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She stepped back, a smile on her face. "Sorry. I wouldn't want to mess up your hair before the big date. Dillon is coming by to get me, so we'll be out of here most of the night."
"How are things with the two of you?" he asked.
"Good, now that we're here. We're thinking about moving to Boston. Dillon's company has a branch office in Newton. They're willing to transfer him if he wants."
Benjamin stood to check on his garlic bread. "That's great. It would be nice to have you closer all the time."
"Really? You wouldn't get sick of me?"
"Of course not. I miss you when you're not here."
Tears shimmered in her eyes, but her smile was warm. With slow emotion, she signed, "I love you."
"I love you, too."
He looked down at his sister. She was beautiful. Victoria didn't look like either of his parents. Her dark hair and eyes came from their grandmother on their mother's side. Then again, he didn't look like either Jonathan or Barbara Roth.
"You're the only person in the entire world I love."
She punched his arm lightly. "Give this Jewell chick a chance. She might pry the words from your fingers."
The lights over their heads blinked off and on in a quick progression, indicating someone rang the front doorbell. Victoria's head snapped in the general direction.
"Someone is banging on the door," she told him. "Hard."
Benjamin dropped his dishtowel on the counter and headed for the door. Even before he reached the front entrance he knew it wasn't Jewell. She wouldn't knock on the door. He also couldn't picture her pushing the doorbell violently enough to make the lights blink so rapidly. The force of impact on the wood vibrated through the knob when he grasped it. As soon as the door opened, Benjamin stumbled back and into the entrance hall.
Only one man possessed the strength, coupled with the testicular fortitude and stupidity, to physically push Benjamin around, and that was Jonathan Roth. He didn't look in Benjamin's direction and shoved past him into the house, yelling down the hall. His mother followed behind with a tight expression on her face. She grabbed Jon's elbow to pull him back, but he jerked free.
"What is going on?" Benjamin demanded.
Victoria rounded the corner, shock on her face. "Daddy?"
"Victoria, what is going on?" Benjamin demanded again.
His father continued to yell. Benjamin saw the redness rise from his collar into his face. Spittle flew from his lips as he raged in the entranceway. Jonathan wagged his finger in the air, pointing at Victoria as he yelled. Only once his accusatory finger came around to Benjamin's face. Benjamin slapped it away. He still didn't know what his father was shouting, but he didn't really care.
The elder Roth turned back on Victoria. Benjamin moved around and pushed his body between them. Victoria stepped behind him and rested her hands on his arms as she found shelter with her big brother. With his arm wrapped behind him and around Victoria's hips, Benjamin shielded her from their father's rage.
"Either calm yourself right now or get the hell out of my house," Benjamin demanded.
His father's face flamed red and his mouth clamped shut. Large fists doubled at his side.
"Get out of my way. She's my daughter and I intend to bring this stupidity to an end. I'll be dead before I let her whore around with some no-good gold-digger like Dillon Ferguson."
The rancid stench of alcohol assaulted Benjamin's senses as his father shouted just inches from his face. He fought back the initial revulsion and turned away for a split second to recollect his senses. Victoria shouted something over Benjamin's shoulder at her father, but Benjamin couldn't read her lips to know what it was. Without a doubt, it was retaliation to their father's ignorant classification of her fiancé.
"She's a grown woman," Benjamin added.
"How dare you think you can hide her from me. Who the hell do you think you are? You have no right to interfere!"
"I have the right and duty to protect her," Benjamin snapped, the heat of anger pounding in his temples. "She's my sister."
"You are nothing to this family," Jon Roth spit out. "Haven't you figured that out yet? Or are you too stupid?"
Despite the walls he'd built over the years, his father's stinging words hit him harder than Benjamin ever expected. He bit back the rage and clenched his fists at his side. His lungs burned and his ears pounded.
"Get out of my house," he demanded.
