“What are you proposing to do, Ben?” She didn’t want him to take his hand off her arm, but he did. “You can’t keep me locked up in here forever. Or maybe you can, but I don’t believe you’ll do that. Are you going to have your brother’s people torture me?”
Shiri hadn’t met Gene yet. But she knew who he was. She’d sent all her correspondence to Ben through him for five years.
“No.” He shook his head. “I won’t do that to a woman. But I am going to figure out what’s going on. Gene and I have put our heads together and come up with a plan. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but you are going to feature in it.”
“I see.” Her heart beat hard. “Ben, I just got very nervous.”
“Good. You should be.”
Without warning, he reached out and roughly pulled the wig off her hair. It caught on her head for a second, and she gasped. Her head itched and had long ago become covered in sweat from the heat of the wig.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He flung the wig across the room. “That thing was driving me crazy.”
“It’s okay.” But it wasn’t. Nothing was okay. Even in her worst nightmare about reacquainting with Ben, she hadn’t conceived of matters going this badly.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine what she looked like. Her hair must be an utter wreck on top of her head, still pulled back like some deranged librarian but now covered in sweat as well. Just minutes earlier she’d been crying, so her face had to be streaked and disgusting.
“You’re a redhead.”
That seemed sort of nonsensical. “I am.”
“Usually I don’t find redheads attractive.”
Her heart fell into her stomach. She tried to speak through the lump that seemed to have found a home in her throat. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Before she could blink, he’d leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. She closed her eyes, stunned by the suddenness but thrilled at the same time. What the hell was going on? But then she didn’t care because this was Ben—Ben—and he was kissing her.
His lips were strong but also soft as they met hers. She moaned, loving the feel of it, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth. His kisses were intense and demanding. With his mouth, he forced her attention, her surrender. She was happy to give him what he wanted. Surely some part of his brain must have remembered this. She broke their kiss so she could stare into his brown eyes. There must be some place inside him that Roman hadn’t been able to reach. What had been between them had been so complete—even if his mind couldn’t remember her, perhaps his body could.
“Untie me so I can touch you.”
He shook his head. “No.”
Ben kissed her again, this time biting down gently on her lower lip. She sucked in her breath. What was going on here?
“You can’t touch me.”
“Why not?”
He didn’t answer her, instead feasting on her mouth again. The answer seemed pretty clear to Shiri. Ben didn’t want them to have a real connection. He was attracted to her, despite his rude redhead comment, but he didn’t really want to open up to her.
The real question was why she was going along with this.
Maybe it was because Ben kissed so damn well.
“You’re thinking too hard.”
She raised an eyebrow. “If I don’t get to touch you, you don’t get to analyze my internal musings.”
“Did we do this before? Or were we really just friends?” His gaze met hers, but she couldn’t read his emotions. This Ben was so closed off from her.
He couldn’t remember. She’d known that. So why did it still hurt? She blinked away her tears. “Once. We did this once. The day before I got taken.”
“Oh yes, the day you got swept off my boat that I can’t remember.” He nodded his head.
He kissed her again. She couldn’t deny that she liked the kissing, especially if that was what it took for Ben to get through whatever was going on inside him. He moved until one of his hands braced him above her on the headboard. The other stroked her cheek gently.
“You really are beautiful, which fucking sucks.”
“I thought you didn’t like redheads.” She couldn’t help her snide comment. He’d burned her a little bit with that remark. “Why does it suck?”
A half-smile formed on his lips. “Because women who may or may not be setting you up for some kind of destruction shouldn’t be gorgeous.”
“I’m not here to harm you, Ben. I came to help the girls. I’d like to assist you, but you have to tell me what you’re planning.”
“No.” He sniffed at her neck. “You smell like coffee. It’s driving me bananas.”
He’d told her that same thing five years earlier. She smelled like coffee? No one else had ever mentioned it, and she had no idea why that would be. But if he liked it, she’d gladly take that on as her scent. Why not?
“You still smell more like sandalwood. Did you buy more soap from a fundraiser?”
He pulled back, putting some distance between them. “You couldn’t know about that unless I told you.”
So he was finally catching on. “You told me.”
“I… ah… I bought more. But online. The girls are homeschooled. It was the only way we could guarantee safety.”
“Makes sense.” Ben would always know how to take care of his girls.
“Yes, I know.”
Something about the way he spoke had changed. The quality of his voice sounded different.
She had one second to dwell on that before he grabbed the handcuffs that had kept her restrained to the headboard and unlocked them with a key he pulled out of his pocket.
“You’re untying me?”
“Yes.”
“What made you change your mind?” Why was she even asking? Why couldn’t she just keep quiet and be glad she was going to finally get untied?
“It’s complicated.” He removed the final binding off her other wrist, and she raised her hands to rub them.
He eyed her motions. “Were they too tight?”
“No, it’s just painful to be tied up in any position for hours.” If it bothered him that he’d left her like that, then that was fine. He shouldn’t have done it.
Ben hopped off the bed and extended his hand. She scooted forward and took it. His hand was so much bigger than hers. They were relatively the same height, but he was larger than her was in so many ways. If he wanted to, he could hurt her.
Shiri stared at him as she contemplated whether or not she felt fear toward Ben. He’d certainly been trying to act threatening. Yet she didn’t. Maybe she was a fool, but Ben seemed like a wounded animal. Someone had harmed him—in his mind that was Roman, Madame, and possibly Shiri—and someone had potentially threatened his children’s wellbeing.
There was no way he’d be able to remain calm about all of that. If only she could make him understand that she could bring him back his memories and straighten out this entire mess.
They walked out of the room. Ben led her down the hallway to a long staircase.
She vaguely remembered the route from when she’d been dragged upstairs by one of Gene’s associates.
This time she could focus on the details. It looked similar to the inside of the home Ben had lived in previously. The same pictures lined the walls, with some additional new ones. Mostly they looked like they were of the girls and their uncle. Where had Ben been and what had he been doing? There was no way he could possibly have worked on the Institution stuff all the time. This was exactly the scenario she’d wanted him to avoid.
“I guess the kids have been spending a lot of time with Gene?”
Ben made a non-committal noise that didn’t confirm or deny what she’d said. Frustration was rapidly becoming her new best friend. How much more could she take? She couldn’t talk to him and act as if she didn’t know about his life. Where the hell was Roman with Ben’s memories?
Together, they walked into the living room. Gene, whom she knew from h
is pictures, sat surrounded by other people she didn’t know. Shiri took one more glance around the room. That wasn’t true. The goon, Raul, who had dragged her into that upstairs bedroom, sat facing the television. As soon as he saw them, he shut it off and rose. Within seconds, everyone except Gene had stood.
Ben moved forward slightly, blocking her from the others. She swallowed as nerves tightened up her stomach. What was going on?
“I’ve changed my mind. We can’t do it.”
They couldn’t do what? Shiri looked at all eight men in the room for answers and found none. Blank stares and hidden expressions were all that answered her silent query.
Gene cleared his throat. He looked so much like Ben, only more fatigued if that were even possible, considering how exhausted Ben seemed. “I have good news and bad news, little brother.”
Shiri could feel tension radiating off Ben. “What’s that?”
“The good news is I agree with you. Our plan was flawed.” Gene struggled to his feet. Why was he so weak? Had he been hurt?
“And the bad news?”
Yes, what was the bad news? Shiri didn’t like any of this. She’d changed her mind. Things had been better when she’d been locked in the bedroom. Cowardice wasn’t one of her traits, but right now she’d have loved to be able to run and hide.
“I changed the plan, and it’s too late to do anything about it.”
Ben stalked forward. He grabbed his brother’s shirt. Gene faltered as though he might fall over, but Ben’s strong grip kept him upright. If she wanted to, she could probably run from the room now. Instead, she stayed put, feeling as if someone had driven a nail into her coffin. Intuition had never failed her.
Whatever was going on here would not be good news for her.
“This is my life. You change plans without even discussing it with me?”
Gene narrowed his eyes, looking more frightening than he had earlier. This was the man Shiri had read about. He’d worked his way up the ladder until he was second in command of the Giallani Mafia family. Gene wasn’t to be trifled with, and yet Ben didn’t look the least bit afraid of him.
“You weren’t thinking straight. We can’t bust back into the building we already got out of and kidnap Madame. Trust me, I’m good at these kinds of things. We’d never get out of there alive.”
“I agree.” Ben shook Gene. “What did you do?”
“I called the eight-hundred number for the Institutions and told them who we had, but we’d only give her up to Madame herself. She’s on her way.”
Shiri took a step backward one second before her knees gave out. She hit the ground hard and was up again quickly. Oh God, yes, this was panic. Gene had called and turned her in to Madame. She was a dead woman. Where were they?
Any second, they could burst through the door.
This had been a mistake, a terrible error in judgment. Ben didn’t love her anymore. He couldn’t even remember her. And now her life would be over.
Seventeen
Ben’s ears rang at Gene’s announcement. His brother had called the Institutions and told them to come here? He shook Gene, not caring about his brother’s injuries.
“Are you out of your fucking mind? You sent them here? They’ll take her. She’ll never get away. And the girls, Gene. The girls. They could discover Daphne.”
Gene shook his head. “Discover what about Daphne?”
Realization dawned on Ben in a whoosh of understanding. Gene didn’t remember that Daphne was Conditioned. Ben only knew because he’d rediscovered it in the car. He’d never told Gene. Oh, hell. His brother also didn’t know about the past history between Ben and Shiri.
Ben might not have been able to remember it, but he knew he had loved kissing her. If he hadn’t found some self-control, he would have taken her while she was still cuffed to his bed. Their shared history didn’t seem important where his libido was concerned.
“Daphne is Conditioned.” He spoke through clenched teeth, knowing that all ears in the room could hear him. Had Raul and the others always known about Daphne, or had the reason for their protection been kept from them? It didn’t matter. The girls wouldn’t be staying here, not for another second.
He dropped Gene even as his brother sputtered out nonsensical remarks. There was no use blaming Gene. It was too late for that, and his brother hadn’t known. That fact didn’t make it better. It was simply the truth.
“Ben.” Shiri’s voice sounded strangled.
He whirled around to look at her. She’d collapsed to the ground, and her face was as pale as snow. As he bent over her, his mind moved at a thousand miles a minute.
“We’re getting out of here. You, me, the girls—”
Gene called from behind him. “I’ll help.”
Ben ignored him. He was grateful to his brother, had a feeling that the things he couldn’t remember would make him even more so, but this wasn’t about his brother anymore.
“Come on, we’re getting out of here.” He pulled on her arm.
“It’s too late.” Her eyes met his. They were dry and calm when they should have been filled with tears and hysterics. “Can’t you feel them?”
Ben couldn’t feel a damn thing except anxiety to get Shiri and his girls out of the house. “They’re not here yet. There’s still time.”
“No, Ben, there’s not.” She jumped to her feet. “Not for me. They’re here; they’re surrounding the house. But it’s not too late for the girls.” She grabbed his arms, shaking him hard. “You can still get your girls out. They don’t know about them. There’s still a chance to save Daphne.”
“Shiri, no one—”
She shook him again. Ben closed his mouth at the intensity in her eyes.
“Move.”
One second Ben was moving toward the door and the next second he was blocked. The room filled with the Conditioned. Or at least he assumed that was who they were, because they’d appeared out of nowhere.
He did a quick headcount. There were eight very large, very pissed off men surrounding the doors and windows, blocking all his potential exits. Gene’s men raised their guns. Ben braced himself. If there was going to be a battle, he would push Shiri to the floor. He’d gotten her into so much trouble without ever meaning to. Guilt warred with anger inside him, and he fisted his hands, wishing he too held a gun.
One silent, tense second passed and all the guns that Gene’s men held disappeared. Gasps and curses filled the room as one of the newly arrived Conditioned stepped forward.
“We are the Fury.”
This was the second time in as many days that Ben had had to put up with the Fury. For a supposedly secret organization, they were certainly parading themselves around.
Gene spoke from behind him. “There’s been a mistake.”
“Oh no, there has not.” Madame Joan sauntered into the room as if she owned the place.
Ben took a small amount of pleasure at the protruding, purple bruise on her head from where he had whomped her with the chair. He swallowed. There was no way any of them were getting out of there unscathed.
“You got the drop on me earlier, Mr. Lavelle.” She looked at Ben, and he wanted to punch her, hard. As he watched, she turned on her heel to regard Gene. “Imagine my surprise when you were so helpful as to call and tell me you had some of my reported-dead property here at your house.” The bitch smiled. “I bet you didn’t expect it to go like this, did you?”
“Madame,” the Fury standing the closest to the woman said. “I’m sensing more than one Conditioned in the house.”
Madame raised her eyebrow as Ben’s heart sped up. He turned his gaze to Shiri, begging her silently to understand his internal question. Was it possible? Could they actually just sense Daphne’s Condition?
“Don’t be stupid,” Shiri scoffed. “It’s just me.”
“Madame…”
“If your Fury are so impeccable, how did I get away in the past? How did we manage to blow up your precious Institution in the first place?”
Madame gasped, turning three shades redder. “You? You were involved in blowing up Crescent?”
Shiri shrugged, and Ben grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. He knew what she was doing. He wouldn’t—couldn’t—let her. In an impressive maneuver, she managed to wiggle out of his hold.
“Don’t touch me, Ben. You betrayed me. As far as I’m concerned, you’re as bad as she was.”
Somewhere inside him, Ben’s soul screamed. He didn’t know this woman. As far as his memory went, he’d only known her for a few hours. But her words wounded him as though she’s shot him in the gut.
“Shiri…”
She ignored him as she continued her tirade at Madame. “I arranged the whole thing. I blew up your Institution all by myself. Boom. Your safe haven is gone.”
The Fury next to Madame lunged forward. Ben moved to intercept him, but not before Shiri kicked him in the groin. His eyes got huge as she pushed the man forward. Behind him, Gene’s men pounced. If they couldn’t fire weapons, it looked as if they would fight one-on-one.
Ben followed Shiri as she darted around the corner toward the staircase in the front hall. Good. He was sure she was heading out the front door, which was why he gasped when he saw her climbing the stairs instead.
“Shiri, what are you doing?”
She didn’t answer him as she took the stairs two at a time. He followed in her wake as the shouts behind him increased. “Where are you going?”
Damn it, she needed to answer him. It felt as though his heart would escape from his chest, it beat so fast.
“The girls,” she called over her shoulder. “Second door on the right.”
She skidded to a halt in front of the door. Ben nearly collided with her.
“It’s locked.” Shiri struggled with the handle. “Shit, it’s locked.”
He could hear the frantic edge in her voice and it matched his anxiety. They were out of time. Why couldn’t they get a break? He reached behind her to pound on the door.
“Girls, open this door immediately. It’s life or death.”
Ben didn’t usually want to frighten them, but today he had no choice. The door flew open, revealing Ella on the other side.
Illicit Connections (Illicit Minds Book 2) Page 17
