Page 20 of Bene

“Dad’s worried,” Marcus said. “Ma, too.”

“Thought you didn’t tell them I was on a bender?”

Marcus chuckled. “Thought it wasn’t a bender?”

Fuck Marcus for being quick.

Or shit.

Maybe Bene was just slow today.

“Dad doesn’t know the details,” Marcus stressed when Bene didn’t respond, “but he knows just enough to be concerned, and he tells Ma everything, anyway. At first, he figured you would work out your issues on your own, but—”

“I am.”

“Are you?”

Bene’s gaze snapped back to his brother, but Marcus only arched one thick, dark brow high in reply, as if silently asking, well? Like he was daring Bene to deny the fact that he was stepping closer and closer to trouble with every drink and night he couldn’t remember.

“I’m having a … moment,” he muttered, glancing down at the steak and potato mess on his plate. It was easier to focus on that than his brother who seemed to know every lie before it even left Bene’s lips, and already had a response to give him, too. “It’s not a problem. It’s just a spell, you know?”

“Don’t call it that. Don’t diminish it, Bene.”

“Well—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Marcus said in a sigh, “because that’s why I’m here.”

Bene’s head snapped up.

Marcus met his stare, unbothered.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“What do you think it means?”

“This isn’t a tit for tat, Marcus.”

His brother folded his arms over the blue, silk dress shirt with the matching tie and vest that he wore under his suit jacket. Seriously, the man didn’t even leave his home unless he was dressed in his standard three-piece suit, and had his shoes shined.

Just like their dad.

Maybe that’s why Bene always felt as though conversations with Marcus were like talking with their father, simply a slightly different version. God knew his brother could chastise him just the same way Gian did, if he felt up to the task.

“It means,” Marcus said, leaning forward a bit to force Bene to meet his gaze once again from across the table, “that you just became my newest pet project for Papa, whether you like it or not. That doesn’t matter to me anyway, Bene, because guess what? I know you’re going through some shit, and you haven’t figured out what you want to do with your life now that Beni has got his own settled, but someone needs to keep you from killing yourself while you do get it all worked out. And that someone is going to be me.”

Bene blinked.

What?

“Like a … a fucking babysitter, or something?”

Marcus smirked a bit. “That’s a tad juvenile, yeah?”

“That’s what it is!”

His rising tone drew the attention of other patrons in the restaurant, but Bene really didn’t give a shit in that moment. Who cared if he caused a scene here? They owned the place. They owned half of Toronto, for Christ’s sake.

And yet, Marcus still lost that smirk, his tone cooling when he murmured, “Lower your voice, and stop drawing attention, Bene. You’re not a child.”