Benji (The Wylde Street Boys #1)

11. Nolan

ELEVEN

NOLAN

When Benji got up from the couch and went to my room, the four of us sat there in silence. From Fitch’s expression, I was sure not even he knew about this. The weight of what Benji had just said hung over us like a dark and heavy cloud.

A weight that Benji had carried on his own for far too long.

I met Dominic’s gaze, his expression grim. Whatever proof Benji was about to provide could be huge. It could also be completely inadmissible. But for me, it changed nothing.

My priority was Benji.

The reason why I would gladly step back from this case, possibly from my career, all for a man I’d known for less than one week, was something I’d have to explain to Dominic later.

Though I’m sure it was obvious, but I owed that to him .

He’d been my mentor, my friend, for many years. I owed him the truth.

I cared for Benji.

Deeply. And if Benji decided, when all this was said and done, that he didn’t want to continue seeing me, I still wouldn’t regret standing up for him.

That was how I knew I was doing the right thing.

Because it was a principle thing.

Helping Benji, protecting him, was the right thing to do.

Benji came back out with an old hand-held video game console. The kind that flipped open with a small grey screen. Not what I’d been expecting at all.

He sat back down next to me, turning it over in his hand. “It’s a Nintendo DS. I got it when I was about five,” he said quietly. “They’re mostly for games, but they can also record stuff. About a year after my mother died, I was using it to make videos. There was a trend going around to use your old DS like it was some vintage camera.” He took a deep breath in and Fitch slid off the armrest and squeezed himself next to Benji, putting his arms around him.

Then Benji flipped the DS open and turned it on.

“I didn’t mean to record my father’s conversation. I wasn’t supposed to hear it. I have no idea if he knows I heard it, but I suspect he does. I never believed my mother overdosed. Not for a second. She was excited about taking me to the state theatre on the weekend. She’d bought tickets. Just us two. It was always just us two. My brother was my father’s favourite, being the eldest son and all. My father hated that I was more like my mother. He blamed her for me not being into all the typical boy things. But my mum would never have left me alone with them. I know that in my heart.”

Jesus Christ, I hated that man.

Benji pressed some buttons on the game console. “Anyway, I recorded this by accident. I never knew what to do with it. I wanted to take it to the police, but he’d boasted before about how he had some cops on his payroll, so I never knew who to trust.”

My gaze cut to Dominic’s and his to mine.

This was news to us.

Benji put the DS on the coffee table and pressed play. “The first part is just me...”

And there on that tiny grey screen was a young Benji. He was filming himself, like a selfie; his young face and curly hair filled the small screen. He was walking inside what looked like a large, lavish house. Tall ceilings, a chandelier, art on the walls. He was talking about his shirt, of all things. It was new and expensive, and it was a typical video of a kid that age.

But then there was the sound of a door slamming and the young Benji froze, the screen going dark but the audio was still on.

“Father,” young Benji said quietly.

“Benecio,” his father snapped. “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?”

“Sorry,” young Benji squeaked, and my heart hurt.

I took his hand again, holding it tight.

There was a muffled sound, presumably Benji walking, then after a moment, his father’s voice again. It was muted, as if Benji was standing outside the room. “He’s a fucking traitor. I’ll deal with him like I dealt with Luzon and my wife. No one betrays me. No one. If Arad thinks he can undercut me, I’ll show him the cost of loyalty... No, not a suicide or a car accident. I’m not protecting any kids anymore. Tell Snake to take him out in front of his kids for all I care. I want this to send a message so people know not to fuck with me...”

In the audio, young Benji’s breathing was louder, and I could just picture him, a scared-as-hell little boy clutching his game console to his chest.

Bruno’s voice sounded closer now. “Fine. Payment when it’s done. I want to see it on the evening news...”

Then younger Benji was panting, running, and the recording ended soon after.

Benji reached over and closed the Nintendo. “He’s talking about my mother,” he said. “He says like how I dealt with my wife, and he says making it look like a suicide. My mother never betrayed him. Maybe she wanted to leave him, I don’t know. She was scared of him, same as me. He would never allow her to leave him. Not alive, anyway.”

“Benji,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry. You must have been petrified.”

He looked at me then, his eyes full of sadness. “I left two weeks later for boarding school. I started year seven at Kings. I could have lived at home but my father wanted me out of the house.” He managed a sad smile. “All the boys I went to school with hated boarding that first year. They all wanted to go home. They missed home. I was the happiest I’d been since before my mother died. I was finally free. I was out of that house, away from him. I never wanted to go back. And in the end, I didn’t. When school finished, I moved out but didn’t go home. It took my dad a week to notice.” He nodded toward the DS on the coffee table. “I’ve kept this with me though, and I’ve kept it charged so the battery didn’t die. I don’t know why I kept it. I wanted to smash it a hundred times, just to delete what I knew. But something told me to keep it.”

“I’m glad you did,” I murmured, holding his hand in both of mine.

“Those names your father mentioned,” Dominic said. “Luzon and Arad. They’re both dead. Luzon was in a car accident. Ran off the road, other driver never found. It was treated as suspicious because of his ties to the crime syndicate and your father, but the case went cold. And Anthony Arad was gunned down in his own driveway, in front of his kids.”

Benji nodded, his lips pressed together. “Yeah. Just like he said.”

“And Snake,” I added. “Jake ‘the snake’ Moreno.”

Dominic nodded. “Definitely.”

“Who’s that?” Ky asked.

“Notorious bikie,” I answered. “Has spent half his life in prison for violent crimes. Claims several murders, never been charged due to lack of evidence.”

Dominic sighed, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. “Benji, we’re going to need to take your device,” he said gently. “And we’re going to need to speak to the police.”

Benji stared at his lap, at our joined hands, and gave the smallest nod. “Will it do any good?” Another tear rolled down his cheek and he scrubbed it away. “Because my father will know where this recording came from. And those guys who’ve been trying to find me will be the least of my worries.”

I let go of his hand so I could put my arm around him instead. I pulled him closer, which included Fitch as well. I didn’t mind. Benji was going to need all the support he could get.

“We’ll do everything we can to keep you out of it,” Dom said gently. “There are procedures in place for cases like this. Protocols, security measures. And,” he added with a bit of a smile, “hopefully with this new evidence, he’ll never see the outside of a prison again.”

“And my brother?” Benji asked. “He knows everything my father’s done. The money, the murders. My father offloaded a bunch of shell company stuff in his name, and he’s been running business matters for years. He’s as complicit as my father. If you want to end the Barbieri family crime business—if you really want to keep me safe—you’ll need to stop him too.”

Dominic stared at him for a second and I knew what he was thinking because I was thinking it too. “They looked into your brother’s companies,” Dom said uncertainly.

I nodded. “Not entirely ethical, but nothing illegal. ”

“Look into Murzik and Raynor Pty Ltd,” Benji said. “It’s a real estate front in Vanuatu. Tax free property something or other. I don’t really understand how it works, but it was my brother’s idea. I remember him telling my father about it and my father was so proud. They discussed how to make it look on paper.” Benji shrugged again. “I was only young when they talked about it, and I didn’t understand it. All I know is dirty money goes in, clean money comes out.”

Dominic’s jaw ticked and he had fire in his eyes when he looked at me. I knew he wanted to smile. Hell, he probably wanted to laugh. Because this was pure gold. If we could prove any of what Benji had just told us, with the voice recording and fresh new investigations and charges, the Barbieri’s were finished.

Dominic looked at Benji, dead serious now. “Benji, before I make some calls, I need to know if you’re one hundred percent certain you want to do this.”

Benji looked at him and barked out a teary laugh. “I’m scared shitless right now,” he said, squeezing my hand. “But yes. I need this to end. And it will never end unless I do this.”

I was both proud of him and scared for him.

Dominic stood up. “Good boy.”

Fitch shot him a look. “Hey. None of that from you to him, mister. That’s for me only.”

And it was the perfect moment of levity we needed. Ky snorted and Benji chuckled, wiping his face. Dom huffed at Fitch, but there was a hint of humour in it.

And we all took a minute to breathe and collect our thoughts. Dominic stood over by the dining table, putting in calls to some pretty important people.

I kept an ear on his one-sided conversations while I sat with Benji, rubbing his back. “You’ll be okay,” I told him. “You can stay here until we get everything sorted out. You’ll be safe here. And I meant what I said before. If you don’t want anything... you’re not obligated to... you don’t have to sleep in my bed is what I’m trying to say. Only if you want to. I would never?—”

“I want to,” Benji said quickly. “Nolan, I want to stay here with you.” Then he swallowed hard and looked at Fitch and Ky. “I can’t go back to the apartment right now,” he said. “Sorry. But it’s too exposed and I can’t put you in danger. God, maybe you two shouldn’t even stay there. I’ll still cover my rent... somehow... until we know what’s going on, at least.”

“Hey,” Fitch said softly. “It’s okay. We’ll be okay. As long as you’re safe here. And I totally get it. He has the big apartment and the big bed and the big dick. I’d take it too. Actually,” Fitch looked around Benji to me. “If you want another?—”

Benji shoved him. “No.”

I chuckled and kissed Benji’s shoulder. “You’ll be okay, Benji. I’m proud of you.”

Benji shot me a look, eyes wide and still a little glassy. “You are?”

Oh, this poor sweet boy.

“Of course I am. I’m so proud of you. This isn’t going to be easy. Some days it’ll feel like a mountain you just can’t climb. But you’re doing the right thing. One step at a time. Just know, Benji, you’re not alone.”

Fitch gave him a squeeze. “You have us. And you have Mr Big Apartment with the Big Dick.”

Dominic made a displeased sound. He was still on the phone, but he stalked over to Fitch and, holding Fitch’s chin, put his finger to his lips. He mouthed the word enough .

Fitch moaned quietly, blushing like a schoolboy. He looked up at Dom, his eyelashes fluttering, and when Dominic made a low sound, Fitch squirmed.

Well, holy shit.

I couldn’t even process that.

It was quite the sight to see. It felt as if I’d intruded on a private moment, and I was quick to look away.

But Ky made a purring sound. “I would one hundred percent watch that,” he murmured. “Damn.”

Dominic huffed and walked back to the dining table, and Fitch melted, fanning his face.

Benji chuckled, leaning into me, his head on my shoulder. These three boys sure were something else. I couldn’t help but like them. But Benji... he was more than that.

He was something special.

And what Dominic had said to me when we were alone, when the boys were in my room, came back to me.

“I can see you have feelings for the boy,” he’d said. “And he seems drawn to you.”

“I need to protect him,” I’d replied, not ready to name what I actually felt for Benji. “I can’t explain it. He’s... special to me.”

Dominic had held my gaze. “You’d really jeopardise your entire career for him.”

I’d nodded. “I would. It’s the right thing to do.”

He’d sighed and stared out to the balcony for a long moment. “And what about his career?”

His job as a rent boy?

“I don’t care,” I’d replied. “You can’t sit there and tell me it bothers you when you and Fitch are so well-acquainted. You have his number?”

His eyes met mine before he rolled his with a sigh. “You’re welcome, by the way,” he’d said. “For calling him instead of the police commissioners office.”

Then it was my turn to sigh. “I need to help him. I can’t ask you to jeopardise your career, but I’m not abandoning him.”

Dominic did that hard stare thing that usually made courtroom witnesses crumble. But I knew this man, and I needed him to know how serious I was. “Are you ready to do this?” he’d asked. “Are you ready to take this step? Because there’s no going back after this.”

I’d looked him dead in the eye. “I’m ready.”

And I was.

Sitting on the couch with Benji now, holding his hand, I knew I was ready.

I gave Benji another kiss on the side of the head. “Can I get you anything?” I asked him quietly.

Benji shook his head and snuggled in closer. He was almost sitting on my lap, and I was half tempted to pull him onto me, but just then, Dominic ended his call.

“Okay,” he said, coming to stand in front of us. He took a deep breath. “Here’s what’s going to happen.”

A week later, Dominic and I sat in my car on Oxford Street at ten o’clock at night, watching the three boys. They were talking, laughing, interacting with passers-by.

Flirting, playing it up. Being loud.

Being themselves.

Benji wore his black jeans that slung low enough to reveal his hip bones, and a pink Strawberry Shortcake crop top that looked hot as hell. His black curls shone under the neon lights, and I swear to god, I’d never seen anyone sexier than him right then.

A man approached them, aiming for Fitch, and the little punk flirted before he turned him down. Dominic growled, and I snorted. “He knows you’re watching. He wants you to punish him later.”

Dominic narrowed his eyes out the windscreen.

“You are seeing him later, yes?” I asked.

He cut me a dirty side-eye that told me yes, but also to shut up and mind my own business.

I smiled to myself, just as two men approached the boys. They trained in like sharks on Benji, making him take a step back. Then I saw what one of them was holding. My heart skidded to a stop. “He has a gun,” I said, fumbling for the door handle .

“Wait,” Dominic said, grabbing my arm.

Then Benji gave the sign. He put both his hands up, and in an instant, swarms of cops descended from the darkness and surrounded them. Fitch and Ky pulled Benji away, and after a two-second standoff, the two men were now face down on the ground, then Dominic let go of my arm. “Okay, let’s go.”

I was out of that car so fast and running across the street, crowds and traffic be damned. Benji was fine, I could see that, but he was searching for me, and he sagged when he saw me coming.

I collected him in a hug, holding him tight. “It’s okay. It’s over.”

He nodded into my neck. Because it was over. Well, the two hired henchmen were done. Benji didn’t have to worry about them anymore. And after a tense week—and years of stress for Benji—it seemed surreal for this to be over. Even though the real battle hadn’t even begun yet.

Another piece of the giant Barbieri crime ring puzzle was sliding into place. There were a lot of pieces to go, but every step forward was a win. Benji had done more than enough, and now it was up to the police and legal team to do their parts.

I wouldn’t be on that legal team, but I’d be beside Benji every step of the way.

I pulled back and took in Benji’s face, his body. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. “No.”

Dominic was with Fitch and Ky, and the cops were hauling the two men away .

“What do you need?” I asked Benji. “You name it.”

“I just want to go home.”

Home.

Sounded good to me. The police knew where to find us if they needed to.

I tucked Benji under my arm and turned to the others. “Are you guys okay? Benji wants to go home.”

Fitch and Ky both nodded, and Fitch gave Benji’s arm a squeeze. “I’ll call you.”

He gave them both a hug.

I met Dominic’s eyes. “Do you need a lift?”

He inhaled deeply, his eyes darting to Fitch. “No, I’m good. I’ll make sure this one gets home.”

Fitch grinned, his tongue licking the side of his mouth.

“Ky, what about you?” I asked.

He started walking backwards, heading up toward the 180 club. He gave us a smile. “I’m all good, thanks. Talk to you tomorrow, Benj.”

Benji nodded and he tightened his arm around me. “Nolan.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Let’s get you home.”

He was exhausted.

The police operation to get the two men who’d chased Benji was now a weight off his shoulders.

Such a relief.

As soon as we were home, he kicked off his shoes, left his jeans on the floor, and crawled into bed, wearing nothing but his briefs and that damn crop top.

There was no sex that night, or the day that followed. Benji simply needed comfort and strength in the form of warm embraces, gentle touches, and soft kisses. He needed support and solidarity.

I was more than happy to give it to him.