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“Justin!” Cam let go of my hand and ran to her brother. Her arms went around his shoulders and he winced in pain.

I was glad to see Cam happy, but I wanted to throttle the fuck out of her brother. The logical part of my brain told me that was a bad idea, so I settled on imagining how satisfying it would be to have my hands around his throat. He must’ve noticed my murderous expression, because as soon as he made eye contact he looked away.

Cam approached the waitress next and pulled her in for a quick hug.

Landers took Sage by the hand. “To the parking lot, people. Let’s hustle.”

If the injury bothered him, he didn’t show it. He must be hurting, though, which was satisfying. I planned on making him hurt a whole lot more once all this shit was over. But not today. I still needed his traitorous ass.

We followed his lead, the five of us now grouped at the door to the underground parking lot. Landers and I went through first to clear the area while the others stayed behind. Apart from six cars, the lot was empty. I directed everyone to come through before blocking the door with a dumpster in case any surprise heroes followed us.

Landers approached with a set of keys. He thumbed a button, and the lights on a black sedan flashed.

“That’s Tony’s car. He won’t be needing it anymore.” Ben tossed me the keys. “We go our own way from here.”

Fuck this shit. I couldn’t bite my tongue any longer. I fronted up to him with arms folded, if only so I didn’t take a swing at him right away. “You want to tell me what the fuck’s been going on with you?” It was only because of our history that I didn’t shove him against the wall and demand answers. I’d give him this one chance to explain himself. I thought I knew Ben well. He’d always been a decent guy, so none of this added up.

He nodded, his lips pressed tight and eyes downcast. “I know this looks bad, but I needed to get Sage out of a shitty situation with Dante.”

Ben referred to Dante Moretti, Franky’s nephew and heir to the Wolf Street crime syndicate.

He glanced at the nervous waitress standing next to his car. “When I found out both you and the Mob were looking for the McKenzie guy, I found my bargaining chip. I needed something valuable to offer Franky in exchange for Sage’s freedom. I was desperate to get her out of that club. You know what these assholes would do to her.” He exhaled a sharp breath. “And I knew you could handle yourself, but I never suspected you had a personal connection to that junkie. I just thought you were trying to cash in on his contract or hoping to go after the money he’d stolen.” He gestured to Justin with a look of disgust. “I swear I didn’t know you had a woman who’d get dragged into it. Fuck, man, you’ve always been on your own.” He shook his head and thrust a hand through his hair as though he realized how close we’d come to death. “You’ve got to believe I always intended to help you deal with any blow back. I kept track of what was going on. That’s why I sent the message to you at the motel, and it’s why I shot the place to shit just now. I didn’t expect things to get so fucked up. I’m sorry, brother. For all of it.”

“You could’ve handled this better.” I pinned him with a stare that made grown men piss themselves.

“Agreed. Things have been a little… crazy lately.” He shot another glance at his woman. “Look, give me some time to make sure Sage is safe, then you and I can hash this out, all right?”

A week ago, his explanation wouldn’t have cut it, but if Sage meant something to him, like Cam did to me, I understood the lengths he’d go to protect her.

Ben could have left us in Franky’s hands and taken Sage out of harm’s way, but he stayed and got Cam and me out. He’d risked both their asses to save ours. Taking down Franky and his men on my own would have been tough even if I hadn’t been tied up in the basement. Having Ben and Sage’s help had been critical. Still, he only deserved credit because we were all still breathing. It could have gone the other way, and that would have rested squarely on his shoulders.

My teeth ground as I nodded, accepting his reasons, even though I wasn’t ready to forgive him.

“Franky?” asked Ben.

“Dead. In the basement.”

Ben nodded. “Good. Dante’s still out there. You can have any of the others, but that asshole is mine.”

Dante was a slick, intelligent bastard with his own army of paid private security contractors. He was on my list of threats that required immediate neutralizing and a difficult one to deal with, but if Ben had a personal issue with Dante, he could have him. I hoped he understood what he was up against.

I shrugged. “No objections from me.”

“Good luck, Shep.” Ben turned and headed for his truck.