Page 146 of Bene

“Marcus headed into the city for the night and will stay at his penthouse, I guess.”

Vanna didn’t miss the way Bene’s jaw clenched at Chris’s statement.

“Because he has things to handle there, or he’s pissed—”

“Oh, no, he’s still pissed.”

Bene grunted under his breath. “All right, thanks.”

“Mmhmm. Have a good sleep. Hopefully, Dad will be out tomorrow.”

“Right, right.”

Over Bene’s shoulder, Chris called, “Night, Vanna.”

She managed a smile from where she sat at the foot of the bed in Bene’s bedroom. “Thanks, you too.”

Bene closed the door behind his brother, but he clearly hadn’t missed the change in Vanna’s tone when he turned around to ask, “You okay?”

She shrugged, focusing on her hands folded in her lap. After pulling on clothes to sleep in from his walk-in closet—an over-sized tee, and a pair of boxers—she just wanted to climb into bed and forget this entire day had happened.

“Tonight was supposed to be very different for me.”

A new husband.

A bed she didn’t want.

A life that wouldn’t be her own.

And now, here she was.

“It’s a lot to take in,” she admitted.

Bene crossed the space between them, rounding the bed to come and stand in front of her. His hands came to land on her thighs, and instantly, she opened her legs for him to fit in between. Tipping her head up, the two of them took a moment to stare in silence before he was the first to break it.

“It’s all on you now. You know that, right?”

“For now, maybe, until your parents—”

“Vanna.”

She dragged in a sharp breath at the strength in his stare. “As long as you want to be here with me, then that’s where you’re going to be. No matter what. Regardless of what anyone says. That’s how it’s going to be.”

He made it sound simple.

She wondered if it would be.

“You shouldn’t fight with your family over me, Bene. I’m not sure I’m worth that.”

And she wasn’t.

Truly.

Not after everything.

“Except you’re worth the world and more to me.”

“But not for them. To them, I’m just—”