Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Trent was looking forward to finally having a moment alone with Samantha. One thing after another had kept him away from her all day. But as soon as they stepped into her room, she spoke before he had a chance.
“How did you get those bruises?” she asked, pointing at his wrist.
“It’s nothing.” He shook his head. “What’s important right now is how you’re doing. You’ve been through something incredibly trying and emotional, and haven’t had a chance to talk it through yet. I want to know how you’re feeling about it all.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about him. Not yet, at least. What I want to talk about is those bruises that appeared on your wrist since yesterday, the cause of which seems to be a secret you wish to keep from me.”
Trent let out a long sigh. He wouldn’t lie to her. “They’re from your brother.”
She gasped and grabbed his hand, pulling up his sleeve. “Why would he do that? Did he do it on purpose?”
“Not in a manner of speaking, no.” It was simply the arm he’d yanked behind Trent’s back. His shoulder hurt more than the bruises.
She pursed her lips. “Why did he do this, Trent?”
“Because he’s a protective older brother, and he saw me kiss you.”
“Did he threaten you because of that?” She huffed, and her brows lowered into a scowl.
Trent choked on a laugh. “Threaten is not strong enough a word for what he did. But in the end, he came around. He trusts that I won’t hurt you.”
She looked down at the bruises for a long moment before meeting his gaze, but still she said nothing. Her confusion was so clear, as was her concern for him.
“It’s alright, Samantha.”
“It is not! I wish he was still here so I could give him a piece of my mind.”
Perhaps Allister had been right about her feelings for him. “May I kiss you again?” His heart fluttered as he waited for her answer.
She swallowed and simply stared up at him, until slowly, the corners of her mouth lifted in a small smile.
“Trent Gibson, you haven’t even asked me to dance.”
His laugh was nervous, and probably a bit disappointed. It was her kind way of rejecting him. But when he pushed aside his selfish arrogance, what was left was pride. It was a mark of just how far she’d come. How strong she’d grown.
“I don’t know how to dance, I’m afraid.”
Relief eased the stiffness in her shoulders and her smile grew. “Tomorrow, I’ll teach you.”
“I look forward to it. Will you be alright tonight? Would you like me to stay, in case you need help fighting villains in your dreams?”
She shook her head. “I think I’ve done enough fighting for one day, don’t you?”
Admiration filled him. “You were formidable.”
She threw her arms around his chest. “Thank you.” She squeezed him for a moment before stepping back.
“Thank you for making it happen. Thank you for teaching me how to throw a punch.” Her lips twitched in a half smile, but tears welled in her eyes.
“And most of all, thank you for being a soft place for me to land when it was over.”
“It was my honor. Goodnight, Samantha.”
She lifted up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “Goodnight.”
A haze descended over Trent as he left her room. What just happened? She had definitely rejected him when he’d asked if he could kiss her, but he didn’t feel like she was pulling away from him. What did it mean?
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be up to a game tonight after getting no sleep.”
He pulled his mind out of the fog, struggling to understand what Benson had said.
“I don’t know if I have the wherewithal for a game, but I doubt I could sleep.” He let out a long sigh. “Will you sit with me for a while and allow me to ramble?”
Benson nodded. “I would like nothing more, my boy. I’ll pour us some drinks.”
He accepted the glass and sat down with a weary sigh. He was tired to his bones.
“I don’t know what to do with her,” he admitted before taking a drink. He allowed the decadent liquid to roll over his tongue before swallowing.
“And you thought you should ask someone who’s a lifelong bachelor?”
Trent chuckled, shaking his head. “I kissed her tonight.”
“Oh?” Benson seated himself across from Trent. “And how did she feel about that?”
He lifted his arm and shook his sleeve down to expose his wrist. “This is how her brother felt about it.”
“Can you blame him for being protective?”
“Of course not. I would expect nothing less. I should be grateful to still be breathing. But in the end, he came around. He gave me his permission to”—Trent shrugged—“pursue her.”
Benson looked impressed. “Did he?”
“But when I asked her if I could kiss her again, she, in a very polite, roundabout way, told me no. Then, she proceeded to offer to teach me how to dance, embraced me, and kissed me on the cheek.” Trent shrugged again.
A smile grew on Benson’s lips. The fatherly one that Trent loved. The one filled with wisdom. “Miss Allister has had to endure and overcome an awful lot in her young life.”
Trent laughed. “She’s older than me, you know?”
“That’s why I call you my boy.” He winked. “My point is, she needs time. And patience. You can’t expect her to be whole overnight.”
“I’m so grateful that you stayed on after Ash left. I don’t know what I’d do without your company, and without your advice. Of course I can give her time. There’s no reason to rush anything.”
“You’re a good man, Trent.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Is it not true?”
Trent hesitated. Would Benson hate him if he knew he’d hurt Ash? “Do you know what I did to him? To Ash, I mean?”
Benson shook his head. “He didn’t tell me much about you, other than to say you would be in need of company, support, and a father figure. Although, I’ve never been a father, so I don’t know what good I am there.”
“I stole from him. Right here, on his own estate. Warwick would inflate the cost of repairs and pay me extra to do the work.” Trent hated so much that he had colluded with Warwick, in any way.
Especially now that he was able to see, first hand, the damage the man had caused.
“But that’s not even the worst of it. I found a group of men in London, and all but begged them to rob his club.
I wasn’t even going to take any of the money.
” He paused and poured the remaining brandy down his throat.
“They shot him. Thank God it was only in the leg, but he was shot, because of me. And yet, here I sit, in his home, drinking his impeccable brandy, with a man he pays to keep me company. It’s hard for me to reconcile all of it. How can I possibly be a good man?”
Benson took a slow drink, pondering his next words. “Do you know what I did to him?”
“Everything I’ve heard has been positive. You were kind and nurturing. You stepped in as his valet when he needed you and took excellent care of him, then stayed on to take care of me too.”
“Before any of that.” He closed his eyes and shook his head just a bit.
When he looked at Trent again, his eyes were filled with pain.
“I was his father’s valet first. On his orders, I administered beating after beating after beating.
” Tears pooled in his eyes and his breath was shaky as he drew it in.
“And yet here I sit, trusted to look after his younger brother, in his home, drinking his impeccable brandy.” A single tear ran down his cheek and he wiped it away.
Trent’s heart sank. “Were you… those scars, were they…?”
Benson shook his head. “Most of them weren’t left by me.
I tried to go as easy as I could on him.
Although, one time, his father took over because I was being too gentle.
Even the worst I could have dished out wouldn’t have compared to that.
He was young then. Probably only thirteen or so.
When he was sixteen, after both his mother and brother were gone, I tried to stand up to his father.
I refused to administer any more beatings, and was immediately relieved of my position.
That was my mistake, and I will never forgive myself for it.
After that is when most of the scars happened.
It must have been like living in hell, until the monster finally died a year and a half later.
” Benson emptied his glass. He got to his feet and held out his hand.
“I think perhaps an extra splash wouldn’t go amiss tonight. ”
“Agreed, but first—” Trent pulled down the portrait of his father that hung over the fireplace, and turned it to face the wall.
“That loathsome, evil man, will never again look down on us. He is the cause of all of this. He is the reason you harbor such guilt. He’s the reason I lost my mother and set out to hurt Ash.
He’s the reason Ash had to endure endless pain.
He doesn’t deserve a place in this house. ”
Benson handed Trent his refilled glass and raised his own. “Hear, hear.”
* * *
Samantha stayed in bed until her full bladder and empty stomach finally forced her out of it. The sun had long since risen, and by the time she entered the dining room, Trent and Maggie had already eaten and gone about their daily activities.
She was still processing everything. And not just Norman and what she’d done to him, and what seeing him had brought back up from the darkness within her. There was also Trent, and the light he gave her to vanquish that darkness.
Right now, the feelings she had for him were more terrifying than anything else. She’d never been drawn to a man before. Except for Norman. For a long time, he had fooled her into thinking he cared for her. He was always so sweet to her when she came home after being with those other men.
You gave me entre to their world.