Jessyka was out of her seat and running to him when the filming was done. He would only have a few minutes with her, but they would meet later in a few hours when he finished some additional voice overs, and another interview with Dusti about the win.
“Oh, baby! Yay, we won!” She threw herself into his arms. He loved her enthusiasm, and greeted both Jewel and her stunning sister-in-law, Aliya, whom he was meeting for the first time.
“Congratulations!” He heard both Jewel and Aliya say as he set his wife down. Servers came out of the wings with the remaining appetizers to serve those in the crowd who wanted to sample the concoctions created on stage. He was surprised to see the quantities of food.
Jewel shrugged. “My mother-in-law thought it would be a good idea to make extra of whatever the contestants were making, so the kitchen staff was watching on close circuit TV.”
“Good idea,” Benny stated. Now everyone would get to sample something. It was a nice touch, he thought. This Sassacus clan sure knew how to operate such a large scale hotel and casino.
Jewel nodded. “She felt since the audience is paying fifty dollars just to see the production, they might as well get a little taste of what is being made on the show. We plan to add these appetizers to the menu tonight. Word of mouth will bring more people to the next three live tapings.”
“Your mother-in-law is a smart woman.” It was interesting to see the work that went into running this massive casino. He was impressed.
“Oh, it was actually Eve’s idea. She is in charge of entertainment here at the casino.”
“It sounds like all of the Sassacus family knows what they’re doing.”
Aliya chimed in. “They do. They all bring their special talents to running this place.” Aliya knew firsthand what it took. Her husband was CEO of the casino, along with her mother-in-law. Her brother-in-law, Joseph, was the attorney and handled all contracts. Eve handled entertainment as the casino’s director, and Dawn now worked in accounting. Even they, as wives did their part. She was a dancer and choreographer for the live performances, and Jewel was one of the top chefs. Eve’s new boyfriend, who was a rock star, performed at the hotel four nights a week; he would also record at the casino since Tawny built him a studio in the new tower. It was truly a family affair. “The theater was only at half capacity today, but just watch. This idea of Eve’s will fill every seat tomorrow, and ticket prices for the finale will bring in a lot of revenue to the casino as well as new guests.”
“Hey, we need you back stage, Mr. Sawyer!” The tech who had gathered his trays called out to him from the stage.
“Oh, I better head backstage, but I’ll catch up with you later. And thank-you both, Jewel, and Aliya for taking Jess out for a bit while I’m busy. It was nice meeting you.”
“You as well,” Aliya smiled and nodded as he stooped down to press a quick kiss to Jessyka’s cheek.
“Okay, bye baby. I’ll see you later.” She took the kiss he offered and slipped her arm around his back for a quick hug before letting go. She was ecstatic, and couldn’t wait to hear more about the competition when he was no longer needed. “Just tell Dusti to keep her hands to herself,” she added her parting shot.
Benny’s step faltered for a second, and he turned back and winked at her. “You got nothing to worry about.”
“I know that. But she might.” He heard the warning and shook his head I laughter.
He smiled and winked once more before leaving. “Love you, baby. Only you.” At her nod, he turned and left. The quicker he handled this, the quicker he could relax and worry about tomorrow.
He headed back up the stairs to go backstage in a good mood, ready to take care of business, but something gave him pause. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He stopped midway and turned and glanced back out into the audience until he sighted Jessyka. She was walking away with Jewel and Aliya by her side. He continued to scan the audience, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He briefly wondered what had given him pause, what had caused his reaction. Brushing it off as a post adrenalin rush, he shrugged and turned back around. The sooner he got done here, the sooner he could be back with Jessyka, holding her, making love to her, and planning for tomorrow.
* * *
Heidi spit the cheesy potato concoction out of her mouth and into her napkin. It was good, she would give Benny that. But the thing probably had a million calories, and to hell if she was ingesting that. She’d taken it only because she hadn’t wanted to make a scene when the waiter had put it right under her nose. Her new boyfriend had scored the tickets at the last minute when she mentioned she wanted to go. She’d only wanted to come to see Benny and Jessyka.
She had hoped it would give her an idea. She’d also wanted to follow Jessyka. But, she hadn’t expected to see her with the bosses’ wives.
She pushed down her anger and smiled at Chuck as he took her elbow to help her out of the aisle. She was disgusted. It figured that Benny and Jessyka would know people in high places.
Another waiter passed by and held out another appetizer. A small cardboard cup containing the shrimp dip that woman Christy Brister or something or other had made. Hell no! She wasn’t eating that crap either. She just shook her head. No way. No more calories for her today. She may be a lot of things, but one thing she never was going to be was fat. She brushed her hand over her flat stomach. It had taken her years to lose that belly fat after she had her baby.
Heidi didn’t like to think about her dead baby. The one that made her fat. The one that made her do drugs to get skinny and then become an addict. She shook her head as her boyfriend took her elbow to steer her out of the arena. She couldn’t think about her dead baby. It just made her madder. Made her want this revenge even more. Revenge, she vowed to get.
Still, she just had to think of how. How would she make Benny and Jessyka Sawyer pay? Because God knows they deserved it for all the suffering they had put her through.
But how?
She felt Chuck press up against her, his cock nestled into the crack of her ass. An idea occurred. And she smiled, for the first time in a long time. She smiled.
CHAPTER 9
The weather was simply beautiful. There was nothing else like it. New England in the fall was mesmerizing. The crinkling and crunching of the colorful leaves could be heard underfoot, and the smell of burning wood from fireplaces permeated the air. Benny held Jessyka’s hand as they walked along the trail beside the Mystic River. The water in the river was steely blue as it gurgled in its tumbling over the jagged rocks nature had placed in its path. As the sun set in the west, he and Jess walked toward the last rays. He never felt so at peace as in that moment with her by his side. It was the simple tranquility of being alone with his wife. It was peace. He missed his kids, but this, with this view, was something else. He loved California, but right now he felt at home.
The air around them was cool, crisp, and refreshing. It wasn’t too cold yet though. Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Being in New England this time of year was bringing back so many of his favorite memories. He truly did love this time of year. He missed having four seasons, and in his part of California they only really had just the two. “This takes me back, Jessyka. I do miss New England.”
“Do you regret settling in California?” she asked, her brow furrowing slightly. “You know I’d go anywhere with you.”
“I know, baby. And no. I don’t regret California for one minute. That’s where I met you. That’s where all of my friends are. Before I met you, in fact just a few weeks before I met you, I considered coming back. All the guys had found someone by then, and I hadn’t yet. All the girls who hit on me were the same. It was getting tiresome.”
“Oh, was there someone you were coming back to?” she asked. He had told her pretty much everything. And there hadn’t been anyone who made him feel what he felt with her from the get go. Lust, yes, but never love. Not like this. So, he knew she was teasing.
“You know the answer to that.”
“No one but you. But, we have got to come here more often. My aunts are getting older and I miss my family and my cousins. I want my kids to know them, to know my roots.”
“I get that.” Jessyka heard the nostalgia in his voice and she completely understood. She’d never really grown attached to any particular place until she met Benny and his friends. Now it was wherever they were that was home. They were her family. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else now other than Southern California, but she did know she could adapt because all she really needed was Benny and her three kids. She was glad though that Benny wanted to stay in California. “Now that the kids are getting older, it’ll be easier to take them on trips like this. And I agree. We should come at least once a year. You know,” she paused taking in the landscape, “it would be nice to come here for Christmas and let the kids see snow.”
Benny bent down to his lovely wife. He could imagine her making a snow angel right now. She was his angel. His Snow White.
“Thanks, babe. I would love that, and so would my aunts. I need to call Cameron and Cord more often too. I want to invite them out to California once we have fixed up the house. I want them to bring their kids when they start having them, and have them get to know our kids. They are brothers to me too.”
“That would be awesome, baby. I want our kids to have family and friends around them forever.” She hadn’t had that growing up, and knew if she had her life would’ve been a lot more pleasant and a lot less lonely.
“That’s what life is all about,” Benny quipped, pulling Jessyka to his side as they continued to walk down the trail along the bank of the mighty Mystic River. They walked further into the dense forested areas behind the casino.
He knew they should head back soon. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and he was pleased the path was lighted. He noticed Jessyka limp for the first time and knew for sure it was time to turn around.
She had finally listened to him and the doctor and now wore proper shoes, one with a slight lift. Her limp had gotten worse after carrying the babies around. One of her legs had always been shorter than the other, but the compression of carrying the babies had worsened it. That and for years she hadn’t taken proper care of it and had suffered as a result. The lift had helped so much. She was able to walk longer and further and the rotation and wear and tear on her hip joint was improving. She fought him on it originally, but because she didn’t want there to be further damage or the damage she had done by going so long without proper care to be permanent, and with both him and her doctors warning her repeatedly, she had finally relented and wore a slight lift at their insistence inside of her left shoe. But she still got worn out, and so it was time to head back.
“Hey hon, let’s start to head back,” he suggested. They had already called the kids and his aunts who were excited about watching the show tonight. It aired at 10 PM and he was sure his aunts would call him afterwards to congratulate him once more on his win. The aunts had also promised the kids to tape the show and they were all going to watch it again tomorrow. His two oldest were very excited about watching daddy on TV, they told him. He and Jessyka planned on setting up the lap top they brought in their room so they could enjoy seeing their friends back in California as they watched as well. He didn’t know how that would go down. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing himself on TV, but Jessyka was and she wanted to see all of their friends’ reactions while they watched at Aces. The whole gang would be there to watch the series together. He was sure Jessyka would be glued to the TV and the laptop the entire time. He wanted her to have her fun. He just hoped it wasn’t at his expense, though the guys were sure to be full of many one liners.
“So tomorrow is soup. Got any ideas?” Jess asked as she clung to his arm.
“Actually I do. I’m thinking about making my French onion soup.” He had decided to make that when he saw the pile of onions on one of the carts in a storage area.
“Really?”
He nodded. “It’s very versatile. Whatever spices they throw at me I know I can work with it. Well, almost any spice. Cinnamon would be tough, but anything else I think I could work with. I can make a bread to go with it if I have to, if the ingredient isn’t a spice. It’s simple and delicious. But, if the ingredient is a hearty vegetable or a meat I might have to go with some kind of chowder. But I’m thinking that tomorrow it’s going to be a spice. I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”
“Well, I do love your French onion soup and your chowders are to die for.” Either one would work, she thought.
“Thanks, hon.”
“Babe, you really are such a fantastic cook. The things you make and create, well, let’s just say I’m surprised I’m not fat.”
Benny laughed heartily. “The kids keep you too busy to get fat. Plus, you work like a maniac.”
“Um, and I think you have a little something to do with um, my workouts,” Jessyka insinuated naughtily. Her eyebrows were arched suggestively and then he snorted.
“I’ve never heard you complain before,” he chastised her.
“And you never will, baby. Never.” He chuckled softly as they walked along the foot path toward the hotel. The trail began to widen as they got closer to the spectacular casino. He was happy that he and Jessyka were getting this time together, to be just a couple and enjoy themselves. There was plenty to do here too, but the best thing about it was that she was by his side.
He loved every moment he got to be with her. “You know, when I retire from the military in another 10 years or so, I think I’d love to work for you at Aces. Would you give me a job?” he teased.
“Me? Be your boss?” She laughed. “I’d be like the cake boss or something.” She loved her reality TV.
“Something like that.” He teased in return. He wasn’t much of a baker. In culinary school, he focused more on the cooking aspect. “I think the customers at Aces aren’t really coming in for the desserts, but I’ve got a few ideas for some new appetizers, and some gourmet burger recipes. Man food. Bar food. I can also do some mean and creative things with a potato,” he told her.
“You’re hired!”
He laughed out of his nose. “It won’t be fancy, but it’ll be good.”
“I’m sure it will. Everything you make is good.”
“Thanks, babe.” He was confident that he would do well with his soup, and his entrée. His only worry was dessert. He knew if he made it to the final round it would really be all about luck. In the final round he’d have to make a dessert. He wanted to talk to Jewel about that. Maybe get her input. But he didn’t want to think about that right now. For the rest of the night he just wanted to enjoy Jessyka and their time together. She was taking them sight-seeing in the morning, and he would have to ask her then.
He looked up and saw the casino looming larger off in the distance. The parking lot was just a few yards away. He reached once more for Jessyka’s hand and felt her give him a gentle squeeze as they stepped off the path and onto the pavement. Once more Benny experienced that strange sensation he felt earlier that afternoon inside of the auditorium. He glanced around the parking area. It was very well lit. He noticed nothing suspicious. There were a few people walking to their cars and a few others who were walking in the same direction as he and Jessyka, towards the hotel lobby. He strained his neck to look behind him toward the woods and the trail they had just abandoned. And again he saw nothing unusual. But he was still on high alert. He didn’t know why. He hadn’t seen anything remotely suspicious. Yet twice today he had felt this way. It was like the time when he and the guys were in Beirut. Wolf told him to trust his instincts. And he had. It saved them all.
He knew if he felt this way again, he was going to tell Jessyka to be on alert too. He knew it might be nothing, but s
he and their children were just too important to him. He was a SEAL, and one part of his training was to always be on alert. And something was definitely raising some red flags for him.
* * *
Onions.
She knew what she was going to do.
Aconite.
Or Wolfsbane, as it was more commonly known.
Chuck, her boyfriend, had told her about the plant one day. He’d seen the purple flowers growing off in the distance in her overgrown backyard. He’d actually warned her to stay away from them. The guy was a big history buff. He’d seen a show on it and how it had been used to kill some guy named Claudius back in the day. She pretended to be interested. Sometimes the guy was a bore, but he had money so she put it up with him.
She remembered now that he said the plant was known to cause asphyxia. She’d have to be very careful when touching the plant because the killing ingredients could be absorbed through the skin. She was going to get some of this plant; she’d wear heavy duty gloves, and she’d extract some of the plants deadly nectar with one of the hypodermic needles she kept hidden in her bathroom. And then she would inject it into the onions Benny planned to use for his French onion soup the next day. She caught a lucky break when she had been hidden by the bushes when they passed her by yesterday on their walk along the Mystic River. That was how she knew what he would be making the next. Using this plant would be perfect.
Didn’t cooks like to sample their wares? Yes, she’d watched Benny do just that when making those potato thingies, and then he’d added more spices. With any luck, the guy would drop dead before the show was done filming and she would sit in the audience and watch Jessyka watch her husband die. That would be sweet, sweet, revenge.
Surely he would taste it. But what if he didn’t? What would be the worst case scenario? The judges? Fuck em! And fuck those Wahlbergs too!
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Betting on Benny (Kindle Worlds) (Mystic Nights Book 6) Page 6