Page 9 of Fighting for the Forbidden
Chapter Three
Ben
“Ben.”The volume of her calls only intensifies the pounding in my head. “Ben.” This time, she accompanies it with knocking.
“Yeah, I’m here,” I grate out. My throat’s as dry as the fucking Sahara.
“We’re meeting Erica at nine. We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up.”
Rolling over, I drag my eyes open, the morning light burning my sockets, and I have to fight not to pull the duvet over my head and go back to sleep.
Heading to that strip club last night probably wasn’t the best idea, but drowning things out with alcohol and women is the only way I know how.
I’ve no idea what time I eventually made it home last night, and I only have very vague memories of the journey. Thankfully, I was sensible enough to get in a taxi.
“Ben?” Mum shouts again, correctly assuming that I’m trying to ignore her. “I know you’re angry, and I’m sorry, but please, we need to get to the office. There’s a lot that needs to be discussed before it’s too late.”
“Give me ten,” I call out.
“Don’t forget all your ID for Chris later either,” she says, reminding me about our meeting to start the process of getting everything changed over to my name. The prospect of having the weight of not only the business and all its issues but this place on my head is more daunting than I’ve let anyone see. If I screw this up, it’s going to impact a lot of lives.
Sucking in a few deep breaths once I’ve managed to sit myself on the edge of the bed, I will my stomach to settle. I haven’t drunk that much in a long time, but unlike all the previous times I’ve drunk my problems away, Lauren’s face never left me. The image of her in Joe’s arms is still right there in front of my eyes, taunting me.
After a few seconds, I pull myself to my feet and stumble towards the en suite. I’m in desperate need of a shower before I grace other humans with my presence.
Mum’s at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me. The second my foot hits the ground floor, she walks up to me and throws her arms around my shoulders. I tense. I’m still angry with her for interfering, but I don’t have it in me to turn her away right now.
“I’m so glad you didn’t leave.”
“Trust me, it was close.”
“Where did you go?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Placing my hands on her shoulders, I prise her away from me. There’s no way I’m telling her about going to see Dad; it’ll only make her ask questions that I’m not prepared to answer. “Come on, Erica will be waiting.”
“Where’s your car?” Mum asks when she notices it’s missing.
“Outside the strip club,” I mutter to her surprise, if her gasp is anything to go by.
“You went to a strip club?” The line between her brows deepens, disapproval written all over her face.
“Yes, Mum. I went to a strip club. I found the woman I’m in love with in another man’s arms, and I needed a distraction. Do you have a problem with that?” I regret snapping the moment tears pool in her eyes, but I’m really not in the mood to have my bad decisions questioned right now.
Everyone’s busy when we get to the office, but it doesn’t stop Betty from dropping whatever she’s doing and running towards the kitchen to make us coffee the second we enter.
“Give us ten minutes, yeah?” Mum says to Erica as we pass, then she shuts the door behind both of us once we’re in the office.
I don’t bother waiting to see where she’s going to sit. I go straight for the chair behind the desk…my chair. What I don’t expect is for Mum to turn her determined stare on me.
“What?”
“I need to know that you’re in this for the long haul, Ben. This business needs someone who’s going to be serious, not someone who’s going to want to run at the first sign of trouble. Hell knows, we’ve already had enough of that. What we need to do here isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to take hard work and dedication, and if you’re not the man for the job, then I have no problem with finding someone who is.”
My eyebrows rise in surprise. It’s been years since I’ve heard Mum talk with such conviction. She and Dad ran this place like a tight ship when I was a kid, but after he died and Nick took over, it was like all her fight just disappeared. If she’d kept just a little of her tenacity, maybe we wouldn’t be in this position right now.
“I can do it,” I say, spinning on the chair to power up the computer.
“What was that?” Her eyebrow quirks and her hand lands on her hip.
