Chapter Fourteen #3
“Okay.” She wasn’t going to argue with him. “I’m going to get dressed. Do what you want, Ben.”
Her heart was a dull thing in her chest.
She loved him. She wasn’t sure why right that second. It had felt like fate, like an invisible string tethered them together, but she could get some psychic scissors and clip that right away.
“Kenzie,” Ben called out.
But she walked away, her sister at her side.
It was done.
* * * *
She wouldn’t look at him. Kenzie sat in a chair pretty much as far away as she could.
How could she think this was about Deanna? She genuinely thought he was still in love with a dead woman? A dead woman who’d betrayed him.
It was ridiculous, but then she wasn’t wrong about the fact that it was his fault he hadn’t figured out Manny was smarter than him once again. One would think he would learn.
If Kenzie wasn’t lying, then he’d ripped her apart, and the thought made him sick to his stomach.
He needed to talk to her. He’d been an ass, but she was also right that he might not be over the fact that she’d lied to him.
“What did you do?” Tim whispered the question.
Fucked everything up. That was what he’d done. On every level since when Big Tag had sent him a message that the team was meeting and wanted to speak with him alone, he’d gone and gotten Tim.
Who had Claire and Gabby in his “room.” Oh, it looked innocent enough, but he understood one of the things they wanted to talk about was Tim. But by that point he couldn’t come up with another excuse for barging in, and Tim was here.
So that was why they wanted to talk to him alone, and he’d fucked that up, too.
“I took a call Kenzie didn’t think I should.” She’d changed into an oversized sweater and jeans. The sweater’s arms came down past her wrists, covering the spot where he’d left his most ruthless, harmful mark.
Had she put some ice on it? Taken some anti-inflammatories? She wouldn’t let him take care of her. Her sisters were already forming a protective wall around her. Now he wouldn’t be allowed back in the dungeon she loved. He was probably about to get his ass kicked out of The Garden altogether.
Kenzie was here along with her sisters, Lou, their husbands, Samantha, and Oliver. The parents hadn’t made it in yet.
Oliver had been plain. He was no longer a Dom in his eyes. He was banished from the dungeon floor.
The court was protecting their princess.
No one protected him.
Except her, you massive ass. She tried to spare you all of this, but you wanted to call her out publicly. You wanted to humiliate her, and turns out you only made yourself look like an idiot.
I love you, Ben.
He was never going to hear those words again.
Tim seemed to think about that before quietly replying. He didn’t need to be told who had been on the other end of the line. “We’re not supposed to answer his calls. What lies did he tell this time?”
Tim sat beside him at the opposite end of the table to the Americans and Brits. He’d mentioned they could move closer but had seemed to realize something had gone wrong.
“He didn’t tell lies. He gave me the truth. He’s known about Kenzie and Kala all along. He’s known for years. Now that I know I can see how he’s been taunting me about it,” Ben whispered. Tim would back him up.
Tim’s head tilted and reminded him of how Kenzie’s dog looked when he was confused. “Uhm, yeah. That’s not some big revelation. You read the files, right? It was clear that Manny knew the family before they were an Agency team.”
Embarrassment flashed through him. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t made that connection. It was in the way Big Tag had written it up. He’d talked about his family but hadn’t explicitly mentioned the twins.
Of course he was a fucking intelligence officer who was supposed to be able to read between the lines. It was clear in that report.
He wished she would look at him.
What the hell had he done? How could he undo it? Did he even want to?
Now that his rage died down, he could see how calmly and fairly she’d tried to handle the situation. She’d tried to spare him that scene in the dungeon, but no, he’d plowed through because he’d known he was right and she was…
He hadn’t meant to call her a whore. Didn’t even think the word about her, and yet he could see he’d described her that way.
He felt hollowed out, and he definitely felt the distance between him and this team he’d become a part of over the last few weeks.
They wouldn’t have anything to do with him now.
The door flew open and Big Tag walked in with his wife. The head of the table had been left for him. Since he was the king.
Ben would never be a king. There would be no younger people who looked up to him. He wouldn’t have a group of found family around him. He would be alone because he was never going to get over what happened to him. Kenzie might be right about that, but she was wrong about Deanna.
“Parker, what the fuck did I tell you about answering the devil when he calls?” Big Tag was still standing, his massive frame dominating the room.
Kala held up a hand. “I know. You hang up on that bitch, block her, and then you sage your phone.”
Lucy sent Kala her middle finger.
“Kala.” Charlotte Taggart sank into her chair and looked toward her daughters. They sat in a line. Tasha and Kenzie and Kala. Her sisters were protecting her.
They were protecting her from him.
“Sorry.” Kala actually looked embarrassed. “I forgot I’m working with evil to bring down a bigger evil. I apologize, Lucy.”
“I hate you so much,” Lucy said under her breath.
“I’m waiting.” Big Tag’s eyes never left him.
What had it been like to have this man as a father?
His own had been absent most of the time.
So had his mother. They’d been working, and he’d figured out pretty early on he’d been a mistake and they’d never wanted kids.
They kept him due to pressure from his maternal grandmother, who had died when he was young.
His father had never sat him down and given him a lecture until he’d been forced into witness protection.
That wasn’t really a lecture, though. It had been more of a confession.
He’d never wanted him, cursed the day he was born, hoped to never see him again.
“You told me not to, but you don’t understand what he can do when I ignore him. ”
“I know what he can do when you give him all your attention.” With a low growl Tag sat down by his wife. “Damon and Penny are already in bed. I’ll brief them in the morning. Ben, what happened? Or do you want to talk to Joseph first? He should still be awake.”
“Already done.” It hadn’t taken long since he hadn’t mentioned what he’d been doing when Manny called or the clusterfuck that happened after.
He would have to deal with that in the morning because he was pretty sure he was going to get his ass kicked back to Canada.
“I wrote up the briefing while I was in the locker room. It’s already been sent to you, so there’s no real reason to have this meeting. ”
He needed to talk to Kenzie. He’d said some things he shouldn’t have, but even though he was dumb and hadn’t made a connection he should have, this was still her fault. She’d distracted him with sex and thought he’d never figure it out.
“You’re right. There’s no reason to have this meeting with anyone but you and me.” He glanced his wife’s way. She stood.
“Hey, sweetie, come on. I’ve already got you moved into Lucy’s room.” Charlotte reached for her daughter’s hand.
He couldn’t let that happen. If she walked out that door, he might not see her again. He stood and used language these people would understand. “No. I need to talk to my sub.”
Kala’s eyes flared. “She’s not your sub.”
“You don’t have rights in this club or any of our clubs, mate,” Oliver said. “And if you don’t want to get kicked to the curb and spend the rest of the night in the Tube station, I suggest you sit down.”
“Normally I would say my brother is talking out of turn, but I’m pretty sure Father will agree,” Sami said with a shake of her head.
She stood. “I’ll reassign Kenzie’s tasks.
Lucy and I are planning to go back to France and see if we can figure out a way into the chateau where Sosa lived.
She can come along. Will Ben be leaving us? ”
“Undecided.” Tag reached out a hand and drew Kenzie in, whispering something to her.
She straightened up. “I’m fine. Just another of my missteps.”
Was that what he was? Another mistake she’d made? Another man who wasn’t worthy of all her sweetness and light?
“Kenzie,” he said, putting his will into that one word.
She didn’t turn, merely stopped at the doorway. He noticed every woman in the room was going with her while all the guys stayed where they were.
Shit. He might really get his ass kicked.
“This isn’t over.” He would take a beating if he had to, but he and Kenzie would talk because she wasn’t innocent in this. He might be stupid, but Manny liked to point out inconvenient truths. Why bother lying when the truth was so awful?
She walked out, a solemn line of females following her. Supporting her.
And he was left with the males of the pack. Dare once told him Charlotte likened her family and friends to a pack of wolves. Dangerous but loyal and loving. Was the pack about to protect one of their own?
Tim held up a hand. “Uhm, Mr. Taggart, sir, I would like to point out that I was not around when Dr. Huisman called and I’m working on figuring out how he got the number since Ben has a phone I personally programmed. I’ll talk to Lou and see if we can figure it out.”
“No, you weren’t.” Taggart’s tone was flat and icy. “You were holed up with two underaged girls.”