He's Fire and She's Playing with It - Mafia Version

Chapter 40: Triggered

"It's ten to three, shouldn't you be at home?" Ally asked dryly when she opened the door and found Benjamin outside.

She stepped aside.

"Shouldn't you be on your way to mine right now?" He shot her a flashing smile and stepped into the flat. "I knew you wouldn't come."

"I didn't know you would." Her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"

He conjured a screwdriver from the sleeve of his jacket. "I'm here to remove the chain."

She crossed her arms. "No, you're not."

He took a few steps further into her home and looked around. "Adryan told me that you're spending the night alone, which means that I've to remove the chain so that I can come bursting in if somethings happen."

It was true that Adryan finally had agreed to let her sleep at home. He was going away on business for the night and she had taken the opportunity to voice her request. She knew that he wouldn't forbid her to go home, but she did also know that this was the only time that she would be able to do so alone. He had several times told her that they could go to hers. The key word being they. He wouldn't force himself upon her, but she knew that he would sleep outside in his car if he had to.

Which meant that this was the perfect time to get some alone time.

He had tried to persuade her to stay at the house, but she had silenced every argument. He hadn't been too happy when he left, but they both had been aware that he had had to go. She knew who he was going to meet. She had spent hours last night, after the party guests had left, talking him into working with Grim. She had started slow, telling him that she had overheard his crew discussing what a good opportunity he was missing and how it could damage his reputation and business by not taking Grim up on his offer. Adryan had been reluctant. It had been obvious that he was still angry with Grim. He hadn't brought up the kidnapping, nor the quarrel which had included her punching Grim in the face. But she had reasoned, argued, and presented her facts over and over again, until she had worn him down. The only question she hadn't had a direct answer to was:

"Why would you be okay with me working with him?"

She hadn't known what to say, not even a lie. There was no way she would be okay with Adryan even seeing Grim, much less doing business with him, and he knew that.

After too many moments hesitation she had put on a smile and answered:

"Because I love you."

He had frozen mid-movement and just staired at her before quietly replying:

"I love you too."

His puppy eyes and hoarse voice had created a knot in her stomach so heavy that she almost fell over. The guilt had been so strong - it still was - that she had been feeling sick, but she had smiled and not trying to hide the tears that had stained her eyes. He had thought that she had been happy but the truth was that her own behaviour had made her wish that she was dead. That was how strong the anxiety had been after lying to him, after playing on his emotions, after saying something that would not only break his heart, but crush it the day she finally left.

Then he had agreed to go and she had spent the few hours he had been sleeping ripping through the house looking for cameras, because there were only two reasons to why Grim had the information that he had, and that was either cameras or intel from someone close to Adryan. Like one of his guards. It had been a pointless search though, and she had assumed it would be. Adryan's security had wiped the house clean of everything that could've hidden a camera and they had had all the things scanned and sent back - there was no surveillance devices anywhere. But if one of his guards were shady... She didn't want to think about what danger that would put Adryan into. She had gone straight to a sleeping Joshua after that, shaken him awake, and showed him her phone. She had said that someone had threatened her, that someone had swapped Adryan's number to theirs, but that she didn't know who the caller was. He had taken her phone without any questions asked. After an hour he had returned it to her and declared that the number was out of use. She hadn't expected anything else, but at least now he knew that someone at the party had been taking the freedom to alter something in her and Adryan's lives.