“Diesel!” Bennet’s voice rang out, stopping me cold as I hauled Donnie to me after punching him twice, hard, right in the nose. His blood splattered down his chest, onto my hand, as I held him close. Staring into his eyes. Trying to control the bloodlust searing through my veins.
“Diesel, enough,” Bennet called again. I turned to see him standing in the mouth of the alley, a gun trained on both of us. His face was taut. Emily stood just behind him, and Troy and Darby were there too. “Let him go, and we’ll take him in now.”
“He hurt Emily,” I called.
“She’s fine,” Bennet told me.
“It doesn’t matter,” I growled, turning back to the piece of human filth before me.
“Diesel,” Emily called to me, her soft voice sinking through my skin. I turned back and met her eyes. She shook her head slowly and held her hand out to me. “Let Bennet handle this now, and you come and take me home.”
“He—”
“He’s caught, and you evened the score. I need my boyfriend to take me home now and make me feel better.” Her strong, decisive voice rang out, and her words stilled my heart and jolted me from the haze of anger that had enveloped me. I blinked, and my eyes flew to Bennet, who was granite-faced.
I let the guy go, and he slumped down. Bennet moved in, keeping a gun trained on him as Troy stepped in to cuff him. I watched Emily coming toward me and then she slipped her hand into mine. She squeezed tightly for a second before anger flared in her gray eyes.
“Never do that again!” she protested exactly as I lost it.
“What the hell were you thinking antagonizing him like that?”
Our colliding voices were high-pitched as Emily frowned at me. “I’m not the one who was trying to use his body as a bulletproof vest for someone else.”
“Well, I’m not the one insulting an armed madman,” I growled at her. I stared down at her, mad as hell, relieved as fuck, and desperately needing to hold her.
“Ok, you two. Knock it off. Troy, can you take this guy to lock up? Darby, can you take Emily back to the office? Laura will be worried out of her mind.” Bennet’s command broke the tension, and I dragged a long breath into my lungs. Then I turned and met his mercury gaze. “Diesel and I need to talk,” he said shortly, turning away from me. Everyone else carried out his instructions. Emily bit her lip, looking torn, like she wanted to hang back and face her brother with me, but this wasn’t about her right now. This was between Bennet and I right now, and it was time to get it over with. Emily had already done the hardest part. She’d always been braver than me, after all.
I watched as she reluctantly left with Darby, her eyes lingering on us both until the last minute.
The alley was quiet. I turned to see Bennet, just as he slugged me hard in the jaw. Pain rang in my head like a bell. I clenched my teeth, feeling blood coat the inside of my mouth.
“Fuck, that hurt.” I spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground, and was lucky enough to have a second reprieve before another hit, this time to the gut, slammed me down to the ground. I let out a long breath, trying to breathe through the pain, and then dragged myself up. Swaying on my feet, I staggered as Bennet stepped in and delivered an uppercut that sent stars spinning through my head.
“Fight back,” he grunted at me. I shook my head, spitting more blood on the ground. “Why the hell not?”
“Because I deserve this. I’ve had it coming for about fifteen years, and fuck, it feels good.” I let out a laugh. It really felt good.
“Fifteen fucking years?” Bennet ground out, advancing on me again. I let him come, and simply braced myself, but he changed direction at the last minute. Blowing out an explosive breath, he leaned against the wall beside me, and slid down until he was sitting.
“You done?”
“For now.”
You can go again; I don’t mind.”
“Maybe later,” Bennet muttered. “Fifteen years, fuck me.”
“Yeah.” We were both quiet, each lost in our own thoughts.
“Why now? What changed?” he asked after a moment.
“Because Emily gets what she wants. That’s the rule I live by.” I took a breath, feeling my nose gumming up with blood. “For years, I denied her what she wanted because I couldn’t get my heart around the fact that she wanted me.Me. It was unbelievable. I thought she deserved so much more, and I know she does still, but she still wants me.” My bewilderment must have been clear in my tone as Bennet’s anger shifted slightly, and he looked at me with wonder.
I fought the urge to pinch my nose to stop the bleeding. “Unbelievable as it is… I’m done fighting it. Emily wants me, and she gets what she wants. Always.”
He let out a long breath. “You really just figured that out?”
His quiet question froze me to the spot. “What the hell?”