Bennett Mafia
Chapter 23 - BENNETT MAFIA

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO I'd been shut out.

We didn't go back to the hotel, and I had no clue where they'd taken Blade. We drove up to another huge house, and they took me to my own wing. Yes. Wing. Again. It wasn't the same house, but once I stepped out on another balcony, high above another death-defying fall, I recognized where we were: their Vancouver estate.

This was home for Brooke, the home she always used to talk about. I knew from those stories that there was an Olympic-sized pool, a tennis court, and a lazy river where she would go tubing with Tanner and their friends. There were more houses on this estate, and a garden that had its own maze.

Brooke loved this home.

She spoke about it with such fondness. She had also talked about her father's study, though when she did there was no warmth in her voice. There was fear. He'd conducted his business in that room, which had its own entrance. Sighing, I had to stop myself.

I was thinking back as if this were a common occurrence, as if Brooke had opened up to me about these memories. She hadn't. These were small snippets I'd gathered from a comment here and there, spread out over an entire year. She'd talked about the tennis court, about swimming, about the river. She'd mentioned her father's study. One time she mentioned seeing a man enter through the side door.

But I'd listened and absorbed everything, because that was the kind of girl I was. It was the same now.

It was day three of me being in this house.

My wing had its own kitchenette, and a coffee machine too. I could pick up the phone and ask for any food I wanted. I was in the lap of luxury, but it wasn't mine.

This had been Brooke's life.

There was a small-theater-sized screen in the living room, and a sectional couch that had a bed in the middle so it was one giant square.

I couldn't imagine this life.

Mine had not been like this. There'd been wealth, yes, but everything was overshadowed by my parents, by my father. I'd slept in the hallway most nights, a blanket with me and nothing else. I'd had to sneak back to my room each morning. I'd had a chef who cooked for me, but it wasn't normally what I wanted. It was whatever my father ate and left behind. I was never allowed to eat with him. My mother usually took her meals in her room. If she didn't, she still couldn't eat with me, only with him. So while I'd also had a gilded cage growing up, a line of terror had run through my background.

I didn't remember a time when I wasn't scared my father would snap, find me, send for me.

I didn't feel that with Kai.

Maybe I should've.

I should've feared for Blade's life. The logical part of my brain told me to think about that, but my instincts told me he was safe, just as I was.

I let out a breath and reached for the remote control. I was changing the channel when I heard a soft knock on my door.

I looked over from the couch. "Yeah?"

I expected a guard to walk in with dinner. It was that time, and they always knocked. If I didn't answer, they told me my food was outside the door. Of course they were there when I opened if I opened the door, but they never came in unless I granted them permission.

This time the door opened and Kai walked in.

I sat up straight, my heart slamming against my chest.

It'd been three days since I ran from him. I'd had no word from him since.

He looked good.

I tried not to notice, but I did.

My eyes ran over him, taking in the way his shirt fit his chest, showing the leanness of his stomach and falling in just the right place over his pants. He looked all business, his hair combed back. I had to pry my eyes away from the rest of him. I didn't want to see the knowing smugness in those dark eyes, or the smirk that curved his mouth.

"Where's Blade?" I scowled.

He stopped. I heard a soft sigh before he took a seat on the couch parallel to me. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs, his hands folded together over his knees. He angled his head toward me, a shadow falling over half his face. "I brought a chef in. The guys said you haven't eaten dinner yet. Would you have dinner with me?"

I frowned. "You're not telling me? You're asking?"

"I'm asking." He inclined his head. "Tanner and Jonah are coming later tonight as well, if you'd like to have drinks with them."

I studied him, really studied him.

That wall was there, but there was more. A lightness? But that didn't make sense, not for someone like Kai Bennett.

Still, I was curious.

I sat up, stiffly, and shrugged. "Sure. What time?"

"Dinner will be in thirty minutes. Will you have enough time to dress?"

I scanned over his clothes. He could've been on the cover of a fashion magazine.

I sighed. "I'm guessing you don't do dinner in sweats?"

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "For the right occasion, always." He stood, nodding toward the closet in the bedroom. "There are dresses in there, or you can dress however you like. I know Tanner and Jonah will be coming from a night at the club. It's your choice."

And with that said, he strolled out.

I hated to admit it, but it was good to see him. It was good to see anyone, talk to anyone. The guards didn't count. Though I'd considered trying to have a conversation with them.

Okay.

I had tried. They ignored me.

Hearing Tanner and Jonah were coming gave me a little kick of excitement too.

I missed Blade. I missed Carol.

I missed my routine of going to work, working out, and being a Hider operative.

I missed my normalcy, which wasn't that normal, but it was to me.

As I dressed, I knew I needed to question Kai about Blade. I wanted to make sure he was safe, was okay, and if I could, talk Kai into letting him go.

I was nervous and grew even more so when I'd picked the outfit I was going to wear.

I didn't want to go too dressy, but I heard what he was telling me without saying the words. Tanner and Jonah would be dressed up. Everything they wore screamed money. So maybe it was them in the back of my mind, maybe it was Kai, or maybe it was the hope that maybe I could talk Kai into letting Blade go, or maybe there was a part of me that didn't want to feel like the outcast. Whatever the reason, I chose an elegant black pantsuit. The middle plunged down all the way to my stomach, but sheer lace covered the midsection.

I stepped back, looking in the mirror, and again, I didn't recognize myself.

I was a far cry from the Hider operative who dressed in scrubs, workout clothes, or whatever set of clothes my "cover" had me wearing.

Blade, Carol, and I had dinner out once or twice a month, but nothing fancy.

When I left my father, I'd left that world behind.

This would've been me if I had stayed, if I had lived.

If.

That was a big word there.

I'd been happy with Blade and Carol, but being here, coming back to this world, a small what-if had started to take root in me. It wasn't the what-if of Brooke staying at school, or of somehow growing up with the Bennett family. It was what-if my father had been a different man, if my mother hadn't been abused by him, if I hadn't been scared of living in my own home that what-if. What would life have been like if I'd had a normal family? Not even wealthy.

If we'd had a meal at a restaurant? If there'd been no factories or business conglomerates, no privileged schooling, just a father, a mother, and a child? A home with three bedrooms instead of three wings? Or one bathroom instead of one entire servant quarters?

What would that life have been like?

I sighed, fixing my hair back into a high bun, and I even put on makeup. All those thoughts were useless. That wasn't the card I was dealt growing up, and in the end, I was alive. I had a mission, an important mission to focus my life, and that was good.

I was good.

I slipped my feet into a pair of sandals, but I felt naked walking out of that room without a sweater, runners to run, or any type of covering I might need if I had to make a break for my life.

No matter the thoughts swirling in my head, that part of me would never be gone. But for the first time ever, I began to wonder if that's what I wanted for the rest of my life.

The guards trailed behind me as I left my wing.

I wasn't sure where I was going, but I walked in the general direction of the main part of the house. The hallway wound around, coming to a second-floor landing, and I crossed to the stairs. I could hear the sounds of cooking in the kitchen, which was behind the stairs. The layout was similar to their other house, and I walked in feeling a little more at ease.

Until I saw Kai.

He stood in the shadows at the window, a glass of bourbon in his hands, and his profile took my breath away.

Moonlight lit the entire bay, and lights from boats and homes beneath him put a soft glow over his face. I faltered mid-step.

The attraction burst inside me, heating me, making me ache, and I clamped my mouth shut in reaction.

I hadn't asked for these feelings. They disgusted me on the regular, but he'd been gone for three days, and it was all hitting me full force now.

But Blade. I couldn't forget Blade.

I couldn't forget myself. My situation.

I was here against my wishes, but as Kai turned to look at me, a dangerous new what-if edged its way in alongside the others.

My hand shook, and I tucked it behind me, meeting his gaze across the room.

His eyes warmed, a softness shining there, and he nodded. "You look beautiful, Riley."

So did he.

I smiled and ducked my head. "Thank you." A wave of nerves hit me again, and I had to stop and breathe to calm myself. It didn't work. I was even more nervous.

"Would you like a drink?"

"Please." I raised my head.

He turned his back to me as he poured a glass of wine.

I was glad for the small favor and smoothed a hand down my front. Sometimes that helped. It didn't tonight. I began to think nothing would take the edge off until Kai turned back, a full glass of red wine in his hand.

He held it up. "Brooke always liked this wine. I thought..."

I nodded. "Thank you. That's perfect."

"Perfect?" He raised an eyebrow, handing it over.

I grabbed the stem of the glass, avoiding his hand, and I knew he took note.

He stepped back. "Perfect is a big word, especially for someone who's still here against her will."

I paused in raising it to my mouth. "What?"

He motioned to the table.

There was a bowl, two plates, three glasses, and two sets of silverware for every seat. Every glass and plate had a gold rim at the edge. It was another reminder of this world I was visiting a world where I used to live, or I should've. Why was I thinking like this?

I loved being a Hider operative. And that wasn't this world.

It never would be.

I sat and pulled my chair up to the table. "When are you going to let me go?"

There.

I had to leave, because staying here was messing with my mind. It was muddling everything.

"I thought you were going to bargain for your friend first."

There was the Kai I knew. We were back on solid footing. I was the 411 Hider, and he was my kidnapper.

I looked up, feeling more settled inside. "And if I asked that? What then? Would you actually grant that?"

He took a sip from his glass before putting it on the table as he sat to my left at the head of the table.

"I have a proposition for you." He motioned to the table and the room. "That's the reason for all of this." "A proposition?"

"Yes." He nodded, his mouth pressing tight before relaxing. He raised his chin. "I let your friend go home." "You did?"

Surprise spread through me. My hand tightened on my chair.

"Your Network has been unable to find Brooke. Your friend has no idea where she is. He was bluffing to try to get you back. We followed up on his call, and the person we found had nothing to do with my sister. Now, I'm in a place where I've exhausted most of my options." His eyes pierced mine. "I fully believe you know where my sister is, but the normal ways I would force you to tell me are...unavailable, so I have a different proposition for you."

"You let Blade go?"

I was still stuck on that one.

"I let him go as a gesture of goodwill to you. He will not make claims of being kidnapped by my family to the law or to your employers. As far as they're concerned, he attempted to get you back by himself, and it went bad. He failed. He is back home, and I've been told he was put to work immediately."

Oh God.

I heard what he was saying. "You have people in the Network. They're giving you information."

It made sense that's how he found me, how he knew Blade was acting on his own.

"Yes, I do."

"That's how you knew about me this whole time."

"Yes." He gentled his tone. "Brooke asked me to keep tabs on you. She worried about you."

It didn't help. I already knew this, and it so didn't help. I felt a sting of betrayal. The Network was sacred. No one was supposed to be bought. We were all pure. That's what I'd thought. That's what I had believed this whole time. We were good.

Looking at Kai now he was bad. But since I'd been held by him, the lines had become more and more blurred. And now, hearing there was someone in the Network working for him, fury flared inside of me.

"I believe you know where my sister is," Kai continued. "I will not be convinced otherwise, but you won't tell me. I'm loath to force the issue. I've tried, and I'm not willing to resort to the lengths that are my last options. So..." He reached for his glass and took a healthy sip from it, gritting his teeth before putting it back on the table. "...here's another play."

He paused. His eyes were steady on mine.

"I'll tell you the truth. All of it."