“I don’t understand.” I glance out the window at the houses across the road. “None of my neighbors are selling.”
“Everyone is open to selling for the right price. Leo is working on it. By nightfall, one of your neighbors will be gone, and I will own their house.”
My jaw slackens, and my mouth hangs open. He bleeds confidence and arrogance, enough to make it happen. Looking at this version of Ben, it’s so hard to reconcile him with the Ben of my youth. He is as far removed from that Ben as you can get. I wonder if there is any of the kindhearted bad boy with a chip on his shoulder left in him.
“Anything else?” I ask.
“No one can know I’m his father. Not yet. Not your family. Not the school. Not Rowan’s teacher.” He practically hisses the word. Dion is a sore spot. Good to know.
“I won’t tell my boyfriend, but I’m not telling Rowan either. He’s only five, and we can’t ask him to keep such a big secret. Besides, I think he should get used to you as a friend first.” He nods, and I release the breath I was holding. I was prepared for that to be our biggest argument, so I’m pleased he isn’t fighting me on it.
Ben clasps his hands together on top of the table. “Has he ever asked about his dad? Where does he think he is?”
I chew on the inside of my mouth, squirming a little on my seat. “A month after he started preschool was the first time he asked me about his daddy,” I explain. “I didn’t want to lie to him, but I couldn’t exactly tell him the truth either.”
“Spit it out, Sierra.” He drills me with an intense stare I feel all the way to the tips of my toes.
“I told him his daddy was someone I used to know but we had lost contact and I didn’t know how to find you. I told him I was sure if his daddy knew about him that he would want to be in his life and that maybe at some time in the future, when he was older, he might get a chance to meet him.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?” he asks, looking pained. “If I hadn’t discovered the truth, would you have ever told me?”
I brace myself for this admission because there’s no doubt this will infuriate Ben. “No. I didn’t believe it was in Rowan’s best interests, but I was planning on telling him when he was eighteen so he could make his own decision then.”
His entire body is shaking with visible rage, and I’m betting he’s back to wanting to throttle me again. He starts unrolling the sleeves of his shirt. “Two final things.” His cold tone matches the icy look on his face as he dips his hand into the inside of his jacket. “I’m replacing your car with an armored SUV.” He pulls a handgun out of his jacket pocket, setting it down on the table. My pulse spikes, and adrenaline instantly floods my body. “And I’m giving you this.”
“I don’t want it. I don’t want a gun in the house with Rowan.”
“You’re taking it.” He gnashes his teeth, and his expression brokers no argument. Standing, he snatches the gun up and walks around the table to me. “Find someplace safe to put it where Rowan can’t find it but it’s still within easy reach should you need it. Make sure you carry it in your purse or on your person anytime you step foot out of the bungalow.” Taking my hand, he places the gun in my palm, curling my fingers around it.
It’s lighter than it looks, but it still feels like a cold, dead weight in my hand. “I don’t know anything about guns, and I have no desire to learn. Why are you assigning us bodyguards if I’m going to need to protect myself?” I put it down on the table, not wanting to touch it anymore.
“I have powerful enemies, Sierra, and it’s smart to know how to defend yourself.”
I exhale heavily. I hate this. My life was perfect. Everything was going great until my stupid sister had to go and mess everything up. “I know how to defend myself. I have taken self-defense classes for years.”
“That might protect you against petty thieves and would-be rapists, but a trained mafia soldier would restrain you within seconds with ease.” He drags a hand through his hair, messing up the perfectly coiffed strands. A few waves of dark hair fall across his brow, and it’s sexy as hell.
I hate that I notice.
I hate even more that I like it.
My feelings for Ben are a clusterfuck of epic proportions. Which is something I need to unravel and put in a neat box labeled “my son’s father” so I’m not tempted to put him into any other boxes.
“Alessandro will teach you how to use it,” he says, putting his jacket on and buttoning it. He towers over me, like this force of nature that has just swept into my life, eviscerating everything in its path. I stand, not liking the feeling. “I’ll drop by tomorrow to see Rowan,” he adds. “I already told him I was a friend of Saskia’s and that I knew you when you were younger, so we should stick to that story.”
“We should stay here,” I say because I don’t want to risk being seen with him around the town.
“Agreed.”
I nod, and awkward tension filters into the air.
He clears his throat, shoving his hands in his pants pockets. “I’ve seen your bank statements, so I know money isn’t an issue, but I’m his father. I want to pay child support. I’ve instructed my personal accountant to make a deposit to your account next week. Going forward, a regular monthly deposit will be made.”
Just as I was starting to lose my anger, it returns full force, slapping me in the face. “I don’t want your dirty money!” I hiss, prodding my finger in his chest.
An amused grin spreads across his mouth, and I want to scream. “I run several successful legitimate businesses. I assure you my money is about as dirty as yours.”
He has an answer for everything. It’s infuriating. “You truly have no shame,” I seethe. How dare he invade my privacy like this. He has no right. “Next, you’ll be telling me you know my bra size.”
His eyes lower to my chest, and I scowl, wanting to wrap my arms around myself to deprive him of the view. But I won’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know how much he is getting to me either, so I don’t move a muscle.
“You were definitely a B cup in Vegas, but I’m guessing you’re a C cup now.” He steps a little closer, and though my instinct is to fall back, I stand my ground, refusing to let this asshole intimidate me again. Bending down, he presses his warm mouth to my ear. “I would need to conduct a physical exam to make an accurate assessment.”
I push him away, glaring at him. “You’re a pig.”
His lips pull up at the corners. “I don’t remember you complaining in Vegas. In fact, I distinctly remember you begging me to suck harder on your nipples as I plowed my cock into your greedy pussy.”
“Get out!” I bark, pointing at the door. “Just go.”
He winks, and I invoke every shred of willpower I possess not to lunge at him and gouge out his eyeballs.
“Until tomorrow.” He gives me a curt nod before exiting my kitchen, and I slump back in my chair, relieved he is gone but a little disappointed too.
22
SIERRA