“That wasn’t part of the deal.” I know it was the wrong thing to say the second the words leave my mouth.
“Quiet,” Saverio snaps, wrapping his hands around my throat, forcing my head back. “If you want your friends to go unharmed, we do this my way. Your friends will be guarded until I’m satisfied they won’t speak.” Removing his fingers from my throat, he smirks. “After all, what happens in Vegas always stays in Vegas.”
If he thinks I’m laughing at his effort of a joke, he has another think coming.
“Get her out of here,” Saverio barks when Pen’s sobs start in earnest again.
“Sierra!” she screams. “You can’t do this!” Her sobs dry up as she levels Saverio with a frantic look. “Please just let us both go. We won’t tell anyone. Just let us leave, and we promise not to say a word.”
He dismisses her with a flippant wave of his hand.
“I love you,” I mouth as she’s lifted off the ground by the asshole.
“I’m sorry,” she mouths back. Her cries and screams reverberate in my ears as she’s carried out of the room.
“My ears thank you,” the beast on the couch says, grunting as he fucks the woman sprawled across the table in front of him. “I think you’re going soft, boss. I would’ve put a bullet in the bitch’s mouth the second she entered the room.”
“We’ve got a problem, Salerno,” a deeply masculine voice says, rousing memories from the furthermost depths of my brain.
I spin my head in the direction of the voice, unable to believe my eyes.
Oh. My. God.
No way.
It can’t be.
I examine every inch of his handsome face behind a layer of shock. He looks the same, yet different. Older and like he’s properly grown into his skin. I crushed hard on Bennett Carver as a teen. I thought he was the hottest guy I’d ever seen, but either my memory hasn’t done him justice, my thirteen-year-old eyes had blinders on, or he’s just gotten even hotter.
Because this Ben?
He is sex on a stick.
So gorgeous it almost hurts.
6
SIERRA
If I wasn’t on the verge of being violently assaulted, I’d swoon over Ben’s piercing blue eyes, strong nose, that chiseled jawline coated in a sexy layer of scruff, and the thick glossy dark hair I used to fantasize about touching. He’s bulked up too, looking broader in the shoulders with an impressive chest and defined biceps. His shirt is rolled to his elbows, highlighting his muscular arms with a dusting of dark hair I find so attractive in guys. The top few buttons of his shirt are undone, offering a glimpse of his toned chest with a smattering of dark chest hair.
“Ben?” I croak, finding my voice after the initial shock has worn off. “Is it really you?”
“Firefly.” He smirks, arching a brow in a wholly arrogant way that is totally new. His eyes darken as he purposely drags his gaze over my body, inspecting me slowly from head to toe. “You’re all grown up and so gorgeous.”
Wait. What? I gape at him, and I’m sure my disbelief is written all over my face.
He moves right up in front of me, threading his fingers through my hair before twisting it around his fist, yanking my head back at an awkward angle.
My heart thumps erratically again, beating against my rib cage like it wants to escape. The Ben staring down at me—like he wants to devour me until he’s sucked all the flesh from my bones—is not the Ben I remember. There’s a cruel sheen to his gaze that wasn’t there before. Or maybe it was, and I couldn’t see it over the haze of infatuation.
Little sweat beads form on the nape of my neck, and my pulse throbs wildly as I try to work out whether Ben is an ally or a foe.
“You know the girl.” Saverio isn’t asking, and he looks irritated as fuck.
“Yes.” Ben loosens his tight hold on my hair, and my neck welcomes the relief. Without subtlety, he pulls me away from the monster, tucking me in flush to his side. He stares at Saverio, no fear evident in his expression despite the naked aggression laid bare on Saverio’s face. “And like I said, we have a problem. Two, really.”
Another man approaches, clutching his unbuttoned pants to keep them up. He looks similar in age to Ben, if I had to hazard a guess. This guy is ripped with an impressive six-pack and a serious case of arm porn. His torso also bears the scars of a violent lifestyle, and I wonder if Ben looks like that when he’s undressed. Which is kind of problematic when the man is holding me possessively like he can’t decide if he wants to fuck me or kill me. I’d be totally down for the former—life-risking scenario aside.
“Who is she?” the stranger asks as he materializes beside Ben.
“Joseph Lawson’s youngest daughter.”
“Should I know who that is?” Saverio asks.
“He’s Lawson Pharma,” a man with salt-and-pepper hair and beady eyes says.
“He’s well-connected and fiercely protective of his daughters,” Ben explains. “If you hurt her, you’ll pay a price. He’s a billionaire with the resources to make your life hell.”
Saverio shrugs. “I can handle a disgruntled businessman.”
He clearly doesn’t know my father.
“It’s more than that though. She’s my ex’s little sister. I used to fantasize about doing her when she was older.” My eyes pop wide, and Ben smirks again. “Don’t pretend you weren’t doing some fantasizing of your own, Firefly.” He waggles his brows. “You drooled every time I came by the house, and I know you spied on Saskia and me.” Gripping my chin, he tilts my face up so I’ve no choice but to look at him. “Did you imagine it was you I was kissing? Did you lie in bed at night dreaming about me? Fingering your virgin pussy imagining it was my fingers inside you?”
A few chuckles ring out, and my cheeks inflame. I feel like I’m thirteen again, only this time it’s Ben I want to murder.
A knowing laugh bursts from his mouth. “Grab my jacket,” he tells his…friend? Colleague? Fellow deviant? I don’t know who he is or how he knows Ben or even who Ben is anymore.
The man walks off, grinning as he grabs a tailored black suit jacket, returning with it in his hands.
“Open the inside pocket, retrieve my wallet, and remove the folded piece of paper,” Ben instructs, and the man obliges. “Open it up.”
A strangled sound leaves my mouth as the picture is revealed.
“You kept it,” I whisper, fighting emotion. He kept the picture of the firefly I drew for him. It has my name and the date on the bottom right-hand corner.
“Aw, she must really love you,” Ben’s friend says, chuckling.
Saverio cracks his knuckles, looking ready to beat the crap out of both men.
“I know you had plans,” Ben says, staring Saverio straight in the eye. “But she’s not yours for the taking. I put dibs on her years ago, and I’ve waited for this night for a long time.” He grabs my hip in a firm hold that hurts, fixing Saverio with a challenging look.
“You’d deny me?” Saverio drills a dark glare at Ben.
“You’d deny me?” Ben coolly retorts. “That wouldn’t be a good start to our new working relationship.”