the best.

  "Okay," I said with a sigh. "I guess we'll go back home then."

  He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "I know this fucking sucks, but I want to keep you both safe. Believe me when I tell you, as bad as I'd like to stay here and have you blow my mind every night, I need to keep you alive to be able to do that," he murmured, lightly tickling my sides.

  I smiled, wrapping my arms arou
nd his neck. "I know, Bennett. I just...I feel the moment we step into the house, you're going to be consumed with mafia shit again and then it'll go back to how it was that got us here in the first place."

  "I will have to work, yes," he said, nodding. "But I promised you that I'd be home for dinner and Liam's bedtime routine, so that's what I'll do. I know a lot of shit got messed up in this new mess, so I want to keep the promises that I can. So, you have me for the wedding and you have me for dinner and getting my son ready for bed."

  "And I have you at nights to blow your mind," I purred, kissing him.

  He grinned, his hands moving down to squeeze my ass. "You definitely have that, gorgeous," he whispered before devouring my mouth. I stifled a moan, melting into him as the world fell away. As long as he kept his word as best as he could, we could manage just fine. I knew things would get hectic with a war on our hands, but as long as he came home to me in one piece every night, I wouldn't put up much of a fight. At least, I'd try not to anyway.

  Bennett pulled away with a growl, licking his lips. "I still wanna take you out tonight."

  "Are you sure that's safe?" I asked with a raised brow.

  "We'll be fine, babe. Besides, I'm more than capable of protecting you."

  "And I can also protect myself," I said.

  He nodded. "You can." He kissed my forehead. "Once you finish breakfast, you should get your things packed. We'll head out when Liam wakes up."

  "Alright," I said with a sigh. We headed back into the living room and joined the others. I ate my breakfast, but it all just felt like a ball of lead in the pit of my stomach. Now that we were going to war, I was starting to have second thoughts on things I used to be excited about. Did I really want to bring a second baby into this madness? Getting a taste of what could possibly happen to Liam this morning, I wasn't so sure if I wanted to damn another innocent soul into this life. But on the flip side of that, these children would be Bennett's legacy. In the event that anything happened to him, the Moreno bloodline would continue within our children.

  "You okay?" Bennett asked, squeezing my thigh. I gave him a smile and nodded, pushing the thought in the back of my head. That would be something we'd talk about during this date tonight, along with all the other things I needed to tell him. Hopefully, he'd take my suggestions as well as I took his just now.

  After everyone ate what they wanted, I gathered my things as Bennett gathered Liam's. I glanced over and watched as he carefully took Liam from the crib, showering his face with kisses until Liam giggled. I smiled to myself. It was always so sweet watching the self-proclaimed devil be so loving and tender with his son. Once upon a time I didn't think this man could feel anything other than anger, hatred, and the desire to inflict pain on people, but as I grew to know him—and love him—there were so many different layers of this beautiful psychopath.

  I still remembered the day I realized that I may have been in love with him. It was the day after he'd had surgery and was in a medically-induced coma. He'd been so pale, so weak, and things weren't looking great at first when the first couple of blood transfusions didn't seem like enough. As bad as he was to me, I didn't want him to die. I was terrified at the thought of running our new family alone. I had no idea what I was doing or if his men would even accept me regardless of what Bennett said. And even though he'd told me I could leave in the event that he didn't survive, an overwhelming sense of guilt crushed me at the thought of leaving everyone when they'd need me the most as the queen of La Fedeltá.

  When I decided to leave Bennett to go back to South Carolina, it wasn't because I didn't love him. I needed to make sure I loved him for real and not because of circumstances. I didn't want my love to be built on Stockholm syndrome or something, so I needed to step away and see if what I felt was real. Seeing the pictures of my old life on the walls of my old condo didn't do anything for me. I didn't feel the sadness or grief that I thought I would have upon seeing Heath's smiling face in those pictures. Every morning when I woke up in my bed without my husband always brought tears to my eyes. And every time I felt like my little boy kick inside of me without being able to have Bennett feel it as well, it made me realize that my home wasn't in South Carolina anymore. It was in California with my husband and the loyal gang of men that were now my family.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" Bennett asked as he put Liam on the bed to change him. I smiled and shook my head.

  "It's always so sexy seeing you in dad mode," I mused.

  He grinned. "Oh yeah?" He slowly pulled a diaper from the diaper bag and whipped it open. "How's that for dad mode?"

  I playfully fanned myself. "Oh my, Mr. Moreno. I'm getting so turned on watching you wield that diaper around. I may not be able to take it if you grab the wipes."

  "Then it sounds like it's your lucky day, gorgeous, because...look what I have," he said, dramatically pulling out the container of baby wipes before he chuckled.

  I giggled and shook my head. "I love you, you psycho."

  "I love you, too, babe," he said and tickled Liam. "And Daddy loves you too, buddy."

  "What's the car situation, Boss?" Saint asked, standing in the doorway.

  Bennett continued focusing on changing Liam as he responded. "These two need to be in an armored car, so they can ride in the truck. You and Bruce in the car with them, I'll take Nyxin with me, and Carrie insists on driving herself," he said.

  Saint nodded. "You got it. Should I start taking things downstairs?"

  I zipped up my bag and handed it to him. "You can take this and buckle Liam's car seat in if you don't mind."

  "Of course," he said, taking the bag and walking over to grab Liam's car seat. Once Bennett got Liam cleaned, he picked him back up and kissed him on the cheek.

  "Time to go home, buddy," he murmured and looked at me. "Ready to get out of here?"

  I looked around the room one more time, noticing the cock ring on the nightstand. I smirked. "Can't forget this," I said.

  Bennett chuckled and put his hand over Liam's eyes. "Yeah, you can't forget that. But don't go waving that thing around in front of my boy," he teased.

  I rolled my eyes. "Liam wouldn't even know what he's looking at." I looked over my shoulder to see Bruce and Nyxin still lingering in the living room. "Or are you more worried about them finding out that this practically snatched your soul?"

  His eyes darkened as he smirked at me. "They're the least of my worries. Besides, their lives are easier the more I get laid, so it works for everyone," he said and winked.

  I giggled and slipped the cock ring into my purse. "I can only imagine," I said. "Well, let's go back home then."

  "I have a couple of appointments so I can't follow you guys back to your house, but I'll be there later," Carrie said as we all filed out of the penthouse. She hugged Bennett and I before taking Liam's small hand into hers and kissing it until he giggled. "I'll see you soon, my handsome little ducky! Be a good boy!"

  "Be safe, Carrie. If I need to send someone to your location, just let me know," Bennett said, but she waved him off.

  "I'll be fine, Bennett. These won't even take long, so I'll be back to annoy you before you know it," she said with a cheeky grin. We all squeezed onto the elevator and rode down to the lobby, Bruce and Nyxin walking out of the hotel as Bennett and I stopped by the desk. I rolled my eyes when the receptionist blushed at Bennett's presence.

  "Can I help you with anything, sir?" she purred, shyly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

  "My wife and I decided to check out a little earlier than expected," he said with a dazzling smile. "There's a bit of an emergency back home that we need to get back to."

  "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. We can refund you for two nights. Since you've stayed past check-out time, we unfortunately have to charge you for the day."

  "That's fine. Here are all the keys we've had for this room," he said, sliding them over the counter before looking at me. "Ready to get out of here, gorgeous?"

  "Sure, babe,
" I said, tossing my hair over my shoulder as the receptionist refused to make eye contact with me. This seemed to be a common thing any time Bennett was out and about. He had this vibe about him that screamed power without trying to, the epitome of tall, dark, handsome, and successful. There was a hint of danger in his eyes and the slyness of his smile, and to the oblivious woman, he could charm the panties off of anyone. It always gave me a sense of pride to have what so many women wanted but couldn't get, but then I remembered all the other shit he'd put me through. No one knew the devil that slept within him. They didn't know what he was capable of or the pain that he could cause with his strength. They had no idea how dark his mind could get or the fact that he could brutally murder someone and come home and sleep like a baby.

  But it was best that they didn't know. Not everyone was strong enough to handle such a revelation anyway.

  With his hand on the small of back and Liam in his other arm, he led me out of the hotel, where Bruce and Saint sat waiting outside the doors in the truck. I walked around the truck and got in on the other side as Bennett put Liam in his car seat. Once he was buckled in, Bennett gave him back his teething ring and kissed his forehead.

  "Daddy will see you at home, buddy," he murmured and looked to me. "I'll see you in a bit."

  "Drive like you have sense, Bennett. I don't want to have to worry about you crashing," I said as I leaned over to kiss him.

  He smiled. "I'm always safe."

  "Not in that Lambo you're not," Saint said from the passenger seat.

  "Thank you," I said, smirking at Bennett, who playfully rolled his eyes.

  "Fine. I'll drive carefully," he said. "See you at home, babe." I nodded, focusing my attention on Liam as Bennett closed the door. A part of me was a little sad about going home. I had this gut feeling that everything we'd agreed to would go out the window the second we were back at home. Everything was already falling apart anyway, so why would anything be any different? I'd truly wanted to spend those four days alone with him, but I knew that going back home was necessary. Because in reality, there were no real "breaks" from the mafia.