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He looked to Jewell. What he had to do grated on every nerve and fought every resolve Benjamin held since being sent to boarding school at five years old. Benjamin hated doing it, hated admitting it, but he needed help. Needed her help. There were too many faces and too many questions. Too many people who didn't know how to let him understand and ignorant as to why he couldn't.
Jewell stood waiting. Near enough he could touch her, but far enough away to not suffocate. Benjamin held her gaze for a split moment before raising his hands.
"I need your help."
She smiled a slow and warm smile that immediately calmed Benjamin's frazzled nerves. Not completely, but enough to clear his mind. Jewell nodded and stepped closer to face him.
Benjamin turned to his Aunt Frances, sister to his son of a bitch father. "Where are my parents?"
"Your father and Dr. Khalil just took your mother upstairs to her bedroom. Dr. Khalil prescribed some tranquilizers and sleeping pills. She was hysterical, near out of her mind," Jewell signed for him his aunt's words.
Benjamin nodded. Jewell pointed to his Aunt Margaret, another Roth sister, to indicate she now spoke.
"It's been horrible, Ben. We all have been here since yesterday afternoon, and she hasn't calmed down since it happened."
Benjamin straightened and looked at Aunt Margaret. Heat rushed over his entire body and an immediate fury fired his blood in a split second.
"Friday afternoon?"
"Yes. Your father called from the hospital to say they were taking Victoria into surgery. We all came straight here."
"Why wasn't I contacted sooner?"
"We assumed you had been."
"And what…I didn't come?" Benjamin could barely see Jewell's hands anymore. Anger blurred his vision. That son of a bitch! Victoria had been in surgery for hours—she could have died—before anyone had bothered to call him. Even then, it was a member of the staff and not even family who had contacted him. A vicious rage choked him.
Jonathan Roth picked that inopportune moment to come back into the parlor. Benjamin saw his father come in out of the corner of his eye and turned sharply on him.
Two deep strides closed the space between father and son. Benjamin clenched his fists at his side to keep from raising them in violence. He ground his jaw together. Jonathan Roth seemed surprised to see him, and Benjamin realized the man probably had no intention of calling him at all. His father probably didn't know anyone had.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Benjamin said, projecting his voice until his throat hurt. "I should have been called as soon as—soon as?—"
As soon as what? As soon as she was taken to the hospital? Damn! He didn't even know what happened yet, only that Victoria could die.
"I could lose my daughter!"
"She's my sister." Benjamin felt a catch in his throat. "She's my sister!" Damn it! His eyes burned. He clenched and released his fists to try and maintain his slipping control.
The other people in the room intervened, moving between the two men to put space between them. Jewell's hand pressed against his chest. Benjamin spun on the balls of his feet and stormed through the mass of people, the heels of his hands pressed against his eyes. When Benjamin reached the far wall, he looked back over his shoulder. Everyone moved and talked in a frenzy.
Jewell moved towards him, and his father lifted his hand to point at Benjamin. Jon Roth's ugly face twisted in a nasty grimace as he said something Benjamin could not read. Benjamin was surprised when Jewell turned on his father and shot her hand up to block his face. Her brow furrowed as she said something back. Jonathan's face registered shock and his agape jaw snapped shut.
She reached him and her calming hands touched his back and arm. Benjamin stared out the window into the dark night. He fought down the emotion raging through him. His loss of control was infuriating. It was a weakness he hated and couldn't allow.
Jewell touched his cheek and gently urged him to look at her. Her eyes were distraught and she took in the details of his face.
"Benjamin," she said.
No matter how many times he watched those lips speak his name, it always had the same powerful effect. Jewell instantly had his full and undivided attention. She took her hands off him to sign and he immediately felt the loss.
"Let's just go get some sleep. You need rest."
He didn't look in his father's direction and did his best to avoid the condescending eyes of his family. Benjamin took Jewell's hand and quickly left the parlor. Without pausing, he grabbed their luggage and led Jewell up the giant staircase to the second floor. At the top, he turned left and took her to the furthest corner of the family living space. His old bedroom was in this wing, separate and distanced from the family suites, but he didn't want to go there. Too many memories.
They reached the last few doors of guest rooms. Benjamin opened the last one and led Jewell inside. A large brass canopy bed sat against the opposite wall with an assortment of furniture scattered throughout the room. He turned on a small lamp beside the bed and it shed a soft light over everything.
"The bathroom is through that door there," he said, pointing to the partially open door. "One of the housekeepers can get you whatever you need." He took Jewell's bag and set it on the bed. "Try to get some sleep."
