When Landon made no move to leave, Ben said, “We had an agreement.”
I ignored the thinly veiled malice in his tone as I took his least injured palm and dropped the pills into it. “While you were here, yes, but you moved out.”
A mix of anger and hurt flashed in Ben’s eyes. “No men here. Ever. Unless you’re tryin’ to end up like your mom?”
I winced as if he’d struck me, but I couldn’t blame him for being pissed. Not after everything we’d been through.
Landon shifted, the indignant wannabe superhero energy gathering like a palpable cloud.
Time to de-escalate the situation.
“Landon doctored you up last night,” I said. “He’s a combat medic in the Army, and since you refused to go to the hospital, we were lucky he was here.”
“Lucky?” Ben scoffed. “Right. Where’d he sleep?”
I could have lied and said the couch, but if I wanted Ben to open up to me, I needed to be honest with him. So, I dodged the question instead. “He’s… he’s leaving in a couple of weeks to join Doctors Without Borders.”
Ben shook his head, looking at me with disgust. “Jesus, Mercy.”
“Whoa.” Landon pushed away from the counter. “You need to show your sister a little more respect.”
I glared at him and hissed, “I have this under control,” through my teeth.
“Who the fuck are you to tell me anything?” Ben asked. “You don’t know me. And you sure as hell don’t know her.”
“That may be, but at least my presence isn’t putting her in danger,” Landon snapped back.
Confusion settled across Ben’s features.
“Who has you too scared to go to the police?” Landon pressed. “More importantly, what the fuck do you think they’ll do to your sister if they find you here?”
Ben blanched.
“Leave, Landon,” I said, finished with his shit.
Landon was too busy glaring at my brother to respond.
“You’re right,” Ben said, his expression falling. “I shouldn’t have come here.” He turned and headed for his room.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked Landon before hurrying to catch Ben.
He pulled a clean shirt out of a dresser drawer and tugged it on, wincing in pain.
“Don’t listen to him,” I said. “He has no right to meddle in our business.”
“He’s right, sis. I didn’t consider….” He trailed off.
“Of course you didn’t. This is your home. Whoever’s after you doesn’t know where I live, and they don’t have a key to the security door. This is the safest place for you.”
“I’m not putting you in danger.”
Seeing that this wasn’t a battle I could win, I switched tactics. “At least get some breakfast first.”
“Not hungry.” Ben didn’t even bother with socks. He stepped into a pair of sneakers he didn’t lace and limped through his bathroom. He had to be in excruciating pain, but like me, he’d gotten his stubborn streak from our dad. Once he’d made up his mind, it was almost impossible to change.
I followed him to the hall and then hurried around him to block the door. “Please, Ben. I’ve been so worried about you. Don’t leave like this.”
Reaching past me, he cracked open the door, but I grabbed it, keeping him from opening it the rest of the way.
