Page 83 of Beni

“Woman, if I don’t find something to fucking smile about right now, someone might die.”

Well, then.

Okay.

She came around the front of the couch, folding her arms over her chest as she surveyed his injury again. It really did look terrible, and she bet it was mighty sore. Her fingers itched to reach out and graze the bruise just to see if it was warm under her touch, and if she might be able to soothe whatever pain he was feeling.

Her stare did not go unnoticed.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Beni murmured, his hand coming out to rest overtop the denim covering her hip. “A concussion, and some bruising. That’s it.”

“Yeah, this time.”

His gaze darted up to hers.

August just shrugged.

“Cam’s really mad at me,” she said, tone dropping lower.

“Why?”

“She found out that I had a meeting with Alessa for the job offer.”

“Shouldn’t that make her—”

“And that I still didn’t tell her about it until she found out by accident.”

Beni sighed. “Ah, yeah. I mean, that might rub somebody wrong, I guess.”

Somewhere in the apartment, a phone rang. She recognized the tune as his cell phone, but he didn’t look the least bit interested in getting up to answer the call. In fact, he brushed it off with a roll of his eyes.

“Fucking thing won’t shut up, and if I didn’t feel like the room was spinning every time I stand up, I would find it and turn it off,” he muttered.

August smiled a little. “I’ll find it for you after, and shut it off.”

“Oh, does that mean you’re staying?”

Why did that question sound like more than just him asking for her to stay the night with him? She pushed the thought out of her mind, unsure if that was his intention, or just her subconscious making its desires known.

That hand of his stroked up and down her hip, but his gaze focused on her face. “Don’t move too much, okay? Makes me dizzy.”

“Jesus Christ, Beni.”

“Yeah, concussions blow.”

She shook her head. “You know, all this showed me was that even more of my life would change, if I decided to move here permanently.”

His brow furrowed.

So fucking cute, too.

She pushed that thought away.

“How so?” he asked.

“At home, I don’t face this kind of thing. The mafia. All the business, and issues. And since I’ve come to visit, it feels like that’s all I’ve seen. It kind of makes me think that it would be yet another change for me to handle, and that’s … well, it terrifies me.”

“August?”