Bennett Mafia

by Tijan

  “We’re ready to go.”

  Blade nodded, but stayed back as Carol led the family down the path. He grinned. Even in the moonlight, I could see the fondness.

  “I’m surprised Kai let you come out,” he said. “You’re what? Eight months?”

  I grunted, slipping off the waders and folding them into a watertight bag. Grabbing two warmers from my pocket, I crumpled them up before slipping them into my sneakers. If I had to run, my feet would be extra toasty this way. Blade took the bag of waders and slung it over his shoulder.

  We headed down the path in darkness, keeping our flashlights in hand in case we needed them. Until then, we’d use the little bit of moon that filtered through the trees to light the way. It wasn’t a long trek.

  “I feel like I’m ten months.” I laughed. “I’m about ready to pop, and no, he didn’t want me to come.” I had insisted. The little girl was the same age our daughter would’ve been.

  “Well…” Blade said as we drew close to the two SUVS and a van he and Carol were using. Carol was just closing the sliding door. “Looks like we’re ready to go.”

  She headed back to us, raising her arms.

  I stepped in for a hug.

  She patted my back, holding me tight and rocking us back and forth. “I miss you. I wish we were doing more of this with you.”

  I smiled, stepping back. “I know. We’ll do another. Time will go fast. It’ll be before you know it, and you’re welcome for Thanksgiving.”

  “You’ll be back in Vancouver?”

  I nodded. “We’re heading back in the morning. Brooke and Eric got married the other week, so we’re in transition from there to back home.”

  “Really? Brooke got married?”

  I laughed. “It was the social event of Toronto. She’s happy.”

  “That’s good.” Carol smiled, exchanging a look with Blade.

  I knew that look. After another round of hugs, it was time to go. Before letting me go, Blade whispered in my ear, “Carol gave me the go-ahead to tell you…” He paused, leaning back, his smile so wide. “We’re together.”

  “What?!”

  “Officially.”

  My mouth dropped, but then I was hugging him again, and I squealed louder than I should have. “Oh my God! That’s amazing. Carol!”

  She blushed, grinning over her shoulder as she got behind the steering wheel. She waved to me, but she wouldn’t get out to talk to me again. They had to go. Waiting around with survivors was just never a smart idea.

  Blade cast a glance at the SUVs waiting for me. “I know you’re in safe hands.”

  “You’re happy?” I asked him.

  He nodded. “I’m happy. Truly happy.” He smoothed back some of my hair and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I know you’re a Bennett now, but you’re always a member of our family too. Don’t forget. We both love you.”

  I blinked back tears, feeling warmth all over.

  I grabbed for his hand, holding it a second. “Take care of her. Take care of them.” One last squeeze. “Take care of yourself too.”

  “I know.” His gaze went to my stomach. “And take care of my future nephew.”

  He stepped back. I let go, my hands going to my stomach. “I will.” And as if he’d heard us, my little guy gave me a swift kick inside.

  Blade got in with a final wave, and the van headed out. They’d turn left onto a back road out of the park, and our SUVs would go right. I didn’t know where they were going after that, but that was the whole purpose of the Network. I would never see that family again. And that was a good thing.

  I headed to one of our SUVs, and as I stepped to the door, the guard opened it for me.

  There he was, waiting for me.

  Kai was in the back seat, and he grinned, pushing aside his laptop. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” I smiled in greeting, sliding in. The door closed behind me. I knew the guard would get inside, that the SUVs would all start to leave, but I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t stop moving as soon as I got inside. I went right in, sliding all the way until I was in Kai’s arms and his mouth was on mine.

  I was with my family.

  Word of mouth and reviews go a long way, so if you enjoyed Bennett Mafia, please leave a review! I truly appreciate them so much.

  For more books and more mafia stories, go to

  www.tijansbooks.com

  You can also find a sneak peek to a football romance I have coming later this year!

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Man. This book. Guys, this book came out of nowhere to me. It started from just a scene that occurred in my head. I don’t even think that scene got put in the book. It was where Kai wanted Jonah to do something for him and Jonah looked at him and said, “I’m a doctor.” Then Kai returned with, “You’re a Bennett.” And that was it. That started the spark for this book. Then came along an idea I had of a network where their sole purpose was to help hide those in situations where the law can’t help them. I actually wrote another short story titled 411 that was referenced in this book. It’s super short and I’ll probably put it up for free reading on my website or I’ll load it for a shorter read later on. I haven’t decided, but here we are.

  I genuinely hope you guys loved Riley and Kai’s story. As of right now, this is a stand-alone, just because I’m reluctant to commit to a series when I have so many other projects waiting for me to tackle them.

  I tried to stay true to the characters. They did some seriously shitty things that I don’t personally condone, and yeah, that’s the first time I’ve really felt like I needed to put that disclaimer there. Lol!

  Thank you to my entire team of beta readers, admins, proofreaders, Jessica! Thank you to my agent. Thank you to the readers in Tijan’s Crew. You guys give me inspiration on days when I’m exhausted and need a little pep in my step. Thank you!

  Tijan

  Keep Reading for Chapter 1 of Kian.

  My stomach plunged to my feet.

  Three steps earlier, I was already tasting the daiquiris I’d be drinking that night and the song “Copacabana” was on repeat, blasting in my mind. I was leaving my last exam of my sophomore year at Hillcrest University, and we were celebrating that night. The whole gang—myself, my roommate, and Wanker, the guy who loved my roommate, but she was too daft to realize it.

  But once I left that classroom, I froze.

  I took those three steps from the door, just clearing it, when it shut behind me. My butt got a swift whack, not that I was feeling it. All of that registered in the back of my mind. I was too transfixed across the hallway where the student lounge was located. That was the con of having classrooms attached to the social hub of the campus. The person I was staring at, smack dab in the center of the news report, was me.

  Not me, me, but me nonetheless.

  It was the old me, when I was Jordan Emory, and that girl looked different from how I was now. Current me had short brown, slightly golden-blonde hair. My hairstylist had come heavily recommended, straight from the federal government. But the girl on the television screen still had her long jet-black locks. I needed to move aside the frozen anvil to appreciate how good my hair looked, but damn, it did. I’d been a little bit of a hottie back then, and I never knew it. My nose wrinkled. What a waste. I should’ve taken classes in self-esteem. A lot of problems would’ve been avoided, but I hadn’t. Old me was broken and spineless.

  New me was spunky and fierce with extra emphasis on the spine.

  “Jo! Yo!”

  Jo, not Jordan. My new nickname was from my new full name of Joslyn Keen. There was that other fact.

  Jake Monroe was weaving his way toward me.

  My brain needed another two seconds to fully register what was happening. I was on the TV—old me, not new me—and Jake was coming my way. Jake, whom I had been in love with seven months ago, had broken me, like really broken me. I had been in a puddle on my bathroom floor, crying and sniffling with soggy Kleenex, wearing a bathrobe, next to an old pizza box and
a box of wine.

  It was that Jake.

  I couldn’t compute. I just couldn’t.

  He wove his way around a group of students, a very bright, fake smile plastered on my face. It felt alien-like, but hey, I was going this route. I felt like I was in a twilight zone anyway.

  “Oh, hey…there”—I gave his arm a slight punch—“Jake.” This was awkward. We hadn’t talked in seven months. I should be doing something else, not being nice to him, but at that moment, my brain wasn’t working.

  And I wasn’t stopping. I was making it worse.

  I raised my hand and pretended to shoot him with my finger. “How are you doing…there?”

  His head tilted to the side, and his grin slipped a little, morphing into is-she-nuts territory. “I’m good. How are you?” He was holding a textbook to his chest and leaned forward, motioning with it to the coffee cup in my hand. “Hitting that early today?”

  He thought I was drunk. I wish.

  “No.” I cleared my throat and glanced behind me to my classroom. “Just finished my last exam of the year. You? What are you doing?”

  “Looking for you.”

  “Oh?” My eyebrows shot up.

  As he started talking, my gaze slid past his shoulders to the television mounted on the wall in the lounge. My face was still there. There were words scrolling across the bottom of the screen along with old pictures of my hometown and other pictures that I didn’t want to register. I knew Jake wouldn’t recognize me, but I scooted around, so he had to turn with me. I tried concentrating on him. Whatever that was in the background, it could wait. I had a lie life to live here.

  Jake Monroe.

  Age: 21

  Occupation: College Juniorish (Might be a senior now.)

  Looks: Wide shoulders. Trim waist. Washboard abs. Nicely muscled thighs. Wavy brunette hair with speckles of sunlight. Strong jawline. Dark eyes that could make me groan and sigh at the same time. I had lost many afternoons just gazing into them. He had a young-looking face with a smooth complexion. He was gorgeous—too gorgeous at times.

  My history with him: I could already feel the condemnation. Mental assessment turned off.

  He was saying, “…Susan, do you think?”

  “Susan?”

  “She’s up for a promotion with the newspaper. There are two spots, but only one—”

  No, no, no. I knew where he was going with this, and I could only shake my head. “But only one is getting the full-time promotion.”

  He paused, a side grin appearing. “How did you know that?”

  “Do you not know who the other person is?”

  I was waiting. His friend Susan was my nemesis—or so I heard. Because of my history with Jake, she hated me. Well, hate was a strong word. Loathed was a more correct summary of the situation, but her reasons were twofold.

  Here’s the condemnation part—I was the other woman. Jake had a girlfriend when he and I started our fling in the first semester of this year, but I didn’t know he had a girlfriend. I heard, along with many others, that they broke up. I thought Jake was free and clear. And no, Susan wasn’t the girlfriend. Susan was best friends with the girlfriend, Tara Moore. Susan was doing her best-friend duties, which was hating me. And the other reason she hated me was the other part of my current conversation with Jake.

  My roommate and best friend, Erica Rouche, was the other one up for the job promotion. They both started as interns freshman year, then were hired on as junior writers. When the senior writers went on strike, Erica and Susan got promoted again. Things were touch and go for a while, but they both proved they could do their jobs well. The job opening was another step up, into full-time employment. It was a big deal for someone still in college.

  And Jake was asking me to…what? I wasn’t following that part.

  “The other person?” He scrunched up his adorable eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

  “Jake.”

  “What?”

  “Come on.”

  “Huh?” He scratched behind his ear. “That’s why I’m asking you. Do you think you could come with me?”

  His shoulders bunched up. His arms moved back, and his hands slid into his pockets. The book he was holding moved, so it was pressed between his arm and his chest, right where his rib cage was and right where I knew he had a tattoo.

  I almost groaned. I was reminded that not only was he the last guy I loved, but he was also the last guy I slept with. Remembering how that tattoo, a tribal tattoo positioned to make him look like a piece of art, was on his toned body—yes, I needed to get laid. By someone else.

  My eyes snapped back to his. “Erica. It’s Erica.”

  “Huh?”

  “The other person is Erica. The other person who Susan is competing against for that promotion is my roommate, my best friend.”

  “Oh, shit.” His hand moved to cup the side of his face. He stared down at me. “I didn’t even think about that. That is a wrinkle in my chances for asking you on a date.”

  “Exactly.” My head bobbed up and down. “Don’t tell me who got the promotion already. I don’t want to know. I still have to be excited or pissed when Erica tells me the news. That’s my”—wait a minute—“job.” I fixed him with a look. What had he said? “Date?”

  He was waiting, watching me, and his head moved up and down in a slow nod. “Yeah. This is going to be awkward now, huh? Susan got the promotion.” He gritted his teeth and stepped back. His head moved back, too, as if waiting for an explosion from me.

  None came. I was still dumbfounded by the date comment. All that vanished in two seconds, and my brain was back to normal. I took a step back and pretended to do a double take. “Are you talking to the right person? You must be mistaken.”

  “Oh no.” He looked down.

  “Oh yes,” I corrected. He looked back up, and I shook my head. “You’re asking me on a date? Did I hear that right?”

  He groaned.

  “A date?” I needed to make sure.

  “Yes. A date.” He was much more timid this time.

  I clipped my head from side to side. “This is the first time you’ve had the balls to talk to me in seven months and you’re asking me out? Do you remember the last time we spoke?” And speaking of, I should’ve ripped him a new one when he first said hello. I blamed the news for that blip.

  “Technically,” he lifted a hand up. “We didn’t speak that time.”

  “You’re right.” I snorted. “Because you had your tongue shoved down your ex-girlfriend’s throat. But no, I have to correct myself, because she wasn’t your ex at all. She was still your girlfriend.”

  “I’m sorry. I really am. Things are over now with Tara and me. We’re done. I mean it.”

  His face got red, and I knew he had more apologies ready to spew, but I didn’t want to hear them. As fast as my anger rose, it faded, too. It still burned, what he did, but I’d process that later. I was more concerned about Erica.

  “No, Jake. Go away.”

  When he didn’t, I was the one to walk away. I didn’t want to hear anymore, but he got in front of me and held his arms out. “Just hear me out. I’m not asking you out on a date. Although, full disclosure here, I wouldn’t mind if we went that route, but,” he raised his voice when he saw that I was about to give him the middle finger, “I was hoping to ask a favor from you.”

  “A favor?” My eyebrows arched up at that one.

  “Susan is having a celebration at Sids tonight, and,” he hesitated, “Tara is going to be there…and I was wondering if you’d go with me tonight.”

  “You want to use me?”

  “What?” His eyes got big a second later. “No! No. Well…yeah. Kinda.”

  I checked out. This conversation was going nowhere. I wasn’t going to date the guy who almost shattered me, and I wasn’t going to let him use me to get back at his now-ex-girlfriend. I just didn’t have the energy to vocalize all of that to him, especially when I could still see my old face on the television be
hind him. Although, seeing my face there and my old name shouldn’t have been such a shock.

  Three years ago, my face was everywhere. The media followed me anywhere I went. I was hounded, hunted, and harassed. I tried to finish out my last year of high school, but couldn’t. I quit halfway, finished up my GED, and the FBI helped me hide—or I should say that a federal agent helped me hide. I wasn’t officially in the Witness Protection Program because I didn’t qualify. There was no real threat to my well-being, just the media hounding me. But, even if there had been, I would’ve refused.

  I wanted to make my own decisions. I just needed help with changing my name and my looks. I still looked like my old self, but there were enough changes that people wouldn’t put two and two together.

  Besides the new hairdo, I had put on some pounds. The old me had been too skinny, ribs and hip bones sticking out everywhere. This me was healthy. I was toned, tanned, and ready for action. I was in shape, too, but the biggest change were my eyes. Nothing surgically had been done to them, but I ordered colored contacts by the bundle. My eyes were now like Jake’s, a chocolaty brown. My old eyes were a myriad of all different colors—blue, green, hazel, brown, and some amber mixed in. I was mostly hazel, but the other colors had been enough to make people stop for a second and third look. My eye color was also part of the reason I’d needed to go into hiding.

  My foster father was bewitched by my eyes. On a good day, I was a goddess to him. On a bad day—and there had been a lot of them—it was as if I had been sent by Lucifer himself.

  Everything went kaput on one of those bad days.

  “Jo?”

  Jake was frowning at me.

  Oh, yes. Date. Erica—crap, Erica lost the job. “I have to find Erica. I need to be with her when she finds out.”

  “What?”

  “I have to go.” I started to leave.

  “Wait.” He reached out for me, but I was hurrying toward the door. He called after me, “So, no date then?”

  I held up a hand in an absentminded wave. Jake was the least of my…whatever he was—problem, person of interest. I didn’t know. I wasn’t going to think about him, not until I found Erica.