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“Another thing…” I hedged.
“Yeah?”
“If…if things get ugly…you guys have done so much for my family already that…I…I don’t want you guys getting involved,” I said. “This doesn’t involve you, and…well, frankly, it’s my problem, really.”
There was a very weighted pregnant pause on the other end of the line that I had to look at my phone to make sure that the call was still connected.
This wasn’t good.
“Okay, I think that we need to clarify a couple of things,” she said after a while, and I could feel myself cringing. It wasn’t the thing to piss off a Benetti-ever. However, pissing off this particular Benetti was beyond stupid. “Everything that you do involves us as long as you are Ellie’s brother and a part of this family. Though Ellie is…sheltered from the ugly side of what we do, you’re not. You know exactly what it means to be a part of this family, so do not ever separate yourself from us again. Understand?”
“That’s not what I was doing, Ria,” I said. “I just…getting you guys involved in drama is not the way that I want to repay you for all that you’ve done for me and my family.”
“You’re acting like they don’t know who you are, Killian,” she said. “They know exactly who you are and who your people are. Do you really think that they’re going to act rash, knowing this?”
I snorted. “Have you ever met Lennon Prince?”
Ria chuckled softly. “As a matter of fact, I have,” she replied, surprising me. “This state is not that big, Killian. We’ve all run into each other at one time or another. We do run in the same financial circles, even if we don’t run in the same law-abiding ones.”
“Well, then, I don’t have to tell you that she’s insane,” I retorted.
“She’s been known to be a bit reckless,” Ria conceded. “Still, if Posie Tinley means that much to her, she’s going to pay attention to the fact that Posie loves you, Killian. That little piece of information should be enough to keep Lennon from going off the rails.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then I imagine Luca will be having a very serious and private discussion with Ramsey Sr.,” she replied, and it was amazing how she spoke about the possibility as if she were talking about the weather. “But I assure you, Killian, no one wants any trouble. It’ll only get violent if they get violent. Even if Lennon believes that you need killing, Ellie’s been hurt enough without losing her brother on top of everything else. I will not tolerate any more misery in her life.”
“Only if they kill me,” I said, hoping to keep this thing from getting too ugly. “I can take an ass beating, Ria. I can hold my own in that regard. I’m not afraid to fight a man head-on. I don’t need anyone avenging a simple fight.”
She didn’t say anything for a long while. When she finally spoke, she said, “You’re assuming that it’ll be a man that comes for you if this goes south. It sounds to me like Lennon Prince is your biggest threat, Killian.”
I thought about that. “She is,” I agreed.
“So, even if you took her husband out of the equation, what do you think her brothers and father would do to you if any harm ever came to that girl?” she posed, and the answer was an easy one. “What happens next all lies in the heart of Posie Tinley, Killian.”
“Or I could just walk away.”
“Or you could just walk away,” she echoed. “However, we wouldn’t be having this conversation if that option were on the table.”
“What would you do?” I asked, even though there was only one choice for me.
Ria let out a soft laugh. “You’re asking someone that’s surrounded by fairytales, Killian. For six years, my father faithfully waited for my mother to get her shit together.” It was true. Her parents’ love story was a hard act to follow. In love since they’d been seven-years-old, Ria’s parents were the couple that didn’t exist in real life, except that they did. “I would choose love, Killian. I mean, if you’re not choosing love, then what the hell are you living for?”
“Promise me that you’ll only get involved if they kill me,” I repeated. “The rest of it, I can handle on my own.”
“You can handle Lennon Prince?” she asked skeptically.
“No,” I answered honestly. “But I’m hoping that I won’t have to. I’m hoping that she can see just how much I love Posie and cut me some slack.”
“I think that you are overestimating Lennon Prince’s ability to sympathize, but…” She let out a heavy sigh. “Fine,” she relented. “We’ll stand back unless they kill you or you ask us to step in.”
“Thank-”
“However, if Ellie calls me with any concerns, all bets are off,” she added seriously. “There is nothing that I won’t do for your sister.”
“I know,” I replied. “I…I understand.”
“I’ll call Vincent and have him track her,” she said, finally getting back to the reason that I called her. “Do you know if she’s staying with Lennon or a hotel?”
