Page 74 of The Wolf and the Monarch

He shook his head and stepped away. “None of your fucking business.”

Matthew suddenly reached out and grabbed Benji’s shirt to yank him backwards towards him. He then spun him around and wrapped his hands around his neck, squeezing tightly against his windpipe. Benji didn't have a moment to take a breath. “You put us all in danger by coming back here, Benjamin. If they’re not fucking dead, we’re all dead. Don’t you understand that?! You’re so stupid!” He shook him with each statement, jostling Benji’s head backwards. His hands wrapped around his dad’s wrists, trying to pull him off, but there was no strength like a mad man.

In an instant, everyone ran across the room. Travis was the first one to make it there. He wrapped his arm around Matthew’s neck and yanked him backwards, holding on tight to him while Spence stood between the two of them. Sling or not, he was still ready to throw down. Benji stumbled backwards and placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. “Keep your hands off him, Matthew.” Spence seethed.

"You were supposed to die. If you fucking died, they'd be done with us because you were the only one who knew about they money!" That was the plan Matthew had, it seemed. It made sense. His father kept his gaze steadily upon Benji. There was nothing but contempt for his son. “He is a liability. He signed all our death warrants by showing his face here.”

“I think you already did that yourself, Dad,” Andi stated as she wrapped her arm around Benji’s shoulders. Her voice was shaking but she kept speaking, “You’re the one who crossed the wrong people. Benji did nothing wrong.”

Sawyer was beside him as well, rubbing his back while his hand clasped over Benji’s on his knee.

Matthew forced himself out of the hold Travis had him in and he looked irate. “We have to throw him out. We’ll need to move locations too.”

“He’s not going anywhere,” Spence seethed, “But you are.”

“What?!” He looked between his brothers.

Spence’s gaze shifted to Travis’ for a moment and he simply nodded once before he looked back at Matthew. “You are the liability, Matthew. You put your family, your son, in danger. You put us all in danger. Just for some money?”

Matthew’s nostrils flared again. “John told me they were shitty people. He said they didn't deserve the money even though they did their job. I just took the initiative to fix the problem.”

“That wasn’t your problem to fix. You took the job of wiring the funds and that’s it. You don’t get to play God and keep what you sow, Matthew. That’s not how that fucking works.” Spence stated. Eyes shifted back and forth between the three of them before Matthew scoffed again. “You are officially off this team. We don’t need you.”

“You will once you find out the shit he got you into.”

Travis chuckled dryly. “You mean what you got us into.”

Matthew just shook his head and held his hands up, walking out from around the podium, towards the door. He was a smart man. He knew that he was outmanned. “I’ll be calling your wife too, Mattie. I hope that money was worth it.” Spence called out right before Matthew left the room. Turning around, he approached Benji and took a second to look him over. “You okay, kid?” Benji just nodded his head with tears brimming in his eyes. “Go take a breather. We got a lot to talk about,” he sighed, “But I need to make a phone call first.” Spence flashed Andi and Sawyer a quick smile before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. Travis wasn’t far behind him, clearly wanting to know exactly what was going on.

Benji’s hand curled around Sawyer’s instinctually and he looked towards his sister. “I’m sorry, Andi…”

“For what?”

He shook his head and sighed. “He’s not wrong. I probably did just…ruin our lives by coming back here.”

She rolled her eyes and took the time to fix his hair a bit. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Benji. I’m glad you’re here,” she paused and smiled, “We’re all glad you’re here.” She softly patted his shoulder and nodded her head towards them both. “Now come on. Let’s sit you two down so we can all talk about everything.”

He could only hope that conversation would end better than the one with their dad.

Chapter Thirty Three

Sawyer

He wasn’t sure what to expect when they entered the place where Benji spent so much of his time. He was very happy to see that some people were ecstatic to see him. That’s the proper reaction. But the way his dad looked… that wasn’t right. He knew something was off. He felt nothing but sorrow for Benji. Of course, he still had his sister and his uncles, but when it was your dad that treated you that way? That wasn’t just something you brushed past. Sawyer could relate, in some capacity. His parents had been dead for quite some time and he was Milo's responsibility. He never claimed to be his father, but for all intents and purposes, he was. And look at how he was treated.

None of it was fair.

But there wasn’t much they could do about that besides accept what happened and try to grow and move on, right?

Sawyer sat down at the table in the middle of the office, next to Benji, and folded his hands in his lap. He looked around the area. It was a nice room. Way better than the bunker Milo had. He would be so jealous. That thought made him smile, just a bit.

“You boys thirsty?” Andi asked as she walked over to a mini fridge in the room. She didn’t really wait for an answer, however. She just grabbed out some bottles of water and brought it over to them. Sawyer graciously accepted one and took a sip while she sat down on the other side of her brother. “So, you’re Sawyer?”

He nodded his head while he swallowed down the water and offered his hand out to her. “Yeah, hi. It’s nice to meet you. Benji talked about you a lot.”

She smiled and shook his hand. “Good things?”

“Oh, yeah. Of course. I mean…even when things were bleak, he didn’t doubt you.” At least, not really. Sawyer was pretty sure that deep down, Benji knew Andi hadn’t done anything.