Bennett Mafia(61)

It was Brooke. She was fumbling with the door.

She started to open it, but it got stuck. “Oomph! So sorry. Again. Crappers. I don’t have the strength.” One big tug and the door swung open, almost clipping her in the face.

I kept my face half turned, my eyes drilling into Kai’s.

He’d been casual, but the closer Brooke came to facing us, all that dropped from his face.

His jaw firmed, and he straightened from where he’d leaned on the wall.

Brooke pulled the door all the way open and stopped, staring at me. “Uh… Where’s the food?”

My chest lifted, and I pivoted swiftly to look at my old roommate.

Her eyes popped open and her mouth fell. “Wait! What? Riley?!” She started to step out at the same time Kai decided he’d had enough.

He spoke into his hand. “GO!”

And he moved forward at an alarming speed. He had grabbed her around the throat, pushing her inside, before either of us comprehended what was going on. Once inside, he held her against the wall.

“Wha—KAI!” She began twisting around, hitting at his arm.

“Kai!” I tried to pull him off.

His arm was cement solid, but I could see the hold he had on her throat was tightly controlled. He wasn’t hurting her, just pinning her in place. She wasn’t gasping for breath. I didn’t think there’d even be redness when he let her go.

Her eyes were wild, taking me in too. She flailed and jerked like a wild animal.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU ANIMAL? YOU PIECE OF SHIT. YOU MURDERER. YOU—”

“Enough!” he roared.

The front door of the house busted in, and his guards began a sweep.

Kai looked around, still holding her in place. “Who else is here, Brooke? Who else is here?”

She couldn’t stop looking between us. “No one! And why is Riley here? What did you do to her? You brought her into this?!”

He snapped back to her, moving to invade her space. “No.” His nostrils flared. “You did. You brought her into this the second you showed up at her house, and you know it.” His jaw clenched, a vein pulsing at the side of his neck.

Brooke saw it too, and gave up the fight. Her head leaned back against the wall, and her hands fell to her sides.

She began crying instead. “What did you do to him? You’re the reason he’s not answering my calls today, aren’t you? What’d you do to him, Kai?” Her hand balled into a fist. She raised it and pressed down on his arm. “Please, Kai. Don’t hurt him. I love him. Please don’t hurt him.”

I backed away.

The guards were moving behind us. Three thundered downstairs.

Their yells of “clear” ricocheted around us.

“What is she talking about?”

Both Bennetts heard my quiet question. Both stilled.

Brooke frowned, her bottom lip pausing in its trembling. Understanding dawned, and her fist fell away from his arm again. “Oh, Kai.” A whispered regret. “What did you do?”

“All clear,” one of his guards yelled for the last time.

Kai dropped his arm from his sister and pointed downstairs. “Down. Now.”

She pulled her gaze from me, meeting his. “What did you do to both of us?”

She didn’t expect an answer. A defeated slump in her shoulders, she headed down.

I started to follow.

Kai’s hand touched my hip, halting me.

He inclined his head, his voice so soft only I could hear. “Please don’t think the worst of me right now.” He caressed my waist a moment, then rested his forehead to mine and expelled a sudden rush of air. His entire body had been tense. Some of it now dissipated.

I watched as the tension returned, and he moved away, his head down.

“I haven’t earned it with this one,” he added.

He went downstairs to deal with his sister, and as was my pattern, I followed.





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX


“Pack.”

Kai pointed to the bedroom as soon as he got downstairs.

The basement was filthy. There wasn’t a better word to describe it. The couch Brooke sat on looked like it had dried milk on one end, right over its mustard paisley pattern. The rest of the room wasn’t any better. Empty water bottles filled one corner. Pizza boxes littered the floor. A television sat on a card table, a PlayStation on top and game controllers down below. A faint musty smell lingered, mixing with old cigarettes and dried puke.

The Network didn’t use places like this. If the upstairs looked the same, I would’ve tagged this as an addict’s house. The Network used empty apartments, houses that had been foreclosed. Not places like this.

Brooke remained on the couch, at the one end that seemed fine to sit on. Her hands were tucked between her legs, and her eyes narrowed on me again before she wrinkled her nose. Raising her chin, she rolled her shoulders back.

“I will not.”

“You will too.”

Kai went to the bedroom, grabbing a bag from the ground and throwing it onto the unmade bed.

“Kai, don’t!” Brooke was off the couch, heading in.

He began rifling through the closet, tossing clothes onto the bed. He threw another handful over his shoulder. “Start packing, Brooke. I mean it. You are not staying here.”