“I’m talking to you, Benjamin.” Huisman sounded awfully annoyed.
Ben leaned over, placing his forehead on hers. “You are everything, Kenzie Taggart. You are worth it all. Worth the pain. Worth the fear. Your love is the bedrock of my existence, and I’m so sorry to drag you into this.”
Tears pierced her eyes, and she was so happy Kala had the foresight to get him to sign that non-legally binding document because she wouldn’t make him grovel at all after those words. Those beautiful words. But she did enjoy a good grovel.
If they survived…
She moved into his space. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I would always want to be here with you. No matter what.”
Come what may, and what was coming was likely an enormous amount of pain.
Her heart hurt, an actual ache in her chest.
“Benjamin,” Huisman shouted.
Ben simply held her, hugging her tight.
“You ignore me for your whore?” Huisman was starting to sound unhinged. “This is your problem. You cannot see what is good for you. You have a small mind.”
“I’m pretty sure you have a small penis. And don’t you dare call my daughter a whore,” a familiar voice said.
That was when her father opened fire.
Ben immediately moved, hauling her down. He covered her body with his. “Keep your head down, baby. Let your dad and Zach do their work.”
Zach was here?
She heard the sound of doors closing and saw that while her dad and Zach had taken out all the guards, Manny had managed to get the door closed.
And they were on the wrong side. They were locked in with the madman.
“Huisman, let my kids go and I won’t have you murdered while you flee,” her father said.
Ben wouldn’t move. If anything, he shifted so she was completely covered. Like he was ready to take all the bullets that were coming their way.
Huisman was oddly quiet for a moment and then sounded somber. “I think I’m finally caught, Mr. Taggart. Rather like my father. But my father wasn’t as smart as I am. If this is the end for me, it’s the same for you. And you can thank your little freak Louisa for this. I primed the bomb before I left her. It should be more than enough to blow this whole place sky high and scorch the earth around us. Your precious daughters all gone.”
She heard something smash against the door. Likely her father’s fists.
“Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare,” he screamed, though the heavy doors muffled the sound.
Someone took a couple of shots at the door, but it was definitely bulletproof.
Her father wouldn’t make it in time.
“I wish you had been a better friend, Benjamin. I blame you. If I had never met you perhaps my life would have been easier,” Huisman was saying.
“Stay still, Kenz,” Ben whispered. “It’ll be over soon. I love you so much.”
It would be over soon. For all of them.
She would miss her brothers, miss Seth’s concerts and lazySundays with Travis and Colton. She would miss Colton growing up, but they would be okay. They would know how much she loved them.
“Good-bye, Benjamin. Remember you brought this on yourself,” Huisman intoned.
Ben tensed over her, and the world seemed to explode around them. She heard the sickening sound of squishy things hitting the floor.
And then the door opened again.
