Page 11 of Second Chance Wedding
“No!”
She stared at her son. “Becauseyouhave it, don’t you?” She held out her hand and waggled her fingers for him to hand it over, then watched in fury and disbelief when he bent and retrieved the phone from where he’d apparently stashed it in his sock. His sock!
Ben reared back and threw it at her, and she flinched when the hard metal bit into her collar bone. She nearly dropped her phone due to the surprise and pain, fumbling to catch the expensive phone before it crashed to the ground and shattered.
Ben stalked off toward the parking lot, and she followed, teary-eyed from the pain of the blow, her upset and broken heart. Her collar bone throbbed and would undoubtedly bruise, but the sheer magnitude of Benji’s behavior left her struggling to stay upright.
Exhaustion hit her like a tsunami, every step of this second trip to the parking lot dragging at her tired feet and legs. She practically collapsed into the seat when the full force of the wave hit.
All the stress, the nonstop hours and work to prep for the opening, the financial burden of leveling up her business topped by Ben stealing the limo and—and Cole.
Of all the people in the world for Ben to steal from— Why Cole?
* * *
“Come again?”
Cole glanced at Alec, the eldest of the Blackwell siblings, and then back at Gage, who’d voiced the growled question. “She’ll pay.”
“Are youkiddingme right now,” Gage said.
“Frankie is setting everything aside at the garage to prioritize the repair. We won’t have a lot of downtime,” Cole said.
“And what is this repair going to cost?” Alec asked, every bit the businessman focusing on facts.
“It’s not confirmed, but…Frankie guessed around fifteen grand.” Mutters and blank stares met his words.
“Which means it could be higher,” Alec said.
Cole shrugged. Which went over well if the eye rolls and grunts that followed were any indication.
“And the thief isn’t in jail because your ex-girlfriend batted her eyelashes at you,” Gage said. “Shedumpedyou, dude! And cheated on you. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Cole shot Gage a glare and fought his frustration with the mess he’d gotten himself into. It was a hefty price tag that they were now responsible for. Maybe he should’ve called the cops, but under the circumstances… “Ana says she broke it off with me before going to the party where you guys saw her with that guy.”
“And that makes it okay?” Gage asked.
“Drop it,” he ordered. “Look, Ana begged me not to ruin the boy’s life because of a stupid stunt, and she had a point, okay? He would’ve been charged with grand theft auto.”
“Which he deserves,” Gage said.
“Like we haven’t all pulled stupid stunts of our own over the years.” He pinned his younger brother with a pointed glare.
“It was a golf cart,nota limo,” Gage said.
“And a couple of bikes,” Cole added. “Not to mention booze.”
“None of which were yours.” Alec sat forward, his expression pensive as he stared at Gage. “Cole has a point.”
Gage shook his head and paced the office Brooks and Alec shared. Located at the back of the convenience store, the office was where Brooks headed up his towing and service company from his desk while Alec handled the convenience store and gas station from his.
In the last eight months or so, they’d built onto the side of the building, adding room for smaller and more frequently requested rental items while maintaining a storage unit elsewhere for the things that had to be reserved ahead of time.
Space was a commodity on the island, and every inch had to earn its keep. Including the limo. The rentals division of Blackwell Brothers had done well since opening, but having left the military, Cole’s bright idea had been to expand those options to include the car service.
“Are you still hung up on her?” Gage asked.
“No,” Cole said firmly. “If anything, my past with Ana pisses me off.”
