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He rubbed his hands together. “It’s showtime!”
Oh, shit.
“Hey, Kenna,” Benny held up a beer, “I found you.”
I swore my entire body broke out in a sweat. “Hey, you did.” I pushed to my feet and stepped forward to give him a hug. “Sorry about the other night,” I whispered as I pulled away. “Things had gotten a little crazy.”
“Sounds like it, and no problem. I’m just pleased I get to spend more time with you.” He looked around at the others. “Hi, I’m Ben, or Benny to some.” He winked at me.
Rail, of course, took the lead and did some quick introductions, but when he got to Grim, I noticed he made sure to mention that he was my boss and one of the owners of the hotel.
“I’m looking forward to giving your new hotel a try when it opens.” Benny was good at being polite, but I could tell the guys made him nervous. After all, biker guys and well-dressed men who reeked of mafia weren’t exactly inviting company.
“Come sit.” Tess politely stood, being the sweetheart she was, and moved to sit next to Morgan so Benny could sit. The vacated seat was next to Trigger. Benny looked sick as he took in the size of and look of him.
“Your seat’s still open.” Rail gave me a gentle push back toward Grim, and I eased back into my spot. Grim didn’t move as I sat. I smiled warmly at Benny, trying to ease his concern for the present company.
“So, Benny,” to my surprise, Brick piped up, “how long have you known Kenna?”
“Let’s see, now.” He rubbed his chin and looked at me as he thought. “Since junior year of high school. Right?”
“Yes,” I nodded, “you’d just made the baseball team, and I was on my way to volleyball practice.”
“Good memory.” He beamed, clearly pleased that event had stayed with me.
Brick peeled the label on the side of his beer. “You ever dated?” I shot Minnie a look for help, but she pretended to sip her drink.Thanks, Min.
“Lord knows, I tried to get her attention.” Benny laughed. “She was a force to be reckoned with.”
Rail snorted. “Nothing’s changed.”
“Well, in all fairness, she was always surrounded by boys at school,andat home.” He looked at me and tilted his head. The conversation we’d had the other night came screaming back to me. I started to panic. “And I see nothing has changed and that piece of trash is still hanging around.”
Oh, no.
“What piece of trash?” Grim grunted, and I felt my head go light. I swung my gaze to Jesse with a look of pure terror. I hadn’t shared those particular details with them yet.
“Sonny Conti, that rich guy from Chicago.” Benny missed my expression that begged him to shut the hell up. “Not that he spent much time there.”
“Wait,” Grim looked at me, and I felt a blush creep up my throat, “Sonny Conti used to hang around Kenna?”
“Hang around, no.” Benny took a swig of his beer. “But he was tight with her father.”
Grim’s gaze burned a hole in the side of my face. “Well, that’s news to me.”
“As it was to me,” I chipped back, “when Benny told me.”
“I saw him last night, when we were having dinner.” Benny kept going. “Still hovering in the background. Seems not much has changed.”
Trigger leaned forward and stared at me than at Benny. “Cameron’s known Sonny since you two were in high school?”
“Maybe longer, I’m not sure, but since high school for sure.”
“Elaborate.” Trigger gave a quick look at Grim.
Benny finally tuned in to the vibe and chugged most of his beer, buying a moment. I, on the other hand, felt sick and wished I could dissolve into thin air.
“One night, I was at a work dinner with my father, and I saw Cameron was there too with someone else. I was building up the courage to ask Kenna to the winter ball and thought it would be nice to ask her father’s permission.” He looked a bit sheepish. “I mean they were a rather intimidating crowd.” He looked at me, but it was a bit late to warn him off now. “Anyway, I approached him, and it seemed to go smoothly, but then Cameron took a call and left me without a clear answer.” I could practically hear Trigger’s frustration with all the useless details Benny shared. Between that and Grim’s scowl, my nerves were shot. “I had come that far, you know, so I wasn’t going to give up. The guy with him made me loosen my tie. If you know what I mean. He looked to be around my age.” Benny swallowed and looked at me but got nothing. “He was a little rough around the edges.” He looked around and seemed to realize who he was with and quickly looked down at his hands and blurted the rest. “Turned out his name was Sonny Conti. He flexed his muscle, and by that, I mean a handgun and shared some colorful words about me staying away from Kenna.”
