Tristan laughed. “This is who you’re into, Harpy? Your dad’s going to be so proud.”
“Walk. Away.” Benny growled.
“Fine. He’s all yours. For now. But know that I’m the one who invited him here.I’mthe one his family invites on vacations and to birthday parties. I’m the one who belongs in his world. Not abrutelike you.”
Benny didn’t take the bait, remaining still and silent between us. Tristan’s words were intended as an attack on him, but they hit me harder than a physical blow, even with Benny standing as a sentinel between us. My face flamed. My pulse thundered in my ears. Tristan was right. Ihatedthat he was right. Benny could never be part of our world, because it was filled with people like Tristan. Benny was much too good for us.
Tristan didn’t like not being able to get under Benny’s skin, and he didn’t like not getting his way. “Besides…” he continued. “He wanted it.”
Benny’s body jolted forward. The crack of flesh on flesh. Just once. Then Tristan howled.
Fuck. Fuck.Fuck. This was too much. Everything was happening too fast. I was completely fucking useless. What should I do? How was I supposed to fix this? Why were my feet stuck to the ground and my mouth glued shut? Why did my fingers tremble around the soft fabric of Benny’s shirt?
Weak. Pathetic. Useless.
“You fucker! You broke my fucking nose!” Tristan’s nasally voice was much too loud. More people were going to come. More people would get involved. More people would see me. Fuck.
“I’m afraid we don’t allow violence on the premises.” A new voice. My chest tightened by the second until I couldn’t breathe.
“He was the one to punch me! I didn’t do anything,” Tristan said in defense.
“You were forcin’ yourself on someone!” Benny shouted.
Too loud. Too much.
“I’d never!”
“Where is the someone in question?” asked the new voice.
I gripped Benny’s shirt tighter. The fabric moved with the heavy rise and fall of his chest. I could sense the way he was restraining himself. Barely.Please don’t make this worse.
A head of peach-colored hair poked around the side of the human wall separating me from everything else. Shady took one look at me and seemed to gather enough information about my pathetic state to reach his own conclusions.
“Your room is ready for you. Go. I’ll deal with this.”
“You’re just going to let him go?” Tristan squawked in indignation. “He broke my fucking nose!”
“You’re lucky he didn’t break anything else. Come along now, or I’ll get Ivan to carry you, and he’s not the fun kind of rough.”
Benny’s hand found my shoulder, and he ushered me down the hallway to our private room, not stopping until he had me seated on the edge of the bed and he was kneeling in front of me.
“Are you okay?”
Heat filled my eyes. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Done what? Punched him?”
I nodded. “And everything else. His family is powerful, Benny. What if he comes after you for this?” Air thinned with every short breath I pulled in.
“Then I’ll deal with it.”
“What if you get banned from here?”
“Then this isn’t the place I thought it was, and I don’t want anythin’ to do with it.”
I gasped. Unable to pull in any oxygen before I was pushing it out again. Drowning in air. Smothered by nothing.Weak.
His hand raised to my cheek, his thumb wiping away tears.Pathetic.
