20. Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Ben was having trouble breathing. He’d wanted so badly to know who he was, but he should have remembered to be careful what you wish for. Should have remembered— hah .
He pushed back on the bed and propped himself against the metal headboard.
Tessa stiffened and lifted the Taser higher. “What are you doing?”
“I’m settling in. Once you call your friends, I assume it will take a while for them to get here?”
Tessa reached into her other pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He almost chuckled at the sight of them, but he felt like his throat and chest were full of razorblades.
“Throw them over and I’ll lock myself to the headboard.”
Confusion filled her expression. “Why are you being so…helpful?”
“Because I wasn’t lying before.”
A scoff erupted. “You’ll need to clarify what part of your story you’re talking about.”
He wanted to shout, All of it! but instead he kept it simple. “The part where I said I deserved to be punished.”
Something new flashed in her denim eyes. Was it pity? He didn’t need that. He hated that she stayed away from him, but he deserved it.
Had it only been a few short days ago when they were lying in a similar motel bed facing each other? He held his hand out, and she studied him for a moment before she tossed the cuffs. He snapped one on the headboard and then the other on his right hand. He pulled on it and let it jangle so that she could see that he had attached them securely.
She pulled out her phone and clicked on a number before her eyes narrowed with determination. “Eric. It’s me. He reached out and I’ve got him.” She rattled off the motel name and address. “You and Marcus need to get here. Bring some guards too.”
Ben couldn’t make out what the voice was saying, but they were talking fast.
“No. He can’t leave. I have him handcuffed to the bed.” She frowned. “A dragon can’t break cuffs, right?”
The voice on the other side of the phone got a hell of a lot louder, and she held the phone away from her ear. “I’ll explain when you get here. Okay. See you then.”
She clicked on her phone and set it on the desk next to the door.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She tightened the hold on her Taser. “About what, exactly?”
“About not telling you the truth when you mistook me for a PI.”
She turned away from him for a second as if to gather herself. When she turned back, a mask had dropped over her expression. And that was even worse than the pity he’d seen earlier.
“Tell me…” He struggled with the words since the razorblades kept slicing at his throat.
“Tell you what?” she asked in a flat voice.
“Tell me about the man…dragon I killed.”
“What kind of game are you playing?” Her voice rose this time.
“I’m not playing any game. You said he was a clan leader? So dragons live in clans.”
She stared at him for a moment, and he didn’t think she was going to answer him. “Yes. You live in clans. Adam was the leader of the clan. He would do anything for his clan and family.”
Ben couldn’t breathe again at the word family. “Did he have a spouse? Kids?”
“No. He has a brother and sister who loved him and miss him every day. He practically raised his younger sister, Sienna. She took over running the clan. And his brother, Eric, blames himself for Adam’s death. He has spent the last year trying to find his killer and to protect the clan that Adam fought so hard for.”
There was no making amends, no redemption for him. Tessa’s mask slipped away, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Were you close to him?”
She shook her head. “No. But people I love were, and I would do anything for them. Adam will never get to meet his amazing niece.”
He blinked the moisture from his own eyes. He didn’t have a right to cry. “The picture in your apartment.”
She didn’t answer, but her silence was response enough.
“Do you know who I am? My real name?”
Her mouth tightened before she spoke. “Nope. Can’t help you.”
He leaned back and closed his eyes. What else was there to say? He’d killed a paragon of virtue and left his family and clan devastated.
It didn’t matter that he couldn’t remember what happened, or that he would do anything to reverse it. He had to face his actions.