Bennett Mafia(112)

His eyes widened. He was out of the kitchen in a flash.

I expected him to say something, anything, to ease my sudden paranoia. He said nothing, but he picked me up, so easily and swiftly. I knew he was strong. I had felt it so many times, but I still marveled.

He hugged me to him, smoothing a hand down my hair and back. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you go, to be honest.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and I heard his words like a whisper carried away on a sudden breeze. I wondered if he’d actually said them.

But then I heard, “Not fully.”

I smoothed my hands down his front and tried to smile. “You sure? Because you just scared me a bit.”

“Hmmm.” He hugged me tighter before depositing me on the counter next to where he had the bread. Kissing me briefly, he stepped back, but kept a hand on my leg, pulling more bread slices out, then grabbing a bowl from the cupboard behind me.

“What are you making?”

“French toast.” He pulled eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon from the fridge and cupboards. He began whisking the batter, moving back to stand between my legs and reaching over to turn the burner on.

“You’re cooking?”

He had never cooked. This was completely new.

He smirked at me, putting oil into the pan. “Brooke’s not the only one who has some culinary tendencies.”

I liked this look on him. I liked it a lot.

I remained there, content, never moving more than a step or two away from me. He began piling the French toast he made onto a large plate. He was making more than enough, but then I realized he wasn’t cooking just for us. He was cooking for the guards, and with a lost and distracted look in his eyes.

He was cooking to distract himself.

I slid my fingers through his hair, enjoying how he closed his eyes and moved his head like a cat, savoring the caress from me.

“You mentioned my father before.”

He grimaced, stiffening. “Can we not talk about him?”

We hadn’t been talking about him for four days. I frowned.

“I think we should.”

He was so tense now.

“Kai,” I said gently.

I touched his side just before he ripped away from me. Flicking the stove off, he took the platter of toast and carried it to the door. He opened it and offered the French toast to the two guards outside. “Here. Take these downstairs to the break room.”

I didn’t hear what the response was, but Kai grabbed a bottle of maple syrup and passed it to them. He closed the door again and turned to regard me. His tortured expression was back, hitting a nerve in me and stirring me up.

I hated whatever was bothering him.

He raked a tired hand through his hair, reaching behind him to lock the door. He moved to the living room.

I followed him, sitting on one end of the couch and pulling one of the blankets folded over the back to my lap.

I waited. That’s all I could do.

He started reluctantly. “Yes, I’m waiting for you to deal with your father. Yes, it’s the last thing I want to do here, but we have to. I just, haven’t been able to force it to happen.”

A lump sat in the back of my throat. “You said you wanted to replace me at my father’s company. Do you need him alive to do that?”

He stared at me a full long minute, his tortured look never wavering. “I’ve already started that process.”

He didn’t answer my question.

“Do you need him alive to do that?”

He wrenched his gaze away, sitting in the chair next to me, but angling his body away. As he rested his arms on his legs, his back and shoulders grew rigid. “No. Your father is free to die whenever you want him killed.”

I hadn’t expected that.

“Hey.” I sat forward. “What’s going on here? What are you scared about?”

He whipped his head to mine, his gaze searing me. “You hating me one more goddamn time.”

“What?” I couldn’t have heard him correctly. I blinked, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Your father has to die.” He was cold now. “His body will be found. He’ll be declared dead. His company will call an emergency board meeting. In the interim, you’ll be declared alive. At that board meeting, you’ll share with them the news of your resurrection.” His tone was biting. “After that, we’ll declare a hostile takeover of your father’s company.”

“Kai.”

He kept on. “There will be resistance from four members on the board. The other three have already been turned. They will feign surprise, but joy at your appearance, and one of them will bring a motion to appoint you in your father’s place.”

He looked away, his head down, his eyes closed. “I have everything in place, ready to move, but after this, after what you’ll have to do—there’s no going back.” His words were soft, making me ache. “You can’t go back in the shadows after this.”

Oh.

Understanding dawned.

“And you’re worried about me?”

“I’m worried you’ll hate it. I’m worried you’ll resent me because I fucking yanked you out of where you were content, and I’m not allowing you to go back there.” He shoved to his feet. “Me. I am destroying the safe world you had erected, and you’re letting me do it.” He stopped, breathing harshly. “I am fucking terrified that you will hate me at the end of all this.”