Page 128 of Bene

And he still wanted her.

Fuck him for wanting her.

“It’s a complicated thing,” Bene murmured, staring at the building across the street from their current position. It was far easier than staring at his brother who would see the truth in his eyes the moment he met Beni’s gaze. “And not a thing I think is worth trying to fix, if it even can be now, you know?”

“Don’t say that. Anything is possible.”

Bene barked out a laugh. “And what do you think would happen if after everything was said and done, I brought her home again? Oh, let’s have a do-over, Ma, meet the girl I love that helped put your husband in jail.”

“I’d be more worried about Marcus, actually.”

“Fuck off.”

He laughed, though, as weak as it was because his brother wasn’t wrong. Marcus’s protective nature really came out to play lately, but especially where their family was concerned. He wasn’t fucking around anymore, and he wouldn’t hesitate to end someone if their intentions for the Guzzi family was less than innocent.

Beni cleared his throat, glancing down at the phone in his hand. “Anyway, on this shit here … I’ll take it to Uncle Tommas and see what he can do.”

“Don’t let him—”

“He won’t tell Papa it came from you, or that Vanna had anything to do with it. And besides, he’s just going to pull his contacts, work some shit, and see what he can get done for the Camorra and the detective. Maybe it’ll work for what Corrado was saying in there earlier about making the detective unreliable. And hell, if we can throw in removing that Camorra clan from the equation, too, then even better.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“You gotta give the process time to work, man.”

He would.

It was still hard.

“What if she doesn’t get married?” his brother asked after a moment.

Bene’s chest ached. “They’ll still hate her.”

“But you don’t.”

Didn’t he?

God knew it felt like it sometimes.

Love.

Hate.

Such a fine fucking line.

“I’m heading over to see Ma at her and Dad’s penthouse,” Beni said, “do you want to come, or—”

“Tell her I’ll be by later.”

His brother shot him a look. “What else do you have to do?”

More things he shouldn’t.

What else?

Bene shrugged instead of answering.

Basically, his life in a nutshell now.