Jonah Bennett (Bennett Mafia)

“We were not at war with anyone, so I don’t know who did this or why.” A feral look entered his gaze. “But we will, because whoever did this is now at war with us.”

Good.

Just, fucking good.

Chapter Five

JONAH

We drove to a house somewhere outside the city limits. When we arrived, it was large, and we had to go through a gate to get to it. That was almost standard for us.

I had a new understanding for the reason.

I was now pacing in a back library room because I didn’t know what to do with myself.

What do you do in situations like this?

Should I call Melissa’s parents? I’d only met them once.

Melissa wasn’t super close to her family, but I knew she loved them. She was close to her brother.

Her brother. Oliver. They talked daily, and he wouldn’t be getting her call today. She usually reached out to him.

I had to call.

I searched for my phone, but I didn’t have it.

Where is my phone?

I started for the door, going to find Tanner.

I noticed a few more guards at the front door when I passed by, but didn’t think much of it. “Where’s Tanner?”

Two of the guys looked at me but didn’t respond.

Then I heard from behind me, “He’s in the office.”

I turned to see Kai’s main guard, or his current main guard. “I’m sorry, Jonah,” he said. “For your loss.”

Pain I didn’t want to feel, like I never knew existed, rose up and filled my chest. “Yeah,” I clipped out. This had just started, and already I was sick of hearing those words. “Where are they?”

He motioned back through the living room. “I’ll take you.”

I followed him through the living room and kitchen to a door in the back. It was closed, but I could hear their voices.

He was about to reach forward, to announce our presence, when I heard my name.

My hand went to his arm, stopping him.

I could hear Kai through the door. “How is he?”

“Shitty,” Tanner replied. “How’d you feel if someone gunned down Riley?”

“I’d be devastated.”

Tanner grunted. “Then you can imagine. He asked her to marry him. You know that?”

“He told me on the phone.”

“Fuck, Kai! Fuuuuck! He’s our little brother. We’re supposed to protect him from this shit. You and me. We signed up for this. We took over, but Jesus. Not him. He—” Tanner’s voice cracked. “He’s the good one.”

“I know.”

“Do you?!” Tanner snarled.

“Watch your shit with me.”

“Sorry. I just—why didn’t he have a detail on him? She’d be alive. The guy would be dead. Jonah wouldn’t be fucking destroyed. He won’t wash her blood off of him. We tried—tried to get him to shower, tried to get him to change clothes. He won’t do it. He slips in and out of these spells, like he’s not even present. He fought me when I tried to get him to change shirts. Fought me. My guards had to wade in, and he fought them, but there was a look in his eye—I don’t think he knows he even did it. And they interrogated him for hours. Why didn’t he have a guard on him?!”

“He did.”

What?

“How do you think I knew what happened to him?” Kai barked.

“You had a guy?” Tanner asked.

“Yes, but he was too far back. They have to be or Jonah spots them, and he keeps slipping them. You know that. He wanted to be normal.”

“Well, he’s not!”

“I KNOW THAT!”

The guard pushed forward, but again I held him in place.

I wanted to hear everything. I had to.

“So what’d your guy say?”

“It was a professional hit,” Kai continued. “He’s a ghost. My guy watched the bus, the airport, train station. If he’s not in town, he drove out.”

“No way he’d go north. This isn’t our area. Why was Jonah here?”

“Because—”

With that, I shoved open the door with a growl. “Because I was an idiot and wanted to not live a mafia lifestyle!” I surged past Kai, going right for Tanner. My fist was up, but I barely registered that. “I wanted to go on a trip with my girlfriend when I asked her to marry me. How fucking stupid of me, right?! I wanted to be normal, Tanner! Can’t you understand that? But you’re right. If I wasn’t, she’d be alive. It’s my fault. I’m hearing you loud and fucking clear—”

I swung, and I heard shuffling behind me, but Tanner had a sad look on his face. He stared at me as everything unfolded in slow motion. He looked at me, at my fist, and decided not to duck.

I pulled my punch, skimming his chin instead.

He stumbled back, still looking at me with that same sadness. He was haunted.

He didn’t hit me. He didn’t do anything. “That’s not what I was saying,” he told me.

“Fuck what you’re saying. It’s the truth.”

He reached for me, but I shoved away.