CHAPTER 19
Bethany
It's amazing how much things can change in just a second or two. One minute I was having the time of my life, feeling as if I was falling head over heels for a man who was crazy about me, and getting used to a brand-new life of luxury and comfort and ease – and then the next, it was all turned upside down.
I hated Delia more than ever now – but in a way, I was also grateful to her. Without her maliciousness and dislike of me, I might never have found out the truth about Ben and what he actually wanted – which, it had turned out, was the diner, not me.
Well now all debate and all doubt had been pushed aside. There were no other options for me; this was it. I had to sell up and leave Detroit forever, and take what little money I could get from the sale of the diner and the apartment and make a fresh start on a clean slate elsewhere. I would forget Detroit, I would forget my diner, and everything that was familiar to me – and most especially I would forget the name Benito Sciotti. It was a name I never wanted to hear again.
On the way home from the ball, in the back of Tino's SUV as he drove me home, I opened Facebook and looked up the guy I knew from high school who worked in real estate. I found him soon enough – Jim Knight – and messaged him.
“Hi Jim, how's it going? It's been a while.”
I waited for a few minutes, and then was relieved when he replied; he was online.
“Hey Bethany! It has been a while! I'm good thanks, how are you?”
“Good too. Are you still in the property business?”
“Buying and selling, yeah.”
“Then I've got an offer for you – an urgent one. I need help selling my diner, and honestly, if you could do it in a day or two I'll take pretty much whatever price you can get for it. How quickly do you think you can help me sell it?”
“If you're serious about taking any price then I think we do have a good chance of selling it in a couple of days.”
“One day would be preferable.”
“Whew, I mean, I can try whip up a buyer in a day, I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee it. And you're absolutely sure you'll take any price for it?”
I hesitated before answering. Was I really doing this? Is this what it had come to? But then Delia's words echoed in my head again, and I knew that I was doing the only thing that I could do under the current circumstances.
“Yes,” I typed in. “I'm sure. There's been a huge family emergency. I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to discuss that, but trust me when I say that I'll take pretty much any offer on the place.”
“Alright, if you're sure about that then I can come over to the diner tomorrow morning and take some pictures, write up a description and get the word out that the place is for sale.”
“Thank you,” I replied. “The earlier the better, if that's alright.”
“Sure thing Bethany. I'll try get there around eight in the morning.”
“See you then. Bye.”
“Bye, have a good night.”
“Playin' on your phone back there?” joked Tino from the front as he drove.
I laughed dryly – if he knew what I had just done, he wouldn't be smiling. But he didn't know, he had no idea in fact, so I kept up the illusion.
“Yeah, just playing around on my phone.”
There was one more person I needed to get hold of, but it would have to wait until the next morning, and thinking about it made me feel awful. Selling the diner would mean putting Manny out of work, and it was going to kill me to tell that poor old man, who was like family to me, that the diner was going to be gone in a day or two. But it had to be done; there was no way around this. I resolved, at least, to give him a couple of months' worth of pay from the money I got from selling the diner, so that he would be able to support himself while looking for another job. I sighed and shook my head, not looking forward to the next morning. Life had gone crazy, once again... and all I could do was try to ride out the storm.
“Is somethin' the matter back there?” asked Tino. “You don't look too happy all of a sudden.”
I looked up and saw his eyes on me, looking at me via the rear-view mirror.
“Just a bit too much champagne,” I lied. “I'm feeling a bit queasy. Let's get back home soon so that I can lie down.”
“Sure thing Bethany, sure thing,” he said with a sympathetic smile.
We drove the rest of the way in silence, and a soon as we got back I said a hasty goodnight to Tino and headed to my room. As soon as I closed the door I got to packing. I knew that I could only take the most essential items with me; if I took a whole bunch of suitcases with me to the diner tomorrow, Tino would realize that something was up. So, with that in mind, I spent the rest of the night sorting my things out into what I had to take – things like my passport, some old family photos of my mom and dad and me as a kid, my nicest clothes, and the few items of jewelry I possessed. Everything else I would simply have to abandon.
After a few hours of sorting and packing I crawled into bed, exhausted, and soon fell asleep, despite my lingering worry over the day ahead.
THE NEXT DAY
I spent a very uncomfortable few seconds riding down in the elevator with Ben. He seemed to sense that something was up with me. Well, I guess it wasn't a surprise that he could see that there was a problem. I was feeling pretty damn antagonistic toward him, and was finding it difficult to disguise those feelings. We parted ways as soon as the elevator doors opened out into the parking garage. He walked away, and so did I – but then I turned and threw a glance over my shoulder. And who did I see standing next to him, kissing his neck and whispering in his ear but Delia freakin' Grant. And he did nothing to push her away; in fact, he seemed to be enjoying the attention she was giving him. I didn't need to see any more; I knew it all now. He was probably still sleeping with her, that asshole, that lying, cheating asshole! I stormed off without looking back again and went straight to the SUV.
“Why are you takin' that suitcase to the diner?” asked Tino, staring suspiciously at my stuffed suitcase as he opened the SUV door for me.
I had known that he was going to ask this question, so I had prepared an answer.
“It's just some old stuff that I'm donating to charity. A guy is gonna come around to the diner and pick it up.”
“Oh okay. Makin' some space in the closets for all the new stuff Ben is gonna buy you huh?” he said with a grin.
“Yeah, that's it,” I said, hoping that the smile I put on didn't come off as looking too fake.
We got the diner, and Tino helped me to get the suitcase inside. Now the next problem was getting him out of here for when Jim was going to arrive. If he saw Jim taking pictures of the place he would know for sure that Jim wasn't some charity guy coming to pick up my “old clothes”.
“Oh no!” I said, “I've forgotten one suitcase back at the penthouse! Please can you go back and get it?”
Tino frowned.
“You know I ain't supposed to leave you here by yourself.”
“Manny is in the kitchen, and he's got his gun.”
Tino looked through to the kitchen and saw Manny whistling as he got things ready for the day.
“Can't it wait?”
I shook my head.
“This guy from the charity is coming from all the way across town to pick things up, and he's gonna be here at nine.”
I said nine deliberately – if Tino knew that Jim was supposed to show up in a couple of minutes, he wouldn't bother going back.
“I really ain't supposed to leave you though,” said Tino, looking uneasy. “I mean, you do remember what happened last time I left you here by yourself, right?”
A shudder of fear rippled through me as I thought about the ambush from the CM guys. I knew that I would be taking that risk again with Tino gone, but there was no other way to do this. If he saw a property agent looking at the diner and taking photos he would call Ben up right away, and then there would be no escape for me, none whatsoever.
“Look, those CM gangsters haven't been here for many weeks now. They've probably given up on this place and moved on to terrorize someone else. Please just do this for me Tino. Please... I don't ask you for much. Just do this one thing for me, as a friend. I promised the guy two suitcases, and he was so excited about it. He's gonna be pretty disappointed when he gets here and finds out that there's only one.”
Tino looked uncomfortable with this idea, but he nonetheless nodded.
“Alright, alright,” he said. “I'll go get it. Where is it?”
“Just inside my bedroom, next to my bed.”
There was actually a suitcase there, one that I had left there on purpose. While I had all of my most essential belongings with me in this suitcase, I had put some clothes that I really liked but that weren't essential in the second suitcase.
“Okay. I'll go get it. But keep your eyes open and if you see anything suspicious call me right away, and no matter where I am I'll do a U-turn and speed right back here. You got it?”
“I got it,” I said, nodding.
Tino took off, and I hurried straight over to the kitchen. I would have to tell Manny now – there would be no other chance to tell him.
“Manny,” I said, “could I have a quick word with you?”
“Sure, Miss Verde,” he said with a smile. “What do you wanna talk about?”
“I'm just gonna cut straight to the point,” I replied, feeling a stab of both pain and nervousness ripping through me as I spoke. “I'm selling the diner and leaving Detroit, as soon as possible – hopefully in the next day or two.”
His jaw dropped and he stared at me with his mouth open and his eyes wide with surprise for what felt like an eternity.
“Miss Verde,” he eventually mumbled, “you're... you're sellin' up an' movin' on? In... in a day or two?”
I nodded, feeling an uncomfortable heat reddening my cheeks.
“I'm afraid that's what's happening, Manny. I have no other choice; it's the only thing I can do.”
“B-, but business was getting' good these last couple a' weeks,” he said, still totally shocked. “We was doin' good business at the diner here, why you gots ta' sell up?”
“I'm sorry Manny, I really am. I wish there was another way for me to fix things, to go on living here, but there really isn't. You see, if I don't sell this diner, it's going to be taken from me, and then I'll get nothing, and on top of that, I'll be someone's slave. Selling the diner now and taking the money and going somewhere far away is about the only option I have to salvage this wreck that my life has become.”
He shook his head, and I could see that there were tears forming in his eyes.
“What I'm on' do? What I'm on' do?” he murmured, shaking his head. “Tomorrow or the next day, I ain't gon' have no job no mo'... what I'm on' do?”
“Don't worry Manny,” I said. “I know that this is grossly unfair on you, and you're like family to me. I hate having to do this, I really do, but I'm not going to leave you out in the cold. 'm going to give you three months' worth of pay from whatever I get from the sale of the diner so that you'll be able to support yourself and be financially okay while you look for a new job.”
“Thanks Miss Verde, I really appreciate that,” he said. “Really, I do. I just... I'm sad Miss Verde. I know that you must gots ta' be doin' this fo' a real good reason, because this place, it's all that's left in this world of yo' mama, who you loved so much. So, I know... I know that things have gots ta' be real serious fo' you ta' have ta' be doin' somethin' like this. I just... I'm just heartbroken, Miss Verde. This diner, it ain't jus' a job fo' me, it's my life as much as it is yours. I put my heart an' soul inta' this place, just like you done. An' now... now it's gon' be all gone.”
I pulled Manny close to me and hugged him tightly, and he put his arms around me and hugged me right back.
“I'm so sorry Manny,” I said as tears started rolling down my cheeks. “I don't want to do this, I really don't, but I've just been pushed too far now. There is no way out, there's nothing else I can do. As awful as this is... it's the only way out for me now. It's the only way.”
Just then, I heard a knock on the back door. It had to be Jim. Still, since Tino wasn't here, I decided to be extra cautious.
I dried off my eyes, and then walked over to the back door.
“Who's there?” I asked.
“It's me, Jim,” said Jim.
I looked through the peephole and saw that it was indeed Jim. I opened the door for him – and then, suddenly, strong hands reached in and grabbed me, yanking me out into the alley. Before I could scream a hand was clamped over my mouth, preventing me from making any sound. With panic and terror pumping through my veins I looked up and saw that one of the CM guys had been hiding behind Jim, pressing a gun up against the back of his head.
“I'm sorry Bethany,” said Jim, whose hands were shaking violently with fear. “They said they were gonna kill me if I didn't call you to the back door. I'm sorry, I'm-”
The CM guy behind Jim smacked him in the back of his head with the butt of his pistol, knocking him out and cutting him off mid-sentence. Jim slumped to the ground, unconscious, and the CM guy pointed his gun at me.
“Well well well,” said a familiar voice in my ear. “What have we got here?”
Tyrese Wilson.
“You thought you was safe, didn't you?” he snarled in my ear. “You thought that we wasn't watchin' yo' diner no mo', right? Well we was, an' now we saw us a lil' opportunity – a lil' chance to get to know you better. Oh yes, Bethany, you an' I is about ta' get ta' know each other real well... real intimate like... Mm yeah, I been watchin' that sweet white booty a' yours fo' a long time, a long time now... and now I'm on' make this tight, sexy lil' white ass a' yours mine... all mine.”
I tried to scream, but his hand was clamped tight over my mouth, and it was impossible to make any sound. I struggled, but he had my arm gripped in some sort of tight lock behind my back which sent intense blasts of pain shooting up my arm every time I moved.
“Don't try fight me,” he growled in my ear, “coz I'll break yo' damn arm. An' if you keep fightin', I'll break yo' other arm. I don't need yo' arms to work, bitch, I just need yo' pussy. Now, let's go – right there, behind the damn dumpster. An' this time, ain't nobody gon' save you...”
He started manhandling me, shoving me over to the dumpster where he and his friend were going to... I couldn't even think of what was about to happen to me. It felt totally unreal, like a complete nightmare. I kept on half-expecting to wake up from it – but there wouldn't be any waking up from this. This was a nightmare I’d never be rid of if I survived it.
He got me over to the dumpster, and then his accomplice pulled out a roll of duct tape from his jacket. Tyrese then shoved a rag into my mouth as his accomplice pressed a piece of duct tape over the rag to hold it there.
“You ain't gon' be makin' no sound, bitch,” Tyrese snarled. “And you gon' take what I'm gon' give you now... every damn inch a' it.”
“You won't be giving her a damn thing, asshole!” a new voice called out – a familiar voice. Ben’s voice. “But I'm gonna give you somethin'!”
Tyrese let me go and spun around and tried to draw his firearm, but it was too late for him – Ben already had his .45 aimed at him, and he fired it. The shot boomed through the alley, and Tyrese's knee exploded in a spray of blood. He dropped his gun and fell to the ground, screaming and clutching at his shattered knee. His accomplice pulled out his own gun and tried to take a shot at ben, but Ben was too fast. He’d already swung his gun around and had it aimed at the man. Ben fired two shots, both of which caught him in the chest. The heavy bullets smashed through the man and took him off his feet, and he collapsed, dead no doubt.
Ben rushed over to me, pulled the duct tape from my mouth, and removed the rag. His arms wrapped tightly around me. As he hugged me, tears started to pour down my cheeks as I wept uncontrollably. Through my crying, I saw Tyrese grab his gun and lift it to aim at Ben.
“Ben! Look out!” I screamed and tried to get Ben to move, but before I could say anything else a tremendous boom rang out as another gunshot ripped through the alley. Tyrese screamed again. It hadn’t been Tyrese shooting his gun at Ben. No, it was Tino – and his shot caught Tyrese in the hand he was holding his gun in. The firearm flew from his grasp.
Tino ran over to Tyrese, his gun aimed at him as Tyrese writhed and moaned in agony on the ground.
“Tino,” I said through my sobs, “I thought... I thought that you went back... to...”
“To get your suitcase?” he said. “Sorry, Bethany, but I knew that whole thing was bullshit. I ain't as dumb as I look, you know. When we was on the way here, I noticed you was actin' strange, so I quietly messaged Ben and told him something was up with you, and that he'd better get his ass over here. And when I drove off, I just parked a block away where you couldn't see me, and walked over to a hiding place nearby.”
I felt so incredibly relieved – but I also felt so stupid. How had I thought that this plan of mine would ever work? I had been an idiot for thinking that. But thank God it hadn't worked, because if Tino really had gone, something truly terrible and horrifying would be happening to me right now.
“You and I need to talk,” Ben said gently. “Come, let's go upstairs to the apartment where we'll have some privacy.”
I nodded.
“Tino,” he said, “you stay out here and keep an eye on things. And maybe give our friend Tyrese here a few kicks and punches to make sure he don't go nowhere... even though I don't think he'll be goin' too far with a busted kneecap. We'll deal with him when I'm done talking to Bethany.”
Tino nodded, and Ben and I went upstairs.
We sat down in the only two chairs left in the apartment, and then Ben glared at me with an intense look in his eyes.
“What on earth were you doing, Bethany? What the hell has gotten into you? And why is there an unconscious real estate agent outside in the alley? Yeah, I know who Jim is, I've bought a few properties through him before. You think you could sell this place without telling me?”
“You left me no other option!” I said, my anger aroused and Delia's words burning in my ears. “I heard the truth about you, Ben, and I saw the plans!”
“What truth? What plans?”
“The plans for your casino – and some restaurant that you want to open! That's why you pulled this whole thing with me, this whole story with Sal making that contract with you! You just wanted the diner, and I was just a pawn in your sick little game!”
“Where are you getting this idea from, Bethany?”
“Delia told me! Yes, that whore of yours, Delia!”
Ben sighed and shook his head.
“That stupid bitch,” he muttered. “Look, why the hell would you believe anything she says anyway?”
“I saw you! I saw you and her in the parking lot this morning! She was all over you and you were enjoying it! Don't even try to deny it, because I'm not blind!”
He sighed again. “You didn't watch all of it then,” he said. “Because I sure as hell wasn't 'enjoying' that! I was just shocked for a second when she came up to me and wrapped her damn arms around me! If you'd watched any longer, you would have seen me shove her away. And if you don't believe I did that, we can go back to the building right now and watch the security camera footage that I know is always taping in that parking lot. That'll show you that things happened exactly how I said they did.”
I folded my arms across my chest and pouted.
“Well, what about the casino, and the plans for this new restaurant? You can't deny that Ben! And there's only one reason why you would have been keeping all of that a secret from me!”
“You're right,” he admitted. “I was keeping it secret from you – but not for the reason you think. No. The reason is... I want it to be your restaurant.”
I was not expecting that.
“Wait... what? My restaurant?”
He nodded, sincerity in his eyes.
“Yes. We would totally revamp this place, and turn it from a run of the mill diner into a top-class restaurant. I've seen how much you’ve enjoyed cooking. You've been experimenting with new recipes, with modifying my ma's recipes over the past few weeks, and I know how incredibly fantastic your food is. Hell, Tino talks all the time about those amazing dishes of yours that he gets to sample! But I realized early on that you couldn't serve food like that in a plain old diner. It would have to be served in a classy restaurant with modern décor and well-dressed waiters, with premium prices. So, that's what I'm planning to build – and it'll be all yours to run as you like. I know it’s not the diner, but it will be yours. And hell, your old friend Manny, he can work there too. The casino is my project, and I'll be running that. But this restaurant, this is my gift to you. And it was a secret because it was going to be a surprise. I wanted it to be a . . . a wedding gift. From me to you.”
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was overwhelmed with emotions—a whole range of them. But chief among them was something that I knew I felt with utter certainty now.
“Ben,” I murmured, “that's... that's beautiful. That's the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me. Ever.”
“I love you, Bethany... with all my heart and all that I am,” he said before leaning in to kiss me.
“I love you, too,” I responded when our lips parted.
THAT NIGHT
I took one last sip of the wine, and then stared into Ben's eyes – his gorgeous, dark eyes, burning with the fire of his passion for me.
“That's your second glass, huh?” he asked with a grin. “You want another?”
“No, I think I'm done with wine,” I replied, “but there is something else I'd like.”
“Oh yeah, and what's that?” he asked.
I smiled flirtatiously. “Come over here and you can find out.”
He stood and strolled over to me. He took one last sip of his own wine, and then set the empty glass down and took a seat on the white leather sofa next to me.
“So, what is it that you'd like?” he asked, still staring into my eyes.
“I think you already know,” I replied.
With that I grabbed his tie and pulled him to me, and the heat of passion and the fire of his attraction tore through my veins like lightning. I wanted him badly. The whole day – the whole of the last few weeks – had been building up to this.
We kissed madly, hungrily, and soon his powerful hands were moving all over my body, his touch alternating between soft and gentle, almost rough and aggressive. As we kissed, I moved my eager hands down his broad torso and began unbuttoning his shirt, and he slipped his hands down my back and gripped each of my ass cheeks, squeezing the flesh with strong, eager fingers. With each squeeze of his strong hands, he sent a rush of excitement through me.
I finished unbuttoning his shirt and slid it down his broad shoulders and off of him. I took a moment to admire his powerful, muscular torso—his skin was smooth and darkly tanned, and each muscle looked as if it had been carved by a master sculptor. I ran my fingers over his chest with a light, teasing touch, and he shuddered with pleasure as I brushed his nipples with my fingertips. In turn, he began making easy work of the buttons on my blouse. He moved his mouth to my neck which he kissed and nibbled, sending pleasure shooting along the surface of my skin and rippling through my nerve endings.
He got my blouse off, and then, as my hunger and desire for him grew, I reached back and undid my bra to speed things along. He immediately cupped my breasts in his hands, and fondled them appreciatively with just enough force to give a light sensation of pain. With his forefingers and thumbs, he squeezed and massaged my stiffening nipples.
As the deft action of his fingers on my nipples and breasts caused wave after wave of pleasure to tear through me, I reached down to his crotch, and began lightly stroking my fingertips over his rapidly-hardening manhood. He moaned quietly against my neck as my fingers teased his swelling tower, which was straining against his Armani suit pants as it grew fully engorged.
Down below, at the meeting of my thighs I felt heat increasing, and my hunger for him grew to almost unbearable levels. With hasty, fumbling fingers I started to unbutton my jeans, and sensing my haste, he slipped his hands down and helped me peel them off. Then he slid his face down, brushing a teasing, swirling tongue over my hard nipples as he went, and licked at my smooth belly, and then gripped my panties in his teeth when he reached them, and pulled them off in one swift motion.
He then slipped a hand down over my smoothly-shaven mound, and he emitted a low groan as his fingers slipped easily into my hot, moist center. I shuddered with pleasure at his touch and arched my back and spread my thighs so that he could work the magic of his gently, rhythmically-lapping tongue on my now-throbbing core. Each firm press of pleasure against me with his tongue sent a boosting rip of bliss running up from my core all the way through my body. Soon, with his licking and sucking in a steady, powerful rhythm, I was crying out and grinding myself into him. The oceans of bliss that were surging through me were the precursor to an orgasm that had been a long time coming—a powerful and beautiful orgasm that was just begging to be unleashed, one that had been building up for weeks, long tortuous weeks.
The orgasm blitzed through me with a majestic force that had my body convulsing with pleasure and caused me to cry out. I gasped and panted as the waves of it flowed through me.
Then, as I lay there sweating and winded from the intensity of it, he undid his pants and rid himself of their restraints. His throbbing, impressive manhood sprang up, fully engorged and hard with the force of his arousal.
He gripped its generous girth in one hand and began to feed himself into me slowly. As he entered me, I groaned and trembled as he began to stretch me out until finally every glorious inch of him filled me completely.
He then began moving slowly in an almost circular motion inside me that caused shears of bliss to tear through me with every deft stroke. Then, in conjunction with this tantalizingly intense motion, he started to slide himself in and out, with every stroke providing yet another boost of ecstasy.
Soon, he was thrusting away with an almost animalistic, ferocious force, gripping my hips tight with his strong hands and pulling me to him with every potent thrust. I cried out and panted with every stroke that drove his throbbing hardness deeper into me. Within minutes, the force of another orgasm was building like a storm.
And then, as he began to drive himself with an almost frenetic speed into me, yet another orgasm was unleashed, and I wailed as it tore madly through every fiber of my body with its lightning-like pleasure. And then, at that moment, he roared like a beast and shuddered with the intensity of his own orgasm.
Then, still inside me, he collapsed panting onto me, and he slid his fingers through mine and clasped my hands tight in his.
“I love you, Bethany,” he gasped into my ear. “I love you madly... more than anything.”
And I knew in my heart that every one of those words was true.