Page 63 of Beni

“Wasn’t it you that asked me to come here and workout with you four times a fucking week?” Tommaso asked.

Beni scowled. “Well—”

“Yes, it was. Get off your phone and help me here.”

“Starting to regret asking you, now.”

Well, not really, but he wasn’t going to tell Tom that. Mostly, he hated working out alone. He needed a bit of competition to keep it fresh and give him the motivation to get through particularly rough workout days. It used to be his twin, but with Bene gone, he was on his fucking own, it seemed.

And just that … a brief thought of his twin, had Beni scowling all over again.

Perfect.

Tom lifted a taped hand, pointing at Beni. “What’s that mood about right there? A second ago, you were grinning like a fucker at your phone, and now you look like someone pissed on your shoe when your back was turned.”

“Nice imagery there.”

“I do what I can.”

Beni sighed, grabbing onto the bag so that Tommaso could go for another round, if he wanted. The man did, and he spoke while his friend beat the bag.

“Bene hasn’t called.”

“Oh?”

“Not since he left.”

Tommaso’s gaze flicked to him, but he kept working the bag all the while. “And that’s …”

“Listen, we’re going through a thing, that’s all. Except, you can’t fix the fucking thing when he doesn’t even bother to call me, you know?”

“Or maybe he needs time.”

“We’re not girls. He doesn’t need time away with his feelings.”

“You sure? Because your attitude sounds like you need some Midol and—”

Beni let go of the bag and took a wide step back when Tom threw a particularly hard punch. Expecting the bag to not move, when it did, he fell into it.

“You deserved that,” Beni said.

“And you’re an asshole.”

“Yeah, well …”

What could he do?

“Besides Bene,” he added, “I’ve also got this shit with the crew on my mind lately. I’m not closer to figuring out who is causing the issues, or stealing, than I was when your father first put me in there to work with them. Nothing is going right for me lately.”

“What about August? You seemed just fine with that.”

Beni frowned. “I don’t want to take her away from her work.”

“I don’t think she would mind.”

“Well, I don’t know that.”

“What it sounds like to me,” Tommaso said, “is that you need to get your mind off the shit that’s bothering you with something—or someone—that does the opposite.”