Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection
Page 86
“Gather the others in your office. We’ll have the meeting in a few,” I replied. Bennett nodded and walked off, leaving me alone with Bruce.
He walked over and stood next to me with a sigh. “She was too pure for this life anyway,” he finally said when everyone finally disappeared.
“Nah. She could hold her own if she needed to,” I said. “She was a strong woman, stronger than me.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right about that.” He looked at the small box in his hand, opening the lid to show it was empty. “I put the ring on top of her remains before they sealed it. She wasn’t able to wear it in life, so I thought she should have it wherever she goes next.”
“I’m sure she would’ve loved it because it came from her Brucey,” I teased as sad tears threatened to form. After a long moment of silence. “I’m really going to miss her.”
“Me too. But I know she wouldn’t want us moping around on her account.” He looked over at me. “So what are we going to do about Alec?”
With one last look at the urn, I turned my wheelchair to face Bruce. “We’ll hit him where it hurts. And I know just the person to go after.”
With one last look at the urn, I turned my wheelchair to face Bruce. “We’ll hit him where it hurts. And I know just the person to go after.”
KC appeared in the doorway with his laptop in his hand. “I have her name,” he said. The moment I’d gotten home, I asked KC look into Alec’s family to learn a little more about him. Alec seemed to know so much about Bennett and I, knowing how to use it against us, so I figured we could do the same. I’d bet money that he’d expect us to try to go after him directly, but that would be too easy. Just as Alec didn’t like to be predictable, we were going to take a play out of his handbook and do something out of the ordinary ourselves.
And it came in the form of Alec’s daughter.
“Ekatrina Lebedev,” KC continued, crossing over to us. “It took a good bit of digging because he has her pretty hidden. Even though he financially supports her, he has accounts set up in pseudonyms to hide her identity. I had to tap into phone records and emails in order to realize that Yusuf Rennington wasn’t a secret lover or some shit since he referred to them as ‘Kitty Kat’ a lot.”
“Are you sure? How did you confirm?” I asked. There was no room for error. This was the first time Bennett was letting me handle a situation on my own, so I couldn’t fuck this up.
“She asked him if he was coming to her graduation in two weeks. I found social media profiles for her to cross reference the claim and she is a student at the University of Nevada in Reno,” he replied.
“Is Alec going?” Bruce asked with a raised brow.
KC shrugged. “He told her that he’d have to see, as things were heating up where he is right now and he doesn’t want to put her in danger.” He handed me the papers that sat on his keyboard before closing his laptop. “If you guys are going to get her, you’d have to act fast in the event that he decides to go to the graduation. He’s still under the impression that no one knows about her.”
“I thought we were having the meeting in my office, not out in the open like this,” Bennett said with a frown as he, Saint, and Nyxin joined us.
“It didn’t start as a meeting. KC just came to me with the information I asked him for,” I said, looking at the top page in front of me. Her picture was printed in the corner, one that looked to be for her school ID card. She looked so young, so innocent, ready for the world waiting for her. Except, she was now being pulled into the darkness that was her father’s world. Just as I had been.
“So what are we talking about?” Bennett asked.
“Alec has a daughter,” Bruce said. “Aurora wants to pick her up.”
“And what would you like to do with her when we pick her up, gorgeous?” Bennett asked.
I continued looking at her picture, my mind going over everything I’d gone through on my father’s account. I’d spent years running, thinking I could somehow outrun the dark cloud that chased me my entire life. But I learned that it didn’t matter if you tried to live a life on a straight and narrow path. Sometimes you had to bear the burden of someone else’s bad choices. I glanced up at my husband, remembering how he used to be a beacon of pain and torture when I first arrived here. My mind filtered through the things I’d gone through at the beginning of my journey.
My rules are simple.
How my life as I knew it was snatched away.
You will bow.
How he forced me to surrender myself to him.
You will break.
How he destroyed the person I used to be.
You will obey.
How he roped me into the very madness I’d spent my whole life trying to get away from.
Follow them and you’ll survive. And if you don’t? I’ll break you in ways that’ll make you wish you were dead.
But now I was stronger than I ever thought I could be. The men who risked their lives for me every day gave me strength. The smiling face of my son gave me purpose. And the love and respect I got from my husband gave me power. With that in mind, a grin formed on my lips.
“She’ll be a pet,” I stated. “Since Alec took Savannah away, let’s see how he likes his sweet little ‘Kitty Kat’ being a slut for the enemy.”
Bennett smiled and kissed me. “Your wish is our command, gorgeous,” he said and looked to the guys. “Let’s go snatch up Bruce’s new toy.”
Thanks for reading the final book for Bennett and Aurora! The story will pick up in the spin off series, World of Bennett, with Bruce’s story coming in January 2022! Claimed by the Underboss will be available for preorder on all retailers soon! Be sure to sign up for my newsletter here to be notified when the preorder is live!
-Ember
About the Author
Ember Michaels is an author of dark romance and dark fiction, creating anti-heroes and pitch black stories that'll burn your heart and soul to ashes. When she’s not creating monsters and the sassy, strong heroines that end up with them, she’s usually watching horror movies and crime shows, hanging at the beach, playing video games, and hoarding Reese cups. Are you ready to dive into her dark world? Buckle up. It's about to get wild. Be sure to join her newsletter by visiting her site at www.embermichaels.com and follow her on social media!
Also by Ember Michaels
Rules of Bennett series
Rules of Bennett (0.5)*
You Will Bow (1)
You Will Break (2)
You Will Obey (3)
Moreno Forever (4)
The Vengeance of Luther trilogy
The Destruction of Sevyn (1)
The Sins of Luther(2)
The Rebirth of Us (3)
*The Rules of Bennett prequel is free for signing up for Ember Michaels’ newsletter here!