While Ben starts with the police academy, I get myself a job at a law firm as a paralegal. I'm hoping the firm will hire me once I finish law school and get my license. It's not a bad job and it's somewhat close to the apartment.
I had just finished lunch when he walks into the office. The other office girls look at me and then back at him. I'm sure some of them are wondering about our paring. Ben is almost completely covered with tattoos, and I'm dressed in a form fitting dress with little makeup and no visible tattoos. Ben is wearing a simple black t-shirt with faded blue jeans, something I knew he pulled off our bedroom floor.
Some of the office girls are smiling and giving me a thumbs up behind his back, I'm about to joke with him when I notice how pale he looks, and his jaw is tight with tension. My pulse starts racing with fear.
"What's wrong?" I ask him already grabbing my things.
"It's my Grandpa. He had a heart attack, I'm leaving for Boston right now." He tells me quietly.
Quickly, I gather my things and while I put my laptop in the bag, I call my supervisor and tell him that I'm leaving early for a family emergency and that I won't be in tomorrow. Within five minutes, we are both in the car and driving to Hull.
The normal four-hour drive takes us three hours, and it is the most terrifying ride of my life. Ben drives like a maniac weaving in and out of traffic. At one point, I need to close my eyes because I'm starting to get car sick.
When we pull into the hospitals parking lot, he opens my door and helps me from the car. We hurry through the main door of the building, my poor little hand is getting crushed by his strong grip as he pulls me quickly behind him.
I want to find the right words to say, but nothing is going to make him feel better. His grandparents are his life, and he will be devastated if anything happens to them.
The older woman from the information desk looks up at us and smiles. I'm about to ask for his grandfather's room number when I hear a commotion behind us.
I wanted so much to find the right words to say, but nothing was going to make him feel better. His grandparents were his life.
"You just fell for the oldest trick in the book." A raspy voice says behind us.
Everything moves in slow motion from this point. Ben pushes me behind his back and puffs his chest out. He is ready for a fight, and I'm scared. I move my head slowly to the right and see his brother walking into the hospital with a small group of scary looking men. I try swallowing my fear, but it is threatening it's release.
We just walked into a trap and I'm searching for a way to get the both of us out.
"Mick, this is low for you." Ben hisses.
The creep in front of us smiles before glaring at my boyfriend. "It is, but no one knew where Ben Beneventi ran off to. I heard he had a pretty lady that went to Harvard, but when we checked out the campus, Al didn't see anyone he recognized."
"Well, that is your first mistake. Al was so high at Thanksgiving, he wouldn't have remembered anything from that day."
"Screw you." Allen shouts to his brother.
"So...my grandpa isn't here and there is no heart attack?" I hear him ask disgusted.
"No. As far as we know he and grandma are home playing cards. We needed to get you here and out of hiding. Let me look at your pretty little thing you have tucked safely behind you?" Mickey says to him.
With pleading eyes, I look towards the older woman at the desk. I mouth for her to call someone for help. She picks up the phone and I close my eyes for a brief second. I rest my head on Ben's back and take a deep breath.
Allen tries to move his brother, but he is solid muscle and angry. Ben doesn't move an inch. While the two of them are shoving each other, the guy named Mickey reaches for me and pulls me out from behind my boyfriend. His long nails have dirt trapped underneath and his breath is awful - beer and stale cigarettes'. His black hair is greasy strands standing straight up.
"You should have stayed away from this loser. Now, he's going to watch your pretty little face getting covered with pain." He hisses at me with such hate.
Allen flies in front of me and tumbles to the ground. Ben jumps in front of me, shoving the creep to the ground. Ben kicks Mickey hard in the leg, and I swear I hear something snap, but he jumps up laughing in Ben's face.
"BC? Is this any way to treat your oldest friend? I just spent years in jail because of you...years that I'm never going to get back." Mickey throws his hands in the air.
"After I'm done, you'll wish you stayed in jail." Ben promises. "I'll kill you this time."
My nose is tingling, and my heart is racing. I know this is the point of no return. Ben won't stop until Mickey is dead, or the both of them are dead. My stomach aches with the acid forming from the fear, my head spins thinking about the pending vomit.
"Al wasn't lying...you do have a pretty little thing." He says looking at me with a malicious grin. "Too bad you picked Ben, he's going to watch your beautiful body suffer excruciating pain. He took years from me and now, I'm going to take you from him."
With that threat, Ben lunges at him and punches him hard in the face. Blood splatters to the floor below him and Mickey's head snaps back into the air. The punch echoes in the lobby and I'm positive that Ben just broke that man's nose, but I don't want him to stop. I hate Mickey for bringing this side out.
Security comes running down the hall, I grab for Ben's arm. Allen is standing between the door and us. I push my boyfriend forward. Ben punches to the two guys standing off to the left of us, and they easily fall to the ground. I turn to Allen, and with the palm of my hand, I shove it hard into his face.
"Bitch!" Allen drops to his knees, screaming in pain.
For extra measure, I kick him hard in the stomach for betraying his brother in the worst way. He laughs at me, and I kick him where it counts next. He starts crying and rolling around in pain. Ben grabs me around the waist and pulls me out the front door.
Outside, Ben is jumped again, but he easily drops the men to the ground. I grab my cellphone and call 911. I want a record of what just happened to Ben and me, I want these men to pay. When the dispatch comes on, I tell the woman in my calmest voice that I need someone sent right away. I tell her about the men in the lobby bleeding, but they aren't the victims.
She asks me to stay on the line, but I hang up. I look at Ben and realize that getting him away is my top priority. He would get kicked out of the academy with an arrest. Grabbing his hand, I pull him towards the car, and we run as fast as we can. I yell for him to give me the keys and he hands them over without a fight.
I turn over the car quickly and speed out of the parking lot. I get lost in the traffic on the busy street. Turning to look at him, I ask where I should go.
"South. We need to get rid of this car and get another one." He whispers.
"Get me another car? Why? They didn't see us." I tell him.
"Ally. South. PLEASE." He looks at me and starts crying.
Ben keeps chanting sorry over and over. I reach over and grab his hand. I bring it to my lips and promise him that we are safe.
"NO. Ally, we are opposite of safe. I KNEW THAT I SHOULD HAVE KEPT MY DISTANCE FROM THE START."
His sadness turns to anger very quickly. Soon he is shouting curse words and punching the dashboard over and over until it finally cracks. The only thing I can do is watch him fall apart and feel completely helpless. I can't change any of this for him, and that is the worst feeling in the world.
We drive South in silence. We purchase a small junk car that he drives behind me until we reach a murky, dark swamp. Ben helps me clean out the car before he pushes it into the swamp. I can't help the tears that explode once the top of the car disappears below. Ben reaches for me and holds me to him. Both of us sink to the ground below us, he holds me while I bawl.
Never again will I feel safe without him by my side.
YOU ARE READING
Heartlines
Romance*** Complete Story *** Allyson Sicard was in her final year at Harvard and while her roommates were trying to get their Ivy League boyfriends to propose, Ally was trying to figure out which law school she wanted to graduate from. Columbia had always...
