“I had a backup plan, though. Did you really think I just expected Dad to give you the money without expecting anything in return? I grew up in this shit, Eve. I know how things work. And unfortunately, it was my second best option. I knew you’d go for it—knew you’d sell yourself for your family. That’s how you are. Dad was going to keep you, shatter you by doing things I’d really rather not think about, and I was going to rescue you within a few days. I know his clubhouse and his house. I knew how to get you out and be your hero. It was all still going to work out in my favor. But he fucking sent you to Herrin.”
He was just going to let his father fuck me for a few days so he could be my hero? Wanted me broken and vulnerable when he showed up? Anger surges and so does a sickness I hate. I hate him. I really, really hate him.
Freaking sociopath.
He blows out a regretful breath while standing back up and turning to face Baldy.
“Check in on things. See if Drex has made a move yet,” Ben orders.
As soon as Baldy leaves, Ben faces me again.
“I spent years making sure no other guy messed with you, threatening them, warding them off… You weren’t ever really interested in dating, always worrying about your family and how to help them. Always worrying about everyone in general. I kept thinking I’d eventually fix all your financial problems, and I’d be your hero then. Now… Now I see you didn’t want that sweet guy who could fix everything. You just wanted a rough asshole who could tell you when and how to get fucked.”
My body is shaking, but I don’t know why. I’m not crying, and I’m not cold. The shaking isn’t violent, but it is annoying. The only thing I can even think of is the fact I’m vibrating with fury, and I can’t stop.
He’s just venting and ranting and not spilling his diabolical plan the way the bad guys do in the movies.
“Shhh,” Ben coos when he sees me shaking, and the asshole runs his hand along the side of my cheek. “It’s just the adrenaline wearing off. It’ll pass.”
I jerk my head to the side, happy to have that one part of my body to move, and his gaze turns murderous.
“You let him touch you but not me. I’ll remember that, Eve. Remember I’m still trying not to break you right now because I actually fucking care about you. Piss me off, and life for you will really suck.”
He cares about me… Psycho. This isn’t caring about someone. This is insanity. This is obsession—and not the good kind, either.
“She probably doesn’t know anything,” Baldy says. I never even saw him come back in. “She’s just some whore Drex played with. He wouldn’t have let her go if she had anything worth knowing.”
Ben turns to face Baldy. “She knows more than you think. Drex has guys hanging out at Drake’s, and she’s been working with Drake. It’s obvious to anyone with a pulse that she knows something, or he wouldn’t kept her close to the club and had his guys around her at all times. Hence the drastic fucking measures we had to take to catch her in between guards.”
Ben walks over and jerks my shirt collar down until it better shows my shoulder and the tattoo. How did he find out about it?
“He put his name on her. That says he was making a statement. He put Jessie Gavara in the hospital for touching her. The guy is in a coma, and he’s one of Drex’s men. Even if he’s done with her now, he still considers her his possession, and we took her. Imagine how this is going to work out in our favor. Drex doesn’t think before he pulls the trigger. He’s going directly after Dad. Problem solved for us there. While the war breaks out, we’ll sit back and wait until they kill the numbers off, then we finally have the in we’ve been waiting for. I expected Drex to attack him after our guys shot up his house, but Eve has apparently made him softer. She’s our ticket to pulling the bastard’s strings like a puppet.”
I’m starting to think my theory was spot on and Ben was the mastermind instead of Benny. Ben has always been incredibly smart. He got it from his mother. Not his father. That woman was smart enough to get away from both psychos four years ago.
Or so I thought. After what Ben just said, now I’m not so sure.
Ben talks about my starvation and dehydration schedule with Baldy like he’s leaving directions for a house sitter. I struggle in vain with my stupid bindings that cut into me painfully as they walk out, and I scream into the gag as the light goes off and music starts playing.