"Ready?" he asked.
I raised an eyebrow at him, pointing to the bags. "What's this for? I wasn't aware that I was going away anywhere."
"He'll explain it when he sees you," Saint said with a grin, offering his arm to me. I ground my teeth and swallowed the rest of my words. I hope this wasn't some kind of overnight thing. I couldn't just leave Liam and I wasn't advised to bring him because Bennett never said anything about any overnight stay. As we got closer to the boat, I saw Bennett already on it, waiting for me. A smile settled on my lips as I saw the inscription "Moreno Forever" on the side of the boat. Even though Bennett had his moments of being sweet, I'd never really experienced him being romantic. Dates with him was dinner at a restaurant and a heated night of passion in our bedroom. But a yacht and all this secrecy did make this date night a little thrilling.
"I heard you were looking for me," he said when I finally reached him, presenting me with his dazzling smile. I kissed him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "You look so fucking sexy tonight."
"You think so? I was hoping to seduce you tonight," I said and giggled.
He licked his lips, his eyes dropping to my breasts. "Consider me seduced," he murmured.
"Where do you want these, Boss?" Nyxin asked. Bennett tore his eyes away from me and nodded his head toward the front of the boat.
"Take them down into the master cabin,” he said and squeezed my waist.
"Wait," I suddenly said. "You didn't say anything about us taking a trip. I mean what about Liam? He's—"
"He's fine, babe. I’ve already spoken to Carrie and told her what’s going on so that I can have you all to myself tonight,” he said, kissing my neck.
“All to yourself, huh?” I looked around. “Is this yacht ours for the night?”
“It’s ours tonight and every night after that,” he said. “Let me show you what I got for you.”
“You bought this yacht for me?” I asked, slipping my hand into his.
“I bought it for us as a family. It was a few weeks in the making, but it worked out perfectly that it was ready to sail today,” he said. I followed him around as he showed me the beautiful boat he’d purchased for us. It was an open design with bright and contemporary interior furniture. It appeared to be something out of a yacht club magazine of some sort, the kind of luxury I never really imagined owning. There were six spacious staterooms, a gorgeous, roomy saloon with a bar, and it also came with a staff of ten people. I couldn’t help but to look at my husband in awe of what he’d done, finally bringing me to the upper part of the boat where a table prepped for a romantic dinner sat waiting for us.
“Oh, honey. This is so sweet,” I murmured.
“Only the best for my gorgeous queen,” he replied, kissing me.
“So, what’s the plan for the night?”
“I was thinking we’d have a romantic dinner as the sun sets, enjoy a few drinks, and then I can take this dress off of you and utilize the master cabin below deck.”
“I think I like the sound of that,” I said, giggling when he kissed my neck again. He walked me over to the table, pulling out a chair for me. Soft jazz music was coming from somewhere as he sat across from me.
“You look downright sinful tonight,” he said, his low voice laced with lust. “I don’t know if I’ll be able sit through dinner with you looking so fucking gorgeous.”
I blushed. “We have all night for you to do whatever you wanna do to me. Let’s enjoy dinner first. I’m starving,” I said, just as a man appeared at my side holding a tray.
“Please enjoy tonight’s wine selection of Chardonnay, ma’am,” he said, putting the glass in front of me. “And Johnny Walker Blue whiskey for you, sir.”
“Thank you,” I said, Bennett nodding his thanks as he took a sip of his drink. I looked around, taking in the sparkling water under the setting sun. I always knew we were rich, but this was a new display of wealth that I wasn’t accustomed to. It made me realize how powerful my husband truly was. He had the world at his finger tips and he used those same finger tips to give me the world. I couldn’t help but be a little turned on at the major flex he’d exhibited tonight.
“You look as if you’re undressing me in your mind,” he teased, breaking into my thoughts.
I picked up my glass of wine with a grin. “Maybe I am. You do look good tonight.”
And he did. He wore a gorgeous, deep red paisley dinner jacket with a black handkerchief tucked into the front pocket, a black dress shirt underneath. His white trousers were perfectly fitted on his lean legs, and his velvet Dolce & Gabbana loafers matched his jacket. Bennett used to always say that he didn’t know what else he’d do if he wasn’t a made man, but every day he dressed as if he was about to walk along someone’s runaway. I was definitely a lucky woman to be able to call him mine.
“Glad to know the idea is mutual. In fact, are you sure that we can’t move dinner to bed?”
I laughed and shook my head. “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t want this view to go to waste.” I looked out at the water. “It’s really beautiful out here.”
“Well, there’s nothing more beautiful than the view in front of me,” he said and took a sip from his drink, his eyes never leaving mine.
I blushed and took another sip of my wine. If dinner didn’t start soon, I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to brush off his advances. The man from earlier returned with a small cart that held a salad bowl.
“We have a Caesar salad to start tonight’s dinner course,” he announced. I sipped my wine as he plated the salad and put it in front of me, doing the same for Bennett.
“What’s your name?” I asked him. He looked to be pretty young, early twenties or so with a baby face. He was a bit to scrawny looking for my taste, but then again, once you had a man like Bennett, it was hard to imagine being with anyone else. His blonde hair was cut short, his bright blue eyes shying away from me, which made Bennett chuckle into his whiskey.
“It’s Brandon, ma’am,” he said.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Brandon. Thank you for the salad,” I said with a smile. He nodded.
“Would you like any cheese on your salad?” he asked the both of us. We both declined and he pushed the tray away, leaving us alone.
“I gotta hand it to you,” Bennett started, leaning back in his chair as he grabbed a cigar from his inner pocket. “You gave us a lot of good things to think about earlier.”
“So, you’re actually considering it?”
“Why not? They’re good business ideas,” he said with a shrug. “You’re a smart businesswoman.”
“Whatever makes us stronger as a family is what matters,” I said. “But thank you for taking my suggestions.”
“They were good. I’d be stupid not to.” He was quiet for a moment as he regarded me. “You know, I’ve been thinking about what you said before about our marriage.”
“What about it?”
“How you only want this wedding because you said our marriage feels like a business arrangement and not like an actual marriage.”
I nodded as I stabbed at my salad before taking a bite. “That’s not the only reason why I want it, but it’s a great influencing factor, yes.”
“Do you doubt that I love you?”
“No, but when I thought about what getting married would look like, I didn’t imagine it being a part of a business exchange when joining the mafia. We didn’t have an engagement, Bennett. You didn’t get down on one knee to propose and we didn’t do anything special afterwards. You wanna know what we did on our so-called wedding night? We physically fought and then had hate sex. That’s not how I envisioned my wedding night to be.”
He nodded, a slight smirk on his lips. "Fair enough," he said. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes regarding me. "We've been through a lot of shit together, you know."
And even though things were a lot better than they were, there was once a time when things were really, really bad. Sometimes it even hurt to think about,
remembering how the man that I was now head over heels for now was someone who'd brought me so much pain back then. Things were once so bad between us that I'd tried to end my life just to get away from him, and he'd made my life a living hell for a week to make me pay for that. No matter how good things were between us, the faint scars that marked my body reminded me of all I endured and all my husband was truly capable of.
"Yeah," I murmured, unable to meet his eyes.
"Do you remember what I told you when we first arrived at my house?"
I furrowed my brows as I continued eating my salad. It felt like decades ago since I'd arrived in California, exhausted, traumatized, and sore from the assault I'd endured on the plane. Chaos was going on when we entered the house because Alice had escaped. I still remembered her pretty blue eyes glossy with tears as she pleaded for her life—a life I took.
"You said welcome to hell," I recounted. I wasn't sure what kind of fucked up memory lane he was trying to take us down, but it was killing the mood quickly. It wasn't like he had a sweet, romantic start. He'd killed my parents and my ex-fiancé, abused me and my best friend, and made my life a living hell for nearly a year. Just remembering all the shit he'd done to be up until this point—even the fuckery at the club last night—put a bad taste in my mouth. The salad was starting to taste sour as the memories bombarded me.
"I did say that, but that isn't what I was referring to," he said. His eyes darkened as he gazed at me, as if noticing my discomfort. "I'd told you that you'd become the wife of the devil."
I nodded to acknowledge I'd heard him. Never in a million years did I think I'd marry a psychopath like him. From the moment I'd arrived here, I was trying to figure out how to get myself out of this situation. But considering how everything unfolded between us, it did nothing but solidify my original thought about our marriage; that it'd been nothing but a business arrangement and not because we truly wanted to be with each other.
Tears burned my eyes as I continued stabbing at my salad with my fork, trying to occupy my mind with something else so that the tears wouldn't fall. Tonight was supposed to be a nice night. If we were a normal couple, reminiscing would've added to the romance factor as we reflected on our love and everything that got us to where we currently were. But Bennett and I weren't a normal couple. Everything had been hell up until I found out I was pregnant. There were moments where I wondered if things would've truly changed between us if I hadn't gotten pregnant. Bennett only got a grip on himself and wanted to "change" when he realized a baby was now in the mix, probably assuming it to be his permanent ticket into my life.
"Babe," Bennett called out. I looked up from my plate, silently cursing myself when a single tear rolled down my cheek. He cocked his head to the side, his full lips pulling into a slight frown. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. I'm fine."
"What's wrong, Aurora?" He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table as he trained his eyes on me. I took in a shaky breath to try to control the emotions that old memories were bringing back up.
"I just don't know why we're talking about the darkest period of my life when we're supposed to be on a date," I said. "I actually don't like to think about anything prior to having Liam because I don't like the man you were then. You were very cruel in the beginning of our situation, so it's hard to sit here and smile when you're bringing up things that are attached to traumatic moments for me."
The flash of guilt that appeared in his eyes didn't go unnoticed, but it was too late for that. The damage had already been done and we moved on from that as best as we could. I had to make up in my mind to forgive him and move forward because we had a son together that we both loved dearly, but sometimes it was hard to forget, even more so since we still lived in the house where all of my abuse and suffering happened.
"I know we've had a rough past and I have no excuse or justification for the man I was. All I can do is work on being a better man and husband for you now and do my best to make you happy," he murmured, reaching across the table and holding out his hand. I put my fork down and slipped my hand into his. "Do you doubt that I love you?"
"I know you love me, Bennett."
"I tell you all the time that you and my son are the best thing that's happened to me, Aurora. I know we probably have different memories of the past, but I'm happy that we made it to this point."
He was right. Throughout all the pain and suffering that I'd gone through, we managed to grow something beautiful. When he wasn't being an asshole, he was a great husband and loving father to Liam. I gave him a small smile when he kissed the back of my hand, his thumb gently stroking my skin.
"I'm happy, too. And I'd like to remain happy and not think about the past," I murmured. He nodded.
"I can respect that." He held up his glass and smiled at me. "To a future filled with love, babies, and becoming one of the most powerful families on the West coast."
I picked up my wine glass and raised it, smiling. "To the future."
And I had faith that it would be a beautiful one.
BENNETT
"Thanks for dinner, babe. It was great," Aurora said with a satisfied smile before finishing off the rest of the wine in her glass. I unbuttoned my suit jacket, feeling pretty stuffed myself after a dinner of tender filet mignon, roasted broccolini, and creamy mashed potatoes. I was now on my third glass of whiskey, the alcohol making me feel warm all over and anxious to be wrapped up in my wife.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, gorgeous. I feel like we needed this," I said.
She nodded as she leaned against the table, lust twinkling in her eyes as she looked at me. "We did. I'm glad you kept your word about this date. With everything that happened this morning, I thought you'd come up with some reason or another for why we couldn't still have a date night.”
"Don't you have any faith in your husband?" I asked with a smirk, to which she only shrugged.
"Your track record hasn't been the most consistent when it comes to keeping promises lately," she said. "But you did good tonight. This is really romantic."
I had to admit that my relationship with Aurora was a lot different than it had been with Stephanie. Dinner and flowers weren't enough to please her in the romance department, especially after everything we'd gone through. Sometimes I was amazed that she loved me in the first place after the way I'd ripped her life apart and destroyed the woman she used to be. I wasn't too familiar with planning extravagant dates or going out of my way to impress a woman, but I knew I wanted to do that for her. She deserved everything this world had to offer and as long as I was breathing, I'd make sure she had whatever she desired.
The earlier jazz music had now been replaced with a beautiful, classical piano piece. I slipped off my jacket and rose to my feet, holding my hand out to her. "Dance with me."
She got up with a grin, taking my hand as we moved away from the table. I took her into my arms and held her close to me, inhaling the sweet scent of her orchid perfume. She relaxed into me, swaying with the music.
"I love you so much," she murmured in my ear.
"I love you more, baby," I replied and kissed her neck.
She pulled back slightly and looked up at me. "You know, why don't we just have a small ceremony here?" she said.
"What happened to the big wedding you wanted?"
Her fingers caressed the back of my neck as she lovingly looked up at me. "I just...I don't need a huge wedding just to feel as if what we have is real. Sure, our situation isn't normal and we didn't get together in a traditional sense, but I know that you love me and that's really all that matters." She kissed me gently. "We can have something really small and intimate on the yacht and maybe sail to an island for the weekend and then come home. We don't need all the bells and whistles of a wedding. I just want to wear a beautiful dress and actually say I do to my husband."
"I'm good with that," I said and smiled. "Why not do it next weekend then?"
"Next weekend? I don't know, Bennett," she said and
frowned slightly. "I don't know if I'll have a dress by then and—"
"I'm sure you can walk off of the showroom floor with a dress, babe. I can also place a couple of calls to get something expedited."
"But what's the rush?" she asked with a giggle.
The short answer was that I wanted to get this shit over with. What I was about to do tonight would be an act of war and I didn't want to have Aurora nagging in my ear about wedding shit while I was trying to keep us all alive. But of course, that wasn't an answer I could tell her. I needed her to at least think that I was just as happy about the wedding regardless if it wasn't something that I particularly cared about. But I did care about making her happy, and this wedding was what would make her happy and help her feel at ease with our marriage.
I kissed her and held her a little tighter. "Because with all the fuckery that's been going on with us and the family lately, I'm ready to have something good. And a short honeymoon uninterrupted by bullshit would be great, too. We can start working on that second baby."
"It's going to take some time for the birth control to get out of my system before we'll successfully get pregnant again."
"It didn't take long when you got pregnant the first time," I reminded her, kissing her neck again.
"That's because I'd only gotten one dose of it."
"But you've only gotten like, what, two doses since having Liam? Shouldn't take too long." She giggled when I dipped her back and brought her back upright. "Either way, we can enjoy ourselves trying until we get lucky."
"You're ridiculous, you know that?" she said.
"I've heard that a time or two," I said, noticing Saint watching me. I gave him a tight nod, already knowing why he'd appeared. He disappeared back in the direction that he'd come from as I turned my attention back to Aurora. "I actually have a little surprise for you."
"Oh yeah? What more could you have for me?"
"I actually have two things, but I think you'll really like this first one," I said, turning her away from me and wrapping my arm around her waist. "Close your eyes."
Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection Page 79
