Page 10 of Waging War
He hesitates, searching my gaze before flattening his palm against the side of my neck. Haunted eyes trap me in what feels like a lifetime of baggage.
I want to move, but I feel hopelessly ensnared as something wild pulses between us. I can’t understand why I’ve allowed him to touch me, but as I swallow beneath his palm, I remember that fateful night with sudden clarity.
Looking at him only reminds me of the painful reality that my father—my protector—is gone. I’ve waited long enough for answers. “Why did you take me back to them, Ben?”
He refuses to answer, and right about now, I’m really wishing I had that razor.
“Answer me,” I say, but his silence only stretches on, and I finally lose my patience. “Fine. Keep your secrets. You and the rest of those assholes canrotfor all I care.”
Ben’s face hardens, but instead of pulling back as I expect him to, he presses just a little closer.
“W-what are you doing?” My breathing increases with my pulse. I’m equally terrified and thrilled as a fresh pool of heat slides between my naked legs. That’s not the response I expected—from him or my traitorous body.
He crowds me with his big frame, oddly close to his brother’s, only larger. “Do you hate me, baby?” His voice drops to a deadly whisper.
I’m not your baby, I want to scream, but instead I grit a lethal, “Yes.”
He takes his time making me thoroughly uncomfortable before turning his lips to my ear. “Good.”
Shoving off the counter, he snatches up his keys and heads for the door.
What the hell?
I’m shocked enough that I can barely move, but then those faulty brain neurons jump back online and I’m barreling after him, holding my towel with one hand and snagging his arm with the other.
“Wait. I want to know why you came here today.” I sound desperate, like the possibility of him showing up here means there’s a chance this could all be over. Like maybe I’d be able to return to Cooper and the guys at the garage and get back that piece of my life I’ve been missing so deeply.
Not only have I mourned my father but also that invigorating freedom I’ve only ever known on my bike, and the fresh air I find on the open road.
Those troubled eyes burn through my very being before Ben shrugs out of my hold. “I’m your new babysitter,” he says while twisting the door handle and yanking the barrier to my prison open.
The stab strikes hard and fast through my gut.
“Mywhat?”
He’s already through the door and dead bolting me inside before I can reach him. Hysteria bubbles in my throat as I slam my fists against the reinforced metal repeatedly. How did this happen? How did I get trapped in the middle of this war?
I’m screaming, threatening the man behind the door. “This isn’t over!” I shriek.
No, this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.
CHAPTERFOUR
Ben
I’m parked outside of Hazel’s small apartment, running my hands over the steering wheel as I stall. Jackie gave simple enough orders. Don’t tell Hazel about Kenneth, and take her whatever supplies she needs every Friday.
Simple enough.
I stare at the weathered apartment steps leading to Hazel’s equally worn-down apartment. I’m certain now that I temporarily lost my fucking mind when I dared to touch her. Supple skin eagerly rippled beneath my palm, and two days later, the pads of my fingers are still tingling.
The glare in those yellow hued eyes, the hatred. I saw something familiar calling to me in the very depths of her bitter soul, and for just one moment, I wanted to erase the ugliness I saw there.
An ugliness I know all too well.
After my first encounter with her, it’s clear where she stands. She wants to watch us all burn for what happened to Kenneth, and she’ll stop at nothing to make it happen. Knowing that makes it easier to keep Jackie’s little secret, but it doesn’t explain the slightest pinch of guilt I’m feeling over it.
Then, I remember those damned questions. Questions I have no business answering if I want to keep my assignment straight. Muddying up this job with distractions is the last thing I need, and if she insists on treating me like the enemy, then I’ll be happy to deliver.
