Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
He didn’t move, as though he needed time to process information he should have already known.
“Wait, all of this is about Ben being pissy that Huisman knew you two were twins?” TJ asked, sounding confused. “But you sent him the intel as soon as you brought him in.”
“It didn’t say Huisman knew,” Ben argued, his hands in fists at his sides.
“Logic states that he knows if he’s been watching us since before we were redacted from life,” Kala said with a sigh. “Seriously. Did you even read the file? Should I tell you the moon is out or would you know that because it’s nighttime?”
“It’s not about that.” She had lost him, and this turn of events wouldn’t solve the problem. “He can’t ever forgive me for lying to him, and beyond that he won’t ever trust another woman because the one he really loved chose Manny over him and then she died and he couldn’t beat Manny and win her back.”
“I didn’t love her,” he said between gritted teeth.
“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.