No, but something much worse would have. Something I needed to avoid now.
“Possibly. But I don’t think one is related to the other. And I just want to go home and get to sleep.”
He took my upper arm in a tight grip. “Let me help you. You never take my help. Never say thank you for what I’ve done for Dexter. It’s distressing. It’s like you don’t understand how much I’ve done for you.”
Bile churned in my belly. “Mr. Mills, you’re hurting me.”
He stared down at his hand, brows knit tight. “Stop being melodramatic. I’m not hurting you. I’m just trying to explain to you how it could be. Just let me take care of you. We’re all a family here. I can give you what you need.”
“I have what I need, Mr. Mills, thank you.” I tried to pull my arm free, but he just tightened the vise. “Ow. I really need you to let me go.”
His eyes roamed over my face. “So beautiful, but so ungrateful.”
He pulled me closer, and I recoiled from the stench of gin. I hated that smell. Stale gin on the breath, there was nothing worse than that. “Let me go. Now.”
His gaze narrowed. “You’re such an ungrateful—”
“I think the lady told you to get your hands off her.”
Goose bumps prickled my skin. I knew that voice. Did I dare pray.
“Mind your business, mate.” Fenton spat. “My lady friend and I are having a conversation.”
Ben’s voice lowered to a growl. “Well, considering she works for me, she is my business.”
I whipped my head around to find Ben taking long strides along the sidewalk.
He was here.
For me.
“She’s asked you nicely to let her go. If you don’t, I will do the asking. I’ll be less than kind about it.”
Fenton’s fingers dug deeper into my flesh, and I winced. “Mr. Mills, let me go.”
And then Ben was on us. Where Fenton held my arm, Ben’s palm engulfed his hand. And then slowly, I felt the pressure loosen.
Fenton’s eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open in pain. “Ah, let me go, you piece of shit. There will be repercussions for this.”
Ben scowled at him. “Yes, there will. For you. Not for me.” He then wrapped an arm around me, pulled me tight to his side, and scuttled me along the sidewalk.
“What are you doing here?”
“I had a meeting scheduled. He was a no-show, and I was headed back to the office. I almost took the car, but I’m glad I decided to walk.”
“Thank you.”
“Looks like we keep saving each other.”
I tried to blink away the impending tears. I was not going to let him see me cry.
“Where am I taking you? And let me be really clear. You’re not going anywhere Fenton Mills will have access to you. Or knows about.”
“Uh, I’ll call Telly. I’ll go to her flat.”
He gave a terse nod. “Fine, call her. The car is up ahead. I’ll take you there.”
“Ben, you don’t have to.”
He paused and turned me to face him. “I think you and I both need to get on the same page here. For some reason, we are linked. You came barging into my life three weeks ago, and neither one of us has been able to shake the other. Stop apologizing and stop asking me to not take care of you. It seems you’re mine now. Like a wayward kitty.”
“Is that because you licked me? Now I belong to you?”
His quick grin was merciless. “I haven’t even licked you yet. When I do, you’ll know.”
Livy
As it turned out, Telly couldn’t find a fuck at the fuck store left to give when it came to Dexter. “He left you with Fenton?”
“Yes.” This was the third time I’d had to recount the story. Telly grew more and more incredulous each time. She paced back and forth. Carmen watched her and just sat there rubbing my back and made sure I sipped the tea they’d given me.
“He fucking left you with that creep, Mills?”
“Yes, Tell.”
“And then Fenton tried to attack you?”
“I wouldn’t exactly use that word. He tried to make me go with him, and I told him no. And he was just gripping me so tight.” Why wasn’t I able to come out and say the word? It had been an assault. He’d put his hands on me without my permission. That’s what had happened, but I felt like I couldn’t say the ugly thing.
That was when Carmen frowned down at my arm, at the bruises now starting to turn purple on my flesh.
Carmen, as far as I could tell, was a pacifist. She was sweet and kind and never really raised her voice. With her long hair and her penchant for wearing flowers, I always considered her kind of a hippie. She was a doctor though and had already applied salve. She pulled out the bandages as she spoke. “If I find him, I’ll kill him myself.”
Telly met her gaze. “Carmen, you’re beautiful, and you are amazing. But I will fight you for that right.”
Oh God. Things were taking a turn. Before the night was out, Telly might form a posse like in the American Old Westerns she loved so much. “Turns out neither one of you has to do it. Ben already did.” I hadn’t really explained much when I’d rung up, Just the Dexter and Fenton part.
Telly stopped pacing and raised a brow. “As in sexy office Ben?”
I sighed. Must I really play into his arrogance with that nickname. “Yes, as in sexy office Ben.”
A slow smile spread over her lips. “Uh-huh. So why were you and Ben there together?”
“No, I was not there with Ben. He had a meeting nearby.”
“And he just rode into the war to save you?”
“Well, you know to be fair, he was the reason I needed saving in the first place.”
Telly crossed her arms. “Explain.”
I quickly ran over the incident at the office. Throughout, Telly and Carmen stared at me as if I had seven heads. “Say something, you guys.”
Carmen just laughed. Telly, for once in her life, could find no words. Finally, she said, “So you kissed your boss?”
“No, he kissed me. But I kissed him back.”
Telly counted out the points on her fingers. “Okay, so he kissed you, you kissed him back, and then you went to tell Dexter?”
“I don’t know what I meant to tell Dexter if I’m being honest. I just knew what I did was wrong and terrible, so I don’t know, I wanted to lean into my relationship. It’s no surprise that things have been difficult with us. I wanted to recommit or something dumb like that.”
“But remember him and that redhead. I promise you your instincts are spot on there. Don’t ignore them.”
“I don’t have any proof he did anything with her.” My brain, oh so helpfully, replayed the night’s events for me. “The things he said to me, Telly, it’s like he hates me. And I don’t understand what I’ve ever done to him.”
“All you’ve ever done is try to help him. Sometimes people don’t want to be helped.”
“Tonight was horrible. And I know I can never see him again. And I know I deserve better, but there is this tiny part of me that feels awful, like I’m abandoning him.”