Page 106 of Waste of Worth

Even his goddamn lawyer couldn’t be trusted.

Without fully admitting as much, Ben basically said he was the reason Dino’s lawyer had yet to show at the jail. His own uncle was holding back his ability to get free.

“Why?” Dino asked quietly.

Ben cocked his head to the side, watching Dino through the bars. “Why what, nipote?”

“Why do this, Ben?”

Dino wasn’t going to explain himself or his words beyond the question he posed. He figured he wouldn’t really have to where Ben was concerned. If his uncle was the reason for the official’s attention, the raid, and his subsequent arrest, Ben wouldn’t need further explanation. He would have an answer at the ready.

And surprise …

His uncle did.

“I tried to make you listen—with the family, with Theo, his friends, other factions. You were too busy, doing what you wanted,” Ben said, his tone lowering to a darker note as he went along. “I thought a reminder would do you good, but the first lesson apparently didn’t take. Perhaps I’ve been going about teaching you and Theo the wrong way all these years. Would a time out work better for you, Dino? Will putting you away where you can’t make choices I don’t approve and mess with my plans when you’re not to touch them, help you any? We’ll certainly see now, won’t we?”

“You had me arrested because of Theo?” Dino snarled, pushing away from the wall and moving closer to where his uncle stood behind the bars.

Ben didn’t look the least bit affected by Dino’s anger.

What concerns should he have with Dino safe behind bars?

None.

Once again, Ben had the control.

Once again, Ben pulled the strings.

Once again, Ben made the calls.

Dino was just the sorry fucking fool who happened to be caught up in whatever games Ben felt like playing because he could.

Nothing more.

Just because he could.

In that moment, as he stared at his uncle and Ben stared back, still smiling in that amused, cold way of his, Dino realized it was as if time had suddenly hit the rewind button without any notice at all. He felt as though he were once again a young man, stuck under his uncle’s thumb and control because of what he thought at the time was circumstance, but actually proved to be because of Ben’s own meddling and wants.

Just like when his parents’ had been murdered by his uncle, Dino was forced into Ben’s life whether he wanted to be there or not, doing what his uncle demanded he do because if he didn’t, he would eventually learn what pain truly was when he refused.

This very situation was no different.

A new punishment, yes.

The outcome—the pain—would be no different.

“It helps to have friends in many places,” Ben noted, glancing over his shoulder at a guard that strolled on by without even giving the two a bit of his attention. It was almost as if Ben wasn’t there at all to the man. “Make a few calls, transfer a bit of cash … and look what we have, my nephew without any sort of help.”

“Is the FBI one of those friends, too?” Dino asked.

“Friends of friends, perhaps. It’s not important. This will do you well, Dino. A little time out will do you good.”

Dino’s gaze narrowed.

Ben had no idea what he had done. He didn’t even understand that his little trick—his lesson, whatever it was—had started a small avalanche of circumstances for Dino that would not be fixed with a little time out as his uncle liked to say. It was not that simple.

“You did this to me because of Theo,” Dino repeated.