36
“Ben?” I said again. “What are you doing?”
“Keeping you safe.”
The undisguised excitement in his eyes made my stomach twist.
“I am safe,” I reminded him. “This house is like Fort Knox and my security crew are upstairs.” Was this some sort of game? Did the idea of a panic room thrill him so much he wanted to try it out?
He took a step toward me. “No, Lena. This house isn’t secure. Did you know that?”
I ignored the way my heart was pounding and gave him a firm look. “Of course it is.”
He pushed away from the door and went to examine the shelves. I only hesitated for a second before rushing over and inputting my code into the keypad. When I hit OK, nothing happened.
“It won’t work.”
I tried it again, my gut clenching with fear. “Why, Ben? Why won’t it work?”
“Because I changed the code.”
My hand hovered in mid-air as the code was rejected once more. Forcing myself to breathe, I turned to face him. “Please open the door, Ben. This isn’t funny.”
He picked up a bag of chips and opened them. The metallic sound of the foil made me want to cringe.
“It’s not meant to be funny.” He picked a chip out of the bag, studied it and then popped it into his mouth with a decisive crunch.
“Then what is this?” I said quietly.
“This,” he said, strolling over to me, “is how it was meant to be all along. Just you and me, Lena.”
“Ben, have you been drinking?” That had to be it, because this couldn’t be happening. Obviously he was so completely lovesick about losing his girlfriend, he’d drowned his sorrows. “I know you’re sad about your girlfriend—”
“You’re my girlfriend!”
I startled as if I’d been slapped and attempted to take a step backward, but he grabbed my wrist and twisted it so hard I cried out. “Ben, please. You’re hurting me.”
He immediately released his grip. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t touch your bad arm though.”
Sweetheart? What was going on? This had to be some sort of nightmare, but even as I hoped it, I knew it wasn’t. The infatuated look in his eyes told me otherwise.
“No, I’m OK,” I said, thinking fast. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”
He nodded. “I’d never harm you.”
My mind was whirling and my chest felt so tight I could barely breathe, but I tried to stay focused. “What happened with your last girlfriend, Ben? Did she hurt you?”
The bag of chips crunched as he balled his hand into a fist. “Katie was a bitch, do you hear me? Nothing like you. She had none of your class. I wasn’t really into her, anyway.”
“Because you like me?”
He took a step toward me and I had to stop from flattening myself against the wall. How was it only weeks, days, earlier I had been able to pretend to be in love with him for the cameras?
He reached out and trailed a finger down my cheek and I flinched.
“Don’t be like that,” he said in a low voice, as if he didn’t want to scare me.
“Ben, think about it. How do you expect me to be right now?”
He tilted his head and regarded me. “Oh, you’re surprised, of course. I get that. I know you didn’t even consider me, but that’s going to change now.”
“Ben, please think about what you’re doing. I already have a boyfriend.”
Rage flared in his eyes. “That bastard? You’re out of his league, trust me.”
“I do. I do trust you, Ben, which is why I know you know this is wrong. If you want to talk—”
“Talk?” I flinched again and he appeared to regain himself. “Lena, we don’t need to talk. I know you felt it, too. Every time we kissed for the cameras on-set, I could feel it. I could see it in your eyes. You love me, you’re just too scared to act on it because of our age difference and what the media will say.”
What the media would say? After the last six months of my messed-up life, I’d given up caring what the media said. And if Ben were thinking clearly, he’d realize that me dating a guy ten years younger than me was no more newsworthy than being married to a man twenty-five years my senior.
“Ben, I’m sorry if you feel this way, but I was acting. I like you as a friend, but that’s it.”
He shook his head back and forth like he was trying to clear it. “No! Don’t say that.” He planted his hands on the wall either side of my head, trapping me. “You’re just scared to believe in us after all the heartbreak you’ve been through.”
Scared? Yes, I was extremely scared, but not for the reasons he was claiming. And I needed to change tack if I had any hope of getting out of here.
“Ben? You know, I think you might be right.”
He nodded, his light blue eyes transfixed.
“I have been through a lot of heartbreak and I’m still figuring things out.” I attempted a shy shrug but I wasn’t sure how good my acting abilities currently were given the fear coursing through my body. “I guess I never ever thought you’d be interested in me. I’m so much older.”
Ben’s eyes widened and he stroked my cheek again. This time I managed to stay still. “You’re beautiful, Lena. How can you not know that?”
I shrugged again and bit my lip. “Divorce is tough. It can make you doubt yourself. I never even considered you might share my feelings. You’ve got your whole career ahead of you and I wasn’t sure you’d want to get involved with someone my age and—”
“Shh.” He put a finger on my lips. “I understand. I know that’s why you’re with Nathan. He’s a bit of eye candy but that’s it, isn’t it? He has no real talent, not like me.”
His touch was enough to make me gag but I managed to swallow the feeling down and shake my head. I reached up and took his wrist in my hand, removing it from my mouth. “No. He’s nothing compared to you, Ben.”
“Oh, Lena.” He leaned in to kiss me but I didn’t give him a chance.
I kicked him as hard as I could in the crotch. He cried out, doubling over in pain, and I shoved him back into the shelving. It crashed down on top of him, but I didn’t waste any time to see the damage and raced to the phone in the middle of the room.
I picked up the headset and pressed the button frantically.
“You fucking cow! I’ll kill you.”
Oh God. Why wasn’t the phone working? It had to work. I tried again, but it was dead, the line was dead. I held back a sob of despair and scampered back to the door. I knew it was futile to put in the code again so I pounded my fists against the door and screamed.
“Help me! Please! Help me!”
“Bitch!” The back of Ben’s hand connected with my face and I was sent sprawling, hitting my head against the concrete wall as I fell.
He towered over me, the fury in his eyes making him look much older than his twenty-two years. “You’re just like her! You’re just like all of them!”
I couldn’t reply because my vision blurred and a sharp pain pierced my skull.
Ben took another step toward me. “I should have let you burn, do you hear me? I should have let you burn!”
Somehow his words cut through my pain and I stared up at him. “The fire? That was you?” I whispered.
He threw his hands up in the air. “Of course it was me, you bitch! Who else would it have been?”
“Martin,” I murmured. I put a hand to my forehead. The pounding in the back of my head was so intense, nausea rose in my windpipe.
“Martin?” Ben boomed, his deep voice echoing around the small space. “That loser? I would have burned him myself if I could have gotten my hands on the bastard. For scaring you like that. He deserves to die, just like Nathan!”
I dropped my hand to the ground to steady myself and peered up at him through hazy eyes. “What? Nathan? What do you mean?”
Ben shook his head and crouched down in front of me. I was too scared, too hurt, to move.
“The fire was for him, Lena. After all the media coverage when you attended that movie premiere together, I couldn’t let him live. Not when you’re mine. But then he got to you and saved you.” He spat the word ‘saved’. “What a load of shit. You could have died jumping from that window.”
I looked away, tasting bile in my mouth. “Ben, please. That’s enough.” I couldn’t act anymore even if I’d wanted to.
“You’re right. It’s enough. It’s our time now, Lena. You’ll see.” He leaned forward onto his knees and I had no strength left to fight him.
“Lena! Are you in there?”
Ben jolted backward at the pounding on the door and unbalanced, landing on his backside.
I scrambled up and ran to the door, the room tilting dangerously. “Marc! He’s got me locked in here. He’s changed the code and I can’t get out.”
“Who Lena? Who has you in there?”
I flattened my palms on the door in desperation. “Ben! Ben does. Can’t you see? Don’t you have cameras in here?” I knew for a fact they had installed security cameras.
Ben’s deep laughter echoed behind me.
“No cameras, Lena,” Marc called back. “We’ve got no feed. Something’s faulty. We’ll get it fixed. Are you alright? You’ll just have to hang tight until we get you both out.”
Oh fuck. They had no idea what was going on. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the door, my whole body shaking with fear.
Ben’s laughter stopped. “You see, Lena? He’s no match for me. Did you think I’d leave the cameras running down here?”
It was the look of triumph on his face that did it and I turned around and slammed my fists against the door with renewed energy. “The fire, Marc! Ben started the fire! He’s delusional! Please help me!”
Ben’s arm reached around my waist and he pulled me away from the door kicking and screaming. His breath was hot on my ear. “It won’t matter, Lena. They can’t get in. I can do whatever I like in here.”
“Go to hell!” I hit out at him but he caught my wrists and twisted my arms behind my back. I cried out in agony as my injured shoulder sent a bolt of pain shooting down my arm.
“Lena!” Marc yelled through the door but this time he got no reply.
Ben chuckled in my ear, ignoring my whimpering. “Poor Lena. Your boyfriend can’t help you now.”