For Her Benefit

by Nana Malone

  I smelled onions cooking. And, were those tomatoes? Ginger. Garlic. After hanging my coat up, I sniffed my way through the butler’s pantry and into the kitchen. “Something smells amazing.”

  Ben turned around, his short sleeves rolled up and his hair tied back with a clip. “Hello, beautiful.”

  “Hi. This is unexpected.”

  Placing the wooden spoon at the edge of the pan, he strolled over, leaned down, and gave me a kiss that was a soft slide of slippery lips. “You are stunning.”

  “Are you sure? I’ve been crying, so I hardly think I’m stunning.”

  “You said goodbye?”

  “Properly, yeah. Thank you for giving me space and letting me do that.”

  “You realize I’m only giving you space because Telly insisted that she was going?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I know. How was the vote? Are you okay?”

  He licked his lips, picked up his glass of wine, and handed me one of my own. From the looks of it Moscat. He knew I liked it sweet. I took a sip and smiled, laughing as the bubbles tickled my nose. “Okay, you’re not saying anything. What happened?”

  He lowered the temperature on the stove, added the tomatoes, and then covered the pot, double-checking the temperature again. Then he leaned against the counter. “You are looking at the new Director Prime of the Elite.”

  My jaw unhinged. “What? Stop it. That did not happen.”

  “Oh, I promise you,” he took a sip, “it happened.”

  “But how? What about Drew?”

  “Between Taron Davies, Rowan Downs, and my father campaigning, and given the options presented to them, the membership chose me.”

  I winced. “Dare I ask what the vote count was?”

  “Two hundred and ninety-two.”

  My jaw fell to the floor then. “Jesus fucking Christ, that’s the whole damn membership, basically.”

  “Yeah, it is. I think the few hold outs had a reason to want the Van Linsteds to stay in power. We don’t know who the holdouts were, but I’m sure they’ll show themselves eventually.”

  I studied him. There was something else. “What else is wrong?”

  “Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Actually, everything is… I don’t know, kind of perfect, in a way, despite me being the leader of an organization that I wanted to burn to the ground."

  "Well, you could still burn it to the ground. Just don't be in it."

  He laughed. "I don't know. You’ve helped me see that I could do a lot of good. And Davies and Downs were pretty adamant that they had done this for the good of the organization. That as the head, I could take down the people that had done damage, hurt Toby. And we have two more names on that list. Van Linsted wasn't the only one."

  "I hear you. This is a big deal. How do you feel?"

  "A little bit numb, if I'm being honest. But the moment I walked through these doors, into this house that I used to hate, I felt warm, and alive, and loved. I noticed the plants that you'd put everywhere."

  "Okay, hear me out. I know I have a black thumb. But I think with a little bit of help from the housekeeper, I can get on a schedule for watering, and understand what plant needs what light."

  He laughed. "That’s what I mean. You are the bright spot in the darkness. You are the reason I get up most days, just to see you smile, just to hear some hair-brained idea, just to hear you laugh or for you to excitedly tell me some new story idea."

  I grinned up at him. "Well, I aim to please."

  He leaned forward and gave me another kiss.

  "It's funny, I came home, and I knew you were with your mother, so I didn't want to bother you."

  "Ben, it's not bothering me. You needed me."

  "I do. But I knew you would be home soon, and I wanted to, I don't know... do something for you."

  "You mean besides protecting me, and taking care of me, and providing me security and this, you know, mansion to live in. I mean, as mansions go, it's okay. But I was really hoping for a palace."

  I laughed and he grinned. "About the palace thing, it seems that the Van Linsted Estate does not actually belong to the Van Linsteds."

  "It doesn't?”

  "No. It belongs to the brotherhood. It's the Director Prime's residence, usually."

  "Jesus fucking Christ."

  "I know. It's a beautiful property, but I don't want to live there."

  I blinked at him. "We can find some use for it though, right?"

  "Yeah, we can. I mean, do you want to live there? I'm sure with your touch, we could make it a home."

  I laughed. "I already have rooms in this house that I don't think I've seen yet. I'm certainly not going to move into a palace."

  "Okay, good, because I like the home we’ve built here. I like it so much I wanted to do something for you, so I started cooking. And you know what? It's weird, but I find it relaxing. Following your cues, your mother's recipes. By the way, I will say that a pinch is not an accurate measurement."

  I laughed. "I know. But you watch someone who cooks a lot and then make your own adjustments as you see fit."

  "That's impossible, you know that."

  "Yes, I do."

  He put his glass down and took mine and set it down next to his. Then he took both my hands. "You know I love you, right?"

  "Yes, I know. You tell me every day, and I feel it every day."

  "Good. Then this won't be a surprise." He started lowering to one knee, and my heart started to gallop, pounding against my rib cage, begging for freedom, wanting to run straight into bed.

  "What are you doing?"

  He grinned. "Olivia Ashong, since meeting you that fateful night in the closet, I have been unable to get you out of my mind. You were a distraction at first. And then you were an intrigue. And then you were a fast-talking little sprite, determined to make my life hell. And then, I found that I could not live without you. Just the idea of not having you next to me, not having you giving me shit, not having your laughter fill my house, makes me ill. I fell in love with you. And yes, it's going to be difficult with the changes that are going to happen, but the idea of being without you is impossible. I can't fathom it. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. So will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and allowing me to become your husband?"

  My eyes stung with hot tears. The words he said left me breathless. "Ben, are you sure?"

  He nodded. His ice-blue eyes had already darkened to electric blue. "Yes." And then he cursed. "Oh, shit, I forgot." He grabbed my glass and reached into his pocket, turned his back to me, and then turned back around, handing me my glass. "You're supposed to be sipping this and find it in your glass, but I got caught up cooking and I forgot."

  I laughed. "If I had been sipping my w—" And then what I saw in the wine glass, the giant sparkling diamond, took my breath away. "Oh my God, Ben."

  "What? You don't like it? We can change it. I thought you'd like a simple solitaire."

  What he considered simple was not simple at all. Rose and white gold braiding surrounded the stunning diamond solitaire, making a loop around it, and the shank was embedded with teeny-tiny diamonds. "Ben, it's beautiful."

  He took position on his knee again. "So, Miss Ashong, would you allow me to become Bennett James Ashong Covington?"

  I laughed. "Are you serious? You would take my name?"

  "Yeah, I figured we could hyphenate it."

  "Bennett, is that done?"

  "Well, I could give zero fucks. Besides, you're mine. And I am yours. And I want our children to have your mother's name."

  Well, that did it. Opened the dam for the waterworks. I loved him so much. "I love you."

  "Good. Now, give me the glass so I can put the ring on your finger."

  "Did I say yes?"

  "Yup, I'm taking that as a yes."

  I giggled and nodded my head. "It is a yes, you presumptuous asshole."

  He kissed my knuckles as he slid the ring on my finger. "God, it looks amazing on your hand."

  It was stunn
ing. But there was no way I could wear it every day. "Ben, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. But it's enormous. Come on. It's ridiculous. I can't wear that around."

  "Oh yes you can, and you know it."

  "Maybe I'll just wear that one on special occasions?"

  He shook his head. "That's the one I got you, that's the one I want you to wear."

  "Oh my god, I'm going to have to start exercising my wrist to hold this puppy up."

  "I’ve got a couple of exercises you can try."

  I snorted a laugh and wrapped my arms around his neck as he picked me up easily. I wrapped my legs around him and went in for a kiss.

  "Woman, you are distracting me. I've got food on the stove."

  "Oh, we can make this quick."

  He carried us over to the stove and turned it off. "You know full well I can't make it quick. Let's not burn the house down around us, okay?"

  "Deal. I love you so much, Mr. Covington."

  "And I love you, Miss Ashong."

  28

  Ben

  I hadn't exactly been avoiding my father since the vote. I just hadn’t sincerely been seeking him out either. He, of course, would think that he'd performed some kind of major coup or something, and he probably thought I was thrilled. I definitely wasn’t happy about the development, but I would certainly make it work for me. It had to work for me. Because ever since seeing that video, I was more determined than ever to make them all pay and burn it all down.

  The Van Linsteds might have gotten what was coming to them, but they weren't the only ones involved. There had been two other people on watch that night. And they were still out there. So I would make them surface and correct that mistake.

  I knew our little chat was inevitable, so I didn't try and put him off any longer. If he was willing to have it, then we were going to get it over with.

  He strode into my office with a beaming smile. "Bennett, son. You left too early the other day. Granted, that was close to fucked with Interpol showing up, but I didn't get a chance to congratulate you."

  "What, you mean you didn't get a chance to congratulate yourself on your plan? You think I didn't know you were behind this? Downs and I had a deal. I had one with Davies too, but you just couldn't let it be. So, what is it you want?"

  He threw up his hands. "I don't know what is going to make you happy, son. You should be ecstatic. You are the most powerful man in the world as of today. That's a heady thing to realize. And I know just what you need to help direct you on your path. You're going to need good advisers."

  I leveled a gaze at him. “I have good advisers.”

  He waved me off. “What, your mates? They don’t understand how industry runs or anything about world governance. You have a slew of advisers at your beck and call. Make good use of them."

  "And I just might do that. But again, what's in this for you?"

  "Obviously, I'm your father. What is good for you is good for me. God, a Covington, finally Director Prime. I was giving some thought myself to running for the seat, but you performed the most perfect coup d’état I have ever seen."

  I pressed my hands to my desk as I leaned over it. "So you think this was a deliberate coup? For what purpose?"

  "Look son, I get it. You wanted Wilcox. He's your mate. You had your own set of plans, but I could see your plans were going to fail. Davies agreed. So did Downs. So we had a conversation to change things up on you. The only reason we didn't tell you was because we knew you wouldn't agree to it."

  I stood there watching him, letting him finish the little speech in his head. "So, once again, instead of asking what I wanted, you decided what you thought was best for me and made it happen. You made me the most powerful man in England, hell, in the world. So now what?” He shrugged. "Don't tell me it doesn't intrigue you."

  "I never wanted to be king."

  "But you are a king now. Look, you have to strike while the iron is hot and decide some sort of action somewhere. I personally think you need to take pity on the Van Linsteds. It shows that you're strong enough in your position and that you're not threatened. Push for a lighter sentence. They’ll be out in a few years and owe you a great debt because you showed them mercy. Especially Bram. The optics are already bad on that. I understand you loathe each other. But if you—"

  I put up a hand, cutting him off. "I'm sorry, did you say I should let Marcus Van Linsted go?"

  "Oh no, not go. Obviously, Interpol is involved now. You'll learn that when the authorities get involved, you have little control over the situation. But before it can get to them, you can get a lot done."

  "I'm sorry, Dad, do you hear yourself?"

  "Look, I get it. You don't want to get your hands dirty. It's beneath you. I understand... the way he looked down on you... But you are the head of the Elite now. You don't get to walk around thinking you don't have to get your hands dirty. We all get our hands dirty. All of us. It's just the way that it is. So, you have to have an agenda set. A direction where you're driving everyone’s horse. You have to do that swiftly, otherwise, they'll think you're ineffectual and they will test you. And then you'll have to have a firmer hand."

  I listened as he spoke, and I stared at him. "Dad, you're under a false impression that I give two shits. First, I have a concern this organization will burn itself into the ground."

  "Bennett, clearly, you don't mean that. You love this organization."

  "No, I don’t, and I never have. But as far as I understand it, there's no one who can kick me out. So, you made the wrong person king. I will not be your puppet. I don't need your advice. If the organization is salvageable, then that's what I'll do. But not before I’ve fully vetted every single member. For what Marcus has been up to all these years, he deserves to rot. I'm not going to be lenient on him. They're all going to burn, Dad. And let's just hope, when all is said and done, you won’t be caught in the crosshairs. It's time to clean the house."

  "Son, you can't be serious. They gave you a career. The political opportunities..."

  "Haven't you been paying attention? I don't want any of that. This happened. Sure, fine. I'll use the position of Director Prime to get what I need done. But then I'm walking away from this organization like I told you. There's nothing you, or Davies, or Downs can do about it."

  "You're making a mistake, Bennett."

  "Dad, you're the one who made a mistake. You cast your lot with these people. So far, I haven't found evidence that you were involved in Van Linsted's schemes, but if I do, you will be made to pay the consequences as well. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go. Rest assured, you are not one of my advisers. If I do see this thing through, I'll be on my own. Weren't you always saying I needed to learn how to do things for myself anyway? This is a fantastic opportunity for me to test that. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out."

  Ben

  “To the new Director fucking Prime.”

  “How does the man who hates the Elite become their supreme overlord?”

  “You’re going to have to ask him.”

  We all raised our glasses and then drank the scotch back, letting the smooth burn slide down our throats.

  Bridge laughed. “Man, you did it. The Van Linsteds are finished. Not only that, Marcus and Bram will do time. We’ve done it. We have made it happen.”

  I sipped my scotch. “Well, let’s not get too comfortable. There are still two others who did nothing to help Toby. I have no intention of letting them walk away.”

  East lifted his glass. “Mate…”

  “What?” I frowned at him.

  “Let’s celebrate the wins, yeah?”

  I grinned. “Yeah, you’re right. There’s plenty of time to think about future plans. Besides, right now I need to say a special thanks to Team Winston Isles.”

  "Don't go thanking these guys. It was all me," Lucas said with a cheeky grin and his arms spread wide. Bryna smacked him on the ass. "Careful, sweetheart, you know I like that freaky shit."

  Ever
yone groaned, and Bryna flushed. But Lucas reached down and gave her a kiss while smoothing his thumb over her cheek, and she smiled up at him. I couldn't help but glance over at Liv, who winked at me.

  God, she was going to be my wife. My fucking wife.

  In the backroom of The Eye Bar, we toasted and congratulated each other. These people were my family.

  East laughed. “So, what are your first orders, Director Prime? Are you going to take the house?”

  I frowned. “I don’t want the house.”

  “It’s a palace, mate. We could use it for anything.”

  “Well, we’ll still have the meetings there. But I think Liv and I are going to stay at Covington House.”

  All three of my mates glanced at each other. Then Drew laughed. “First, you’re voluntarily calling it Covington House out loud. Second, you said ‘Liv and I’, so I guess you’re keeping her then.”

  I grinned. I was more than keeping her. “Yeah, so to speak. She did agree to be my wife.”

  I could have shattered the silence in our private room with a pin.

  East coughed on a mouthful of scotch. “Mate, did you just say she’s going to be your wife?”

  Bridge just stared blankly at me.

  Drew threw his head back and laughed.

  “Yeah, I asked her last night. She said yes.”

  Suddenly, there was a loud roar of laughter and claps. Bridge, uncharacteristically overcome with emotion, jumped up from his seat and gave me a giant bear hug. “Mate, welcome. Welcome to the brotherhood of blissful soon-to-be-married gentlemen.”

  I laughed and hugged him back. “Wow, a full-on hug from Bridge Edgerton. Are they making snowballs in hell?”

  “For important causes, I can show emotion. But I have tapped the well now, so it’s going to be a while until I can express feelings again. East don’t you hurry up and get married too.”

  East laughed, then pulled me from Bridge’s embrace to give me one of his own. “Mate, that is fan-fucking-tastic. I mean, I’m bummed I didn’t get her first, but if there had to be a second choice, I’m glad it was you.”