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“That’s horrible,” Stephanie protested.
“Yeah, well, life is kind of horrible sometimes.” His eyes lasered onto hers for a minute before drifting back down to his bowl. “You’re right. A person in a position of power like that shouldn’t be capable of being bought, but it happens. It probably happens more than we like to imagine. I wouldn’t let it stand in my way, so I started my investigation regardless. I did it on my own time, and I didn’t let it interfere with the official police work I was doing, but they have their ways. The chief found out about it, and I was fired. Rightly so, since I was going against a direct order.”
“But you had a good reason to.” Stephanie didn’t know why she was trying to justify this for him. He didn’t need that from her, but she wanted to understand. Somehow, it seemed as though understanding might make it all right.
Bennett shrugged. “I had more reason than most people would realize, but the force doesn’t exactly want you to open up a case based on your own personal desire for revenge.”
The salad was delicious, but food didn’t appeal to her much at the moment. Still, Stephanie forced herself to eat. She knew he was right and that she would need the fuel later. “You mentioned you had some sort of vendetta against them.” She’d still been trying to wrap her head around all this when he’d said something before. She still was, really, but it was getting easier to understand as she acquired more information.
“Yeah.” Bennett looked over just as Rambo finished his dinner and turned to him. He got up and let the little puff ball outside. “Do you remember that restaurant my dad used to run?”
“Definitely.” She smiled at the memory. “Your dad always had student specials for all the broke high school kids so they could still eat there. I was pretty sure he made some of them up on the spot just because he wanted to feed us. And you looked pretty cute in that half-apron when you got stuck being a waiter. I remember hearing that it burned down.”
“It did. All the papers said it was an accident, something with the electrical work. That’s what the authorities told them, but it wasn’t true. The Bloodmoon Crew did it.” He sat down heavily. “My sister was closing up, and she was inside. Rosa didn’t make it.”
Stephanie let out a breath of grief for him. She had no idea. She’d been so caught up in everything she’d had going on with college that she’d paid little attention to any local news back then.
“It was hard on all of us, of course, but my father took it the worst.” Bennett threaded his fingers together and laid his hands on the table, his knuckles white. “He kept saying it was his fault. Mom and I figured he was just saying that because he was grieving, the obvious stuff. He had a heart attack two weeks later. I was able to get to the hospital as soon as they brought him in, and just before he died, he told me the truth.”
Seeing him relive all this was hard, especially knowing it was for her sake. But Stephanie also knew she couldn’t stop him now. He wouldn’t tell her if he didn’t want to. Every part of his body showed how much anger still lived in him over all of this. She couldn’t do anything to make it better other than to listen.
“Nelson Silvergrove is the Alpha of the Silvergrove pack. That’s essentially like the leader or father figure, though it carries a lot more weight than that for shifters. He’s also the one heading up the Bloodmoon Crew. He and his goons had come in for a meal at Westbrook’s. My father didn’t like them, but he wouldn’t bring shifter politics into his business. They were just there to eat like anyone else. When it came time to pay the bill, they told him they wouldn’t. They said it was a small price for him to pay to keep his place open. Dad was a kind and generous man, but he didn’t put up with anyone’s bullshit. He told them they’d pay or get banned from the restaurant, simple as that, just like anyone else. Two days later, it was gone, along with Rosa. Dad held on for a couple of weeks, but that heart attack killed him. I lost half of my family in less than a month.”
“Bennett, I—I hardly even know what to say except that I’m sorry.” She rose from her seat, wishing she could put her arms around him and hold him. It wouldn’t make things any better. In fact, her current involvement in his life had probably only made it more complicated. Stephanie went to the sink to rinse her bowl. “I’m so sorry you had to suffer a loss like that.”
“It was bad,” he admitted, his voice growing closer as he stood from the table, “but there was another loss before that, one that has affected me just as much. Maybe even more.”
She turned to find that he was right behind her. Bennett’s eyes were burning into hers, but they’d lost the intense laser focus they’d had while he was discussing his family and former career. They were soft now, a dark velvet that warmed her skin by several degrees. Stephanie reminded herself—definitely not for the first time—that they weren’t just horny teenagers anymore, and she had to be mature about this, but it was impossible when he looked at her that way. It was a look of desire and adoration. It was a look that said more than that, but she wanted to hear it and know for sure. “What do you mean?”
“Stephanie.” Her name was heavy on his lips. “I never wanted to break up with you all those years ago.”
What had felt like pure desire a moment ago quickly turned into confusion. “Then why did you? You never really told me.” She’d put that day out of her mind long ago, but that didn’t mean she’d forgotten.
Stephanie had known something was off about Bennett. He’d been moody and distant. When she’d asked about it, he’d just said he hadn’t been getting along with his parents. Everyone their age felt that way at the time, so she hadn’t worried about it. The next thing she knew, he’d told her it was time for him to move on.
“I know. I couldn’t.” Bennett took another step and closed the gap between them. His hands grazed her hips and then closed slowly around them, his strong fingers pressing appreciatively against her curves. “It wasn’t my decision, Stephanie. My parents made me do it. I know that sounds like I’m just putting the blame on them, but believe me, I never would’ve broken up with you.”
Electricity bolted through her body. Bennett had always been able to light that inner spark for her, and it wasn’t any different now. He was just close enough to her that his body brushed against hers slightly as they breathed, a tantalizing tease and a reminder of their past. “If you’d told me, maybe we would’ve figured it out.”
“No.” He reached up and brushed her braid behind her shoulder before resting his palm along her jawline. “Stephanie, they hadn’t liked the idea of me being with a human. I couldn’t tell you that without telling you everything.”
“Wait.” She pulled her face out of his grasp and stepped away from the sink, releasing herself from the spell he so easily cast over her. Stephanie kept herself at a safe distance, one where she might not find her brain so muddled by her lust for him. “I always had a feeling they weren’t thrilled about me, but that’s so unfair. It’s not like being human is anything I can change.”
“I’m not saying it was right.” Bennett moved toward her, but he stopped short of getting as close as he’d been only a moment ago. “I shouldn’t have done what they asked, but you know how it is when you’re just a kid. They were my parents.”
Stephanie shook her head. “I get that, Bennett. I really do. I’m not saying I blame you, not really. We’re all just a product of where we come from. But it’s a little hurtful.”
“As it should be. No one should think that way, but people do. You see it happen all the time. The only difference between us is that no one would ever know just how different you and I are simply by looking at us from the outside.” He moved forward again, his eyes tracing her face, searching.
“I know that.” She really did. It was all perfectly logical and made sense. That was the sort of thing Stephanie usually liked, but it wasn’t adding up for her right now.
“No one had ever made me feel the way you did.” He took her hand now, rubbing his thumbs against the back of it. “The way you still do, actually. It’d been a long time, but it doesn’t feel like anything has changed. I still want you, Stephanie. I always have.”
A lot in her life had changed that day, considering everything she’d learned. The world was a much bigger and scarier place than she’d ever realized, but he was right. When it came down to their feelings, it was all the same. He still gave her that same rush of excitement every time she looked at him. Even when he’d freshly changed out of his wolf form, she’d still felt that same attraction. As things had calmed down and they’d had time to talk, she’d found herself falling easily into those old emotions.
“Bennett, I can’t deny that the way we feel about each other hasn’t changed. But some other things haven’t changed, either. If my being human broke us up back then, what would make things any different now? I’m still a human, and you’re still a shifter. Do you think your family is any more willing to accept that?" It was hard to talk rationally about such things when every part of her body was commanding her to take just one step forward. She wanted to throw all caution out the window and dive back in, but she couldn’t. Not when she knew such a big issue was hanging over their heads.
Judging by the genuine smile on his face now, Bennett didn’t see it that way. “The thing is, I’m forty-seven now. I don’t really care what they think. My mother is the only close family I have left besides my pack. She and I haven’t discussed this in a long time, but it isn’t about what she wants. It’s about what I want.” Bennett reached out and grabbed her hip. He pulled her against him and then slid his hand around to the small of her back. “There’s something else, too.”
