In desperation, my thoughts scrambled for a way out, but every pathway ended with a bullet in my head.
“Your heart’s beating so fast.” Richard sniffed at me, a lion at a kill. “I can almost smell the fear on you. Like sweet cherry pie.” His snicker sickened me. “Frankly, I’m disappointed in you, Evangeline. I expected you to be tougher.”
A whole list of barbed responses assembled in my mouth, but I kept my lips closed. Not a good idea to piss off the guy with the gun, no matter how big of a dick he was.
Just breathe.
The doors opened. Richard pushed me out, one hand around my throat, the other shoving the gun into my lower back. More security lined the hallway there, their hands out to their sides as we sped down the center of them. I stared forward, feet slapping against the carpet in a staccato pattern at Richard’s nudges, avoiding everyone’s eyes. If the security team looked as terrified as I felt, it would only serve to rip my self-control to shreds.
Ben framed his doorway as we approached. Tall. Rigid. Kingly. He stared at me with unreadable eyes before they shifted to look at Richard. “Why are you doing this? I gave you my word.” Ben’s voice lowered to an octave I’d never heard before, rattling through me like notes from a bass drum in the hands of an enraged warrior.
“Let’s just say I don’t trust you, brother.” Richard squeezed my throat.
I tried to hold still but my hands shot up to pry at his fingers and a strangled sound came out. God, I hated that guy!
Green eyes blazing, Ben lurched forward but halted, chest heaving. He must have seen something in Richard’s face, because the bastard laughed behind me.
“Shall we go inside?” Richard asked in his playful tone as he loosened his grip on me.
I coughed, wondering if Ben could see the terror in my eyes. Look at me, Ben! Do something!
A few breaths passed before Ben disappeared into the shadows of his office. My heart faltered, leaving a deafening silence in my head. He left me. He really left me.
Richard pushed me along in front of him as we followed Ben’s retreat.
The room had returned to its darkened gloom, the brightness from days ago only a distant memory. Only two lights in the ceiling cast circles on the middle of the carpet. Ben stood at the edge, his arms held straight at his sides. His fingers curled into fists.
Richard’s body twisted behind me a few times as if he strained to look behind him. “Lights on, brother. I want to know you don’t have any more security stashed up there. You know how I hate surprises.”
One by one, lights blazed to life on the upper tier. The main part illuminated as Ben clicked buttons on his remote. When it confirmed he didn’t actually have any more security, the tightness in my chest worsened. We were neck deep in alligators and not an exit to be found.
“Are the cameras disabled in here as I asked?” Richard said.
Ben nodded toward the surveillance room, his lip curling in a snarl. “See for yourself.”
“After you.” Richard’s malicious amusement smothered his tone.
My pulse leaped against Richard’s grasp on my throat as we followed Ben up the stairs and along the corridor. Inside the monitor-filled room, he leaned around me and cycled through the feeds on the main display with a click of the mouse. He didn’t look at very many, so he must have known which camera numbers existed in the office. That didn’t bode well. If I had any chance of tricking him out of his plan, it needed to be a damned good trick to get it by him. Not that I really thought I had a chance of getting out completely unscathed, but a girl could still hope.
“Good.” Richard turned with me, and I shuffled to keep up, concentrating on each inhale and exhale to keep the panic at bay. “Now, where’s the paperwork?”
A fierce determination sparked fire into Ben’s eyes. I didn’t understand it, though it still sent spiders crawling along my spine. I was certainly glad those lasers weren’t because of me. “The deal was that you leave Evangeline out of this. You broke your word so you get nothing.”
You could have knocked me over with a light breeze. The bottom fell out of the world and left me swaying. “What?” My voice came out as a shriek. “What are you doing, Ben? Are you fucking nuts?”
“Selfish bastard! I knew you’d back out!” A tremble rumbled down Richard’s arm. A growl came from his throat. Metal clicked on metal behind me. His fingers squeezed down on my neck.
My muscles coiled down to the point of pain. Helpless whimpers fell from my lips as I struggled for air. Oh God, oh God, oh God!
Richard dragged me backward out the doorway of the surveillance room. I clawed at his hand to support my weight and prevent my own strangulation.
Eyes like smoldering green embers, Ben growled as he followed us, his fists curled and ready. Agony shone from him as he stared at me, and turned to fury when his focus shifted to Richard.
“So this is how it will be again?” Richard’s words came out between grunts. “Only this time you’ll see the live show instead of the video.”
As I strained to pry Richard’s grip from my throat, Ben cast the same intense look as he had in the surveillance room, as if trying to tell me something he couldn’t say. He won’t let this happen. Oh, please! I wanted to scream at him, but I didn’t have enough air to get it done. I wanted Dad. Think, dammit, think!
Once through the door of the boardroom, Richard whipped me around to face him. He pressed the gun to my forehead. The lights directly over the table provided only dim illumination, casting the rest of the space in shadow.
“This is your last chance, Benjamin. Give. Me. What. I. Deserve.”
Ben stepped into the light with the remote in his hand. “What you deserve?” The fury in his eyes could have sent He-man running for his life. “Didn’t father always tell you to be careful what you ask for?”
Fluorescent lights flashed on all around us.
Four police officers filed into the room, wielding guns double-handed. “Drop your weapon, Mr. Hathaway,” the largest of them said.
I let out a breath as if I’d been saving it up for a year. Goddamn, I thought I’d die of a heart attack right there in Ben’s boardroom.
Richard pressed the gun harder against my forehead, stalling my exhale. “Police? Really? We’ve done this dance before, brother.” He stared at me, his grin morphing into a sneer. “They know better than to shoot a Hathaway.”
I held my breath again and stared past Richard at Ben. He held up his hands and nodded encouragement to me; why, I had no idea.
A swish of fabric preceded another body through the door.
Richard’s head snapped to the side. His mouth fell open and a shine of terror invaded his eyes. “Mother?”
I could feel my eyes stretching open wide as the gun disappeared from my forehead and clunked to the floor. Chaos ensued in my head. Mother? What’s happening? Should I move?
“How could you?” The dainty voice didn’t match the sharpness of her words, all hints of haughtiness gone.
Ben lurched forward, grabbed my arm, and pushed me behind him with trembling hands.
I gripped his waist and peered around his rigid frame. Richard stood locked in a battle of glares with the tall woman. Her long hair was pulled back from her narrow face with sparkly combs.
Mrs. Hathaway took deliberate steps to Richard, her face contorted with a scowl. Her delicate hand hit him across the face with a ferocity I couldn’t fathom her possessing. Invading his space, she screamed at him in Italian while he bowed his head and took it. Every time he opened his mouth, she slapped him again. Crack. His head snapped to the side. Despite choking on my heart, the sight gave me a jolt of glee.
When her voice went hoarse, the woman motioned to the nearest officer. “Take this filth away from here. I’ll send instructions for what’s to be done.” On her way to the door, she stopped and placed her hand on Ben’s arm. Her gaze locked on his for a moment, a lifetime’s worth of heartbreak apparent in the single tear that teetered on her lash before
she turned to me. “I’m so sorry for what my son has done to you.” Without another word, she left the room.
Richard never moved from the place he’d been attacked, nor did Ben move a muscle, not until his mother’s footsteps were nothing but soft whispers along the lower carpet of his office.
In a blur, Ben lurched forward and hammered his fist into Richard’s face before my brain caught up to the action. “I warned you!” His fist came down again and again, grunting under the force, the cops standing still and watching as if they’d been waiting a lifetime to see the event. “Never. Again!”
Time slowed and I heard nothing but pent-up rage escaping Ben via the smack of his knuckles against Richard’s flesh. Richard raised his arms in defense.
As much as I wanted to pound the shit out of Richard myself, I didn’t want Ben to hurt himself. “Ben!” I rushed to him. “Stop it!” I scanned the faces of the officers, hoping for a little help. The one beside me wore a smirk. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed him by the arm. “Do something, you idiot!”
He stared at me for a second as if I’d just materialized beside him before nodding to the three nearest the scuffle. Two pulled Ben away. The third put cuffs on Richard and read out his rights. Blood dripped from his nose and the corner of his mouth.
Still furious, Ben squirmed out of the officers’ grasps. “Get him out of my sight.”
Richard climbed to his feet as his captor steadied him. “Well played, brother.” He snickered, but it didn’t hold the same confidence as before. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”
Neither did I.
With dark eyes and a sneer hot enough to melt lead, Ben leaned toward his brother. “You know nothing about me.” He jutted his chin toward the door, and the officers took Richard away.
The door shut with a click behind them, and the sudden silence amplified my heartbeat.
Ben jumped at me and held me in shaking arms, almost crushing me. “I’m so sorry. Forgive me. It had to be this way.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist while he shook. A few breaths passed before he tangled his fingers into my hair and kissed me hard and deep, something close to desperation in his eyes and movements. I thumbed the wetness from his cheeks.
“Mind telling me what the hell, Ben?” I swallowed and blinked away sudden exhaustion. “You did call your mother so … you lied about lying?” My brain ached, threatening to cramp under the puzzle. “Who does that?”
“I tried to assure you without saying anything. It’s been agony.” He released me and took my hand. A growled vibrated in his chest. “He’ll never touch you again.”
“But why didn’t you just tell me? It was my idea for me to get caught in the crossfire, after all.”
“Because you were right—I knew my brother, and you’re a terrible liar. I knew he’d find you and question you about my intentions. He’d have smelled the truth on you a mile away.”
I chewed on that for a while as my pulse returned to DEFCON 5, realizing just how devious he’d been. Impressive. “You sly bastard.” Shaking my head, I moved to the table and sat on the edge. “Christ.” A hysterical laugh burst past my lips. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through in the last twenty-four hours? And the whole time, you were scheming away without me. Holy fuck, Ben. Here I was thinking you were going to leave me to be beaten and shot by your brother.” A shudder ripped through me.
It’s over. He saved me. He really saved me.
“I can’t imagine what I put you through.” He lowered himself beside me, drew my hand up to his lips for a kiss. “You were so adamant that this was the only way, and I believed you. We had one chance. I had to make it work.”
A shift to the right put my shoulder against his, and we tilted our heads to rest against one another. We sat in silence for a long time.
“You’re free, Ben.”
“Thanks to you.” He twisted his head and pressed his lips to my forehead. “But can you ever forgive me for putting you through this?”
I sighed and turned to face him. “It might take some time. At least I trust you now. Sort of.” I bumped him with my elbow, tried and failed to smile. “You did what you had to, though I have to admit I’ve been cursing your ass today, like, seriously. Don’t be surprised if a plane drops out of the sky onto your building sometime in the next few days.”
A halfhearted chuckle shook his built form. “Time, I have, and you can have all of it you want with no guilt or coercion from me.”
“How’s your hand? It must have felt good to clock him one. Too bad those perfect teeth of his didn’t end up on the floor.”
Eyes heavy with dark underscores rolled up to look at me. “It did for a moment, but it faded. Now I guess I’m just a little numb.”
“You and I both.”
* * * *
Ben sat on the leather sofa in his office while the one remaining police officer took my statement. I huddled in the crook of Ben’s arm, listing everything Richard had done and threatened to do. At midnight, after I rhymed off all of the symptoms of shock and assured the cop I’d survive, he left us alone.
My brain still hadn’t caught up to reality. “I need to call Brent before he pees himself out of worry.”
“I sent him a text an hour ago. Told him you are physically unharmed and that Richard has been dealt with.” Ben held his iPhone out to me with the response displayed: Squeal!!!! In your face, Richard! I know you can’t see, but I’m dancing as I type this. Tell Eva I love her to bits, and I’m here when she needs to talk.
I shook my head. “Yep, that’s Brent all right.” All of my energy drained away as I circled my finger around the top button of Ben’s shirt. “Cam was up here installing new cameras, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“So your mother saw the whole thing from wherever you stashed her. How did you get her here?”
A brief pause. “I told her I was throwing a surprise birthday party for Richard.”
“Wait … it’s your birthday today?”
“Yeah.” Ben squeezed me tighter.
“I guess it’d be pretty lame for me to wish you a happy birthday then.” I craned my neck back so I could see his face. “What’ll happen to Richard now?”
Ben cleared his throat and shifted. “Mother’s having him committed to St. Jude’s.” His voice held sadness, reflected in the droop of his posture.
“You did the right thing, Ben.”
“I know.”
“But he’s still your brother.”
He nodded. “He is, and I wish he would have acted like it once in our lives.”
I cuddled closer, unable to come up with a single word to comfort him.
“What would I have done if I hadn’t met you?” His voice sounded tired, regretful.
“You would have fought back eventually.”
“I doubt it. Before you, I had nothing in my life worth saving. You gave me a reason to fight.”
A smile stretched across my lips. “And a boot in the ass, don’t forget that.”
With a small laugh, Ben stood and offered me his hand. “Would you like to stay, or shall I call a car? No pressure either way.”
I hesitated for only a moment before taking his hand. “I’ll stay, but just to sleep. I still need to think about all of this. A lot has happened, and I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet.”
“Of course.” He hesitated. “Please don’t be angry, but I needed something to occupy my mind today.” His eyes stared everywhere but at me.
The knot in my stomach returned full force. “Please don’t make me play twenty questions, Ben. That look scares me.”
“I found your birth mother.”
The room tilted. I lowered to the sofa again, staring into my own thoughts. “You … what? How?”
“She’d like to meet you, if you want. I told her you didn’t know I was calling.”
My wide eyes searched his. “You talked to her?” I shoved my hair back from my face and tucked it behind my ears, not knowing how to r
eact to that. “She wants to meet me?” A mixture of joy and terror snowballed, flashing hot and cold through my body. “I-I don’t know what to say.” I shot up, my breath coming too fast. “You’re free now. You can come with me.” I threw my arms around his neck. “I can do it if you’re with me.”
Ben gave me a squeeze, took my hand, but didn’t meet my gaze. “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
Shoulders slumped, I let him lead me to his bedroom. Ben stripped off and climbed under the covers. I lay down beside him, lost in thought as his body spooned mine. His arms brought a sense of safety, of belonging, but also a lingering shred of apprehension. Richard had been dealt with, but Ben hadn’t. Somehow I’d hoped fear of his brother was all that kept him from rejoining the human race. I needed to figure out what to do about him.
* * * *
Early the next morning I sat at my desk in near silence just before six a.m. I hadn’t slept at all, so I went for a walk and left Ben breathing heavily in bed. My memory had replayed the slideshow of Richard’s hands on me, the malice in his voice, and the black hole of his soul that shone through his eyes. On top of that, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ben and what he meant to me until my eyes burned and a headache throbbed in the back of my scull.
My iPhone shouted from my belt. I picked it up and answered. “Hey.”
A giant exhale came from Ben at the other end. “When I woke and you were gone … are you all right?”
“I’m fine, relatively. I’ll be back up in a minute.” I ended the call before he could respond. After printing out the letter I’d been working on, I rushed out of the office before Cam could arrive and question me.
I found Ben waiting at the inner door of his office wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans. God, why did he have to look so good?
“I need to talk to you.” The letter weighed heavy in my hand.
His jaw flexed, but he nodded and led me to the black sofa. He sat on the arm, his back rigid, eyes cast down.
Crossing Hathaway Page 23