BEN’S NOSTRILS FLARED BEFORE he called out over his shoulder. “Wait for me in the living room, Talerco.”
Talon’s chuckle drifted down the hall. “If y’all are indecent, I’m comin’ to watch.”
Ben kicked the door shut before taking my face in his hands. “You okay right now?”
My heart was in overdrive, my nerves were shot, and Ben Stark had just told me to marry him if I wanted to make babies. I was far from okay. “I’m good.”
He stared at me like he could see through my lie. “Talon can wait. Do we need to talk about what I just said?”
I was so uncomfortable, but for none of the reasons I should’ve been. I wasn’t shy being naked in front of him. He made it feel so natural, so right, and like we had been doing it forever, even though every glance at his body and his tattoos made my stomach flutter. I wasn’t feeling a single ounce of regret about giving him my virginity, and I wasn’t angry with him about pulling away from our first kiss. I was uncomfortable because a five-letter word was dancing around in my head, and all I could think about was how desperately I wanted it.
Marry.
But he hadn’t proposed. Not really. And I wasn’t stupid. He was leaving for the rest of his tour. A tour where women like the one after that concert would be in abundance.
“Elyssia?”
My hand brushed over his impossibly hard biceps. “No, it’s okay. I’m just going to take a quick shower.”
He studied me for a moment longer. Then his lips landed on mine. Gentle and so reverent, he kissed me. The slow stroke of his tongue igniting the ache in my core all over again, I wanted to fall back into bed with him.
Pulling back, he whispered against my lips, “Thank you.” His thumb stroked my face. “Thank you for giving me the best gift I’ve ever had.”
Heat flamed my cheeks and warmth spread in my belly. “You’re welcome.”
Inhaling, he stepped back like he was reluctant to let me go. “Shower. I’ll tell Talon you’ll be out in a minute.”
I grabbed the borrowed T-shirt I’d dropped, and I made my way to the bathroom, acutely aware of his eyes on me. By the time I closed the door and saw my reflection in the mirror, reality came back with a vengeance. My hair was tangled, my cheeks were flushed, and my face glowed. But my body was covered in a truth I couldn’t continue to ignore.
Sucking in a breath, I turned and looked at my back and the sides of my thighs. The bruises were more yellow today, and despite the horrible ugliness to them, I felt better. So much better than I thought I could have felt within a day’s time.
But I couldn’t ignore Marcus forever.
Resigned, I quickly showered then wrapped a towel around me and opened the bathroom door a crack. When I didn’t see Ben, I slipped into the bedroom and grabbed my cell. No new messages or voice mails. Concern and guilt threading together, I called Marcus. It rang five times and went to voice mail. I hung up and dialed again. Five more rings, and his voice came through the line.
“Leave a message because I don’t want to talk to you.”
Sitting on the bed, I hung up and switched to text.
Me: I need you to call me
I waited a couple minutes, but when he didn’t respond, I called again. This time it didn’t even ring, it went straight to voice mail. “Shoot.” I tossed my phone on the bed.
“What’s wrong?” Ben strode in carrying a plate heaped with food and a glass of orange juice.
“Marcus isn’t answering.”
With his muscles straining his fitted T-shirt, he set the plate on the nightstand and handed me the juice. “Maybe he’s not up yet.”
No, he was avoiding me. “He’s up.” I stared at the food. Scrambled eggs, thick slabs of toast with butter, and a mountain of cut-up fruit. It was more than I could eat in two meals. “Thank you.”
Ben merely nodded and handed me a fork. “I’ll call him.”
I thought about telling him not to. I thought about telling him to never say anything to Marcus ever again, but what he’d said earlier was playing in my thoughts. Ben was right. Marcus needed more help than I could give him. My eyes glued to the plate of food, I sat there holding the fork, not knowing what to do. “I should get dressed. Talon’s waiting.”
He sat down next to me and brushed my wet hair off my shoulder. “He’s on the phone. Eat something.” His lips touched my shoulder in a sweet kiss.
I shivered from his touch as I took in all the ink covering his arms. “I need to check on my brother.”
Taking the juice from my hand, he took a sip, then set it down on the nightstand and picked up the plate. “Marcus can take care of himself.” He handed me the plate.
No, he couldn’t. I set the plate back on the nightstand.
Ben exhaled. “Elyssia.” All six feet three inches of him looked irritated. “You need to eat.”
I stared at his gorgeous eyes. A darker blue outlining the lighter blue was framed by thick eyelashes. “Why do you do that?”
The crease between his eyebrows surfaced. “Do what?”
“Call me by my full name?”
His chest moved in and out with a breath. “Because that’s your name.”
“I don’t call you Benjamin.”
“Good, because that’s not my name.”
Surprise widened my eyes. “What?”
“It’s Bennett.”
I’d known him for eight years and I hadn’t known this? “You never told me.”
“You never asked.”
What did that mean? That I could ask him anything and he’d tell me? Ben was about as impenetrable as they came. I didn’t even know how his father had died. Marcus had told me years ago that he didn’t talk about his dad or being a foster kid, so I shouldn’t ask him. “What’s your middle name?”
“Abraham.”
On anyone else, I couldn’t imagine the name suiting the man, but on Ben? Bennett Abraham Stark fit him. “Strong name. Are you named after someone?”
He didn’t reply at first. His gaze drifted, and when he spoke, his voice had turned flat. “My father’s name was Abraham.”
I reached for his hand. “How did he die?”
He wove his fingers through mine. “He worked himself to death. He had a heart attack on a construction site. He was a carpenter. My mom took off when I was a kid. No one could find her after he died. He was an only child, and my grandparents were deceased, so I went into the foster system. You know the rest.” His gaze cut back to mine. “Any other questions?”
My heart breaking for him because I knew the pain of losing an only parent, I dared to ask another question. “How can you afford this place?” He’d paid off my mother’s mortgage the very next day after I’d come for him. He hadn’t told me, my mother had before she’d died. She’d said to sign some papers and not question a dying mother’s wish. Turned out, I’d signed papers that’d made the house mine. I’d never thanked Ben.
“I own it.”
I knew he’d bought it, I just didn’t know how he’d afforded it and paying off my mother’s mortgage. “It’s a beautiful condo.”
“I meant the building.”
I blinked. “The whole building?” He owned it?
“Yes.”
“Wow.” I’d underestimated how well the band was doing.
“You need to eat.”
“I’m allergic to eggs,” I absently looked around the room because I didn’t want to think about his father or my mother, or Marcus or the fact that I worked as a cashier and Ben owned an entire building.
“Since when?” He sounded angry.
“Always.” It wasn’t just four walls. The ceiling had different heights, the high baseboards had fancy rounded edges, the windows had marble windowsills. Every surface looked expensive and carefully planned.
“What else are you allergic too?” He moved the plate to his dresser.
“Peanuts, tree nuts, soy and eggs,” I rattled off the list. “This is a really nice building.”
“How serious are the egg and soy allergies?”
I glanced at my purse. “I don’t need an EpiPen for them, not like I do for the nuts.”
“How do you know?” He snatched my bag and held it up. “You carry your EpiPen in here? Should I have one for you, in case of emergencies? Can you self-inject?”
“Eggs and soy just give me hives and make me sick, but I’m not anaphylactic to them.” I took my purse and rooted through it, coming up with one of the prescriptions. “And yes, I can self-inject.”
“You have two boxes of EpiPens?”
“Yes. It’s a little overkill, but Marcus likes me to be prepared.” They cost hundreds of dollars each, and since I didn’t have health insurance, Marcus always paid for them. But he was paranoid about it. Every room of our house had one. I handed one to Ben. “Here.”
He stared at the box. “Have you had to inject yourself?”
The tone of his voice, like he was horrified, made me look up at him. “A few times.”
His eyebrows drew tight as he held the box up. “None of this is on your profile at the karate studio.”
He’d read my profile? “I don’t eat at the studio.” And I wasn’t a child. I knew how to take care of myself. My bag was never far from me, and I didn’t eat anything that I didn’t know was safe.
“Jesus,” he muttered, grabbing the plate of food and storming out of the room.
I picked up my phone and dialed Marcus again because Ben had inadvertently given me an idea. It went straight to voice mail, but I left a message I knew he wouldn’t ignore. “I need a new prescription, mine is about to expire.”
It was a shitty thing to do, making him waste the money, but I needed to talk to him. I needed to know how he was doing. Not that I’d figured out what I would do if I heard any of the warning signs in his voice. I’d have to make an excuse to Ben, but now I didn’t want to be in a position where I’d have to lie to him.
I pulled some clothes out of my bag and hastily dressed. I was brushing my hair when Ben returned with a new plate.
“The melon touched the eggs, sorry.” He sat on the edge of the bed and handed me the new plate. “But the rest of this is safe. No shared equipment with nuts or anything else.”
Yogurt, strawberries, and some cut-up cheese. “Oh. Thank you.”
“I’ll stop by the store later, what do you like to eat?”
“Whatever’s easiest. Sandwiches, yogurt, I’m not picky.” I opened the yogurt, suddenly really hungry. “Is Talon still here?”
“He’s wrapping up a phone call.” Ben watched me eat a few bites, then turned his head. “I have practice today.”
I pulled the spoon out of my mouth and swallowed. “Okay.”
“I’ll be gone a few hours.” His head down, he stared at his clasped hands as his elbows rested on his knees.
I knew where he was going with this. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
His hands tightened. “I don’t want to leave you.” He said it so quietly, I almost didn’t hear him.
My stomach tightened, and I set the yogurt on the nightstand. “I’ll be fine.”
Without raising his head, he turned and looked at me. “But I don’t know that, do I?”
Alarm spread through my veins.
He didn’t wait for an answer. “I don’t know what happened to you. How can I protect you when I don’t know who I’m supposed to be protecting you from?”
“That’s not your job.” My voice strained, I fought panic.
“It sure as hell is, especially now.”
“We haven’t talked about….” I trailed off, not sure what to say, or how to say it.
His face twisted with anger. “First of all, yes, we did talk about this. All-in, Elyssia. You said you understood, and second, that wasn’t casual. You know it wasn’t.”
“I just….” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Oh God, I didn’t want to fight with him. He was right, there was nothing casual about how I felt. “I just meant that I’m an adult. I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can take care of yourself, you’ve done it since your mom died and you’re shouldering the burden of your brother all by yourself, but damn it, Elyssia, it’s my job to protect you. How the hell am I supposed to do that though when you won’t talk to me? You haven’t even told your brother. Marcus dragged you into a crushing hug last night that could’ve hurt you worse. He never should’ve touched you like that. You were on oxygen.” He stood and paced the length of the room. “I need something,” he demanded.
My fingers twisted into the bedding.
He strode back to me and his hands landed on his hips. “Give me something.”
Talon walked into the bedroom. “Am I interruptin’?” He glanced between me and Ben as he shoved his phone in his pocket.
“No,” Ben snapped, stepping back.
Talon chuckled and shook his head. “You’re supposed to save the lovers’ spat for when she’s feelin’ better, Wonderboy.” He moved in, and Ben started pacing again. “How we doin’, darlin’? You have an okay night?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t dare look at Ben.
Talon picked up my wrist and looked at his watch. “Any change in breathin’?”
“It’s better.”
“Good. Any other symptoms? Fever? Worsenin’ pain? Anythin’?”
“No.”
He tipped his chin at the oxygen machine. “You still feel like you need the oxygen?”
“No.”
Talon gently placed my hand back in my lap and glanced at Ben. “Her color’s good, she’s breathin’ easier, she’s gonna make it. You can calm the fuck down now.”
“Language,” Ben growled.
Talon grinned mischievously at me. “He makes it too easy, almost takes the fun outta rilin’ him.” He winked, then slapped Ben on the shoulder. “What language? Fuck? Damn, Wonderboy, you’re a grown-ass man now. If you can’t say fuck, how the ladies gonna know what you wanna do with ’em?”
Ben looked like he was going to implode. “Outside, now.”
Talon wiggled his eyebrows at me before following Ben out of the bedroom.
I heard Ben talking in a strained voice, but it was too hushed for me to make out the words. Talon laughed, and a few seconds later, Ben strode in. “I’m taking a shower,” he announced.
I didn’t have time to say okay before he disappeared into the bathroom.
Talon leaned on the doorframe. “You good?”
“I’m fine.” Something in Talon’s demeanor had changed. Wary, I held his stare because looking away felt like I would be confessing.
“You know…” He casually pushed off the doorframe. “I’ve been tryin’ to figure out why a beaten woman wouldn’t go to the authorities.” He slowly walked toward me. “Wonderboy said there’s no boyfriend, so domestic abuse is out.” He stopped an inch from the bed, towering over me.
I forced myself to appear relaxed.
“And if a woman’s attacked, she usually says so, even if she doesn’t know who did it. There’s also an element of fear.” His green eyes bored into mine. “She’d be scared of it happenin’ again, scared of someone followin’ her, scared in general.”
I didn’t say a word.
“But you?” Talon looked up at the ceiling and scratched his chin. “You’re not afraid of it happenin’ again.” His eyes cut back to mine. “You’re afraid of people knowin’ it happened in the first place.” He paused. “You know what that is?”
I didn’t even blink.
“Abuse.” He spat the word out like he knew it was Marcus and like he wanted to crush the life out of him.
I swallowed past the fear lodged in my throat and squeaked the lie out. “I was attacked after work.”
“Bullshit,” he drawled. “There’s cameras surroundin’ Seven-oh-One, and security never lets the girls walk to their cars alone after a shift.”
He was right. Hank always walked me to my car. I didn’t realize about the cameras, so I changed the lie. “It happened when I got home, before I got inside. I didn’t see who it was, and since I don’t have insurance, I didn’t want an ER bill I’d be paying off for years.” I got up and pushed past him, because I needed to get away from his probing speculation.
Talon didn’t step out of my way, if anything he moved closer.
“No boyfriend, no father, but one brother—one MMA fightin’ brother. With a temper.”
Talon’s accusation hung in the air, coating my skin in fear. “I….”
Someone pounded on the front door and the doorbell rang four times in a row.
“Stay here.” Talon issued the warning before he flew out of the bedroom.
A second later, I heard his voice.
“Where is she?” Marcus bellowed.
“Lemme guess, the brother?” Talon said sarcastically.
I heard a shuffle and a muted thud as I rushed to the front hall.
With his hands flat on his chest, Marcus pinned Talon against the wall.
“Marcus.” Damn it. “Let him go,” I ordered.
His face swung toward me, and I could see it in his eyes. He was about to lose it, big time.
“Who the fuck is this?” Marcus demanded.
Dripping wet, a towel around his waist, Ben was suddenly at my side. “He’s my friend. You heard Elyssia, let him go, Marcus.”
It happened so fast, I couldn’t have stopped it if I tried. Marcus dropped his hands from Talon’s chest and turned on Ben. “You motherfucker!” His arm swung out with ferocious speed, aiming straight at Ben’s jaw.
One hand holding his towel, Ben’s free arm shot up to block the blow, but he didn’t get the height he needed. Marcus’s punch glanced off Ben’s arm but still landed on his jaw with enough strength to snap Ben’s head back.
Talon moved.
Like a flash of lighting, Talon was on Marcus. He caught Marcus’s arms from behind before Marcus could land another hit on Ben. Holding Marcus’s arms with a strength that shocked me, Talon kicked the backs of Marcus’s legs and brought him to his knees.
With an inhuman roar, Marcus took the blow but then he spun to throw off Talon. Talon didn’t let go and his back hit the floor hard. Marcus landed on top of him with his arms pinned between them. One of Talon’s legs snaked over Marcus’s thigh and the other shot up then swung down and stopped right before making contact with Marcus’s groin.
“You move one inch, Marine, and you’re gonna be sterile the rest of your life,” Talon issued the warning with deadly calm.
Chest heaving, nostrils flaring, Marcus stilled.
With the same lethal voice, Talon spoke to Ben. “Get dressed.”
Ben glared at Marcus but disappeared into his room.
Closing the inch to a millimeter, Talon spoke low and threateningly in Marcus’s ear. “You and I both know why she’s here. Your only savin’ grace is that Stark doesn’t know yet. I’m gonna let go and you’re gonna get the fuck up and walk outta here before I change my mind. We clear?”
Marcus’s jaw ticked.
Talon’s heel sank an inch into Marcus’s jeans, right where he meant business. “We clear?”
“Let. Go,” Marcus hissed through clenched teeth.
Despite Marcus having fifty pounds of muscle on Talon, Talon shoved Marcus off.
Marcus sprang up and came at me, his finger in my face. “I fucking warned you about him.”
Talon jumped to his feet and grabbed Marcus’s wrist. “Last warning.”
“Marcus,” Ben snapped, walking back into the hallway.
Seething, Marcus glared at Ben. “You’re dead to me. You fuck her over, you’re worse than dead.” He reached in his pocket, and both Talon and Ben rushed between me and Marcus. “It’s her fucking medicine, assholes!” Marcus slammed an EpiPen down on the entryway table and yanked the door open. A second later, it banged shut, rattling everything in the apartment.
Talon looked pointedly at Ben. “That’s gonna be a problem.”
Ben didn’t say anything, he was staring at me.
Falling was the only sensation I could describe—the floor bottoming out and falling. I was so fucked I didn’t know how long I could keep this house of cards together. Hours? Minutes? Seconds?
I grabbed the EpiPen off the table. “I’m going to put this in my purse.” That was all I had. A lame excuse. I fled down the hall, grabbed my bag and locked myself in the bathroom.
I begged the universe for answers. But I got none. Talon knew. Ben was going to know, and when the secret came out, Marcus would follow through with the threats to kill himself.
I sank to the floor and buried my face against my knees.
“Elyssia.” Ben knocked softly.
I pushed to my feet, wincing slightly from my back, and smoothed my hands over my hair. I shouldered my bag, opened the door and carefully didn’t make eye contact. “Sorry, you can have the bathroom now.” I tried to step around Ben, but he didn’t move.
He lifted the bag off my shoulder. “That’s not why I knocked.”
I stared at my feet like my life depended on it. “I’m sorry about Marcus.”
He set my bag down. “Stop apologizing and look at me.”
Reluctant, terrified I was going to lose the only family I had left, I lifted my head.
His jaw, his face, his shoulders, every muscle in Ben’s body was strained tight. Then his voice dropped and his next words punched me in the gut. “I’m assuming Marcus didn’t hurt you on purpose.” His nostrils flared, and he gripped my chin. “Tell me how it happened.”
I flinched.
His grip tightened. “Don’t.” He barked out the command like he was barely keeping his cool. “Don’t you dare lie to me anymore.”
Irrational anger hit. “Let go of me,” I snapped.
Instead of getting angrier, guilt washed over Ben’s face, and he dropped his hand. “I should’ve seen it. He was different after his second deployment. I should’ve made the connection. I’m sorry, Elyssia. I’m so damn sorry.” Then all of his anger came back. “But he will never lay a hand on you again.” He cupped my face. “So help me God, he is going to pay for this.”
In a move that was ingrained into my psyche, I brought my arms up and out and followed through on the trajectory of the swing to break Ben’s hold on me. I dropped and grabbed my bag and lurched forward as quick as I’d been trained to do. Without a thought besides escape, I aimed for the front door.
I wasn’t naïve. I knew I was escaping because Ben was allowing it. No matter how hard I trained, he was stronger and faster than I’d ever be. I made it down the hall and my hand wrapped around the same knob my brother had grasped earlier as a fleeting thought of concern about Talon’s whereabouts entered my mind. The split second I took to look over my shoulder before opening the door was a mistake.
Ben’s arms caged me in as his palms landed on the hard wood and slammed the door shut. My shoulder hit the door, and Ben’s lips touched my ear.
“You walk out now, I call the police on Marcus.”
In that moment, there wasn’t a soul on earth I hated more than Bennett Stark.
“And say what? You can’t prove anything.” My voice shook.
“Two counts of assault. Both Talon and I will press charges. Then I’ll tell them everything I know about what happened to you.”
“I hate you,” I bit out, sounding like a child.
“I care about you too much to give a damn right now.”
I spun on him. “You hate Marcus. You’ve hated him for a while. All you do when you come home is fight with him. Stop pretending like you can waltz into our lives for four days and fix everything. You don’t know anything!”
Ben leaned down and his face came dangerously close to mine. “What makes you angrier? That I figured out you’ve been protecting your cowardly brother or that you think every part of this morning is going to disappear once I leave to go back on the road?”