Page 30 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Tuesday

This felt like some kind of trick. But the golden watch was just sitting there... I didn’t give Bennett a chance to change his mind. I grabbed the watch off his desk. “Tell me the truth. What are you hiding?”

He just stared at me.

Was I doing it wrong? I lifted it up. Holding the watch face out toward him. “Tell me your secret, Bennett.”

He squinted slightly.

Maybe it was the wrong way. I turned it around, letting the gold part with the strange symbols face him. “Tell me.”

This time it almost looked like he was in pain.

Sometimes the truth fucking hurt.

But he didn’t offer me any information. He just stared back at me.

And then I remembered what he’d told me last night. I grabbed the chain of the watch and swung it back and forth. “Tell me your secret, Bennett.”

His face scrunched up in pain. It looked like he wanted to scream. A few tears fell down the corners of his eyes. He stared at me pleadingly. Begging me to stop with his eyes.

I knew he was bank robber. But I’d also seen a good side of him. A kind side. I didn’t want to hurt him. I dropped the watch .

Bennett bent over, gasping for air.

“I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his back. “I’m so sorry, Bennett. I don’t know what I was thinking. I didn’t know it would hurt you. I was just so mad when I realized you used the watch on me.”

“What are you talking about?” He coughed into his hand. “I didn’t use it on you.”

“Did you have it the night of the Fall Festival? On the Ferris wheel?”

“Emma.” His breath was still ragged.

“What about in here the other day? When Titan walked in on us.”

He shook his head. “I didn’t use it on you. I’d never do that. I’m not him .”

Callum. He’d told me he used to use it on women. He’d told me the truth. I stared at Bennett. But I couldn’t tell if Bennett was telling me the truth now. “I don’t know if I can believe you.”

“I touched you on the Ferris wheel because you were grinding against me. You told me you hadn’t been touched in a long time. You asked me to.”

I had asked him. “But how do I know if you made me ask.”

“I didn’t, Emma. It was the heat of the moment. I wanted to touch you. But you wanted it too. Didn’t you?”

Desperately. I remembered feeling frantic. I’d begged him to do it.

“And yesterday in my office? After the Ferris wheel, I didn’t think you minded having an audience. And you didn’t say anything when Titan walked in. I thought you…I thought you liked it. ”

I shook my head. Even though he was right. I had kind of liked it. “But did you have the watch on you either time?”

“Yes. On the Ferris wheel. But not yesterday. It was in my desk.”

So he didn’t use it to make me spread my legs. I’d done that. Willingly. And I was pretty sure in my gut I’d known that. I liked him. I really did. But how could I ever really know for sure? I grabbed the pocket watch off the ground. I knew how to fix everything all at once. “Then destroy it.”

He looked down at the watch and then back at me. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I need it, Emma.”

“So you can rob banks?”

He didn’t look at all surprised by my accusation. “So you already talked to Callum? That’s where all this is coming from? You were supposed to wait until today.”

“So that you could control me the whole time?”

“No. So that I could keep you safe.”

“There’s nothing to keep me safe from.” I pulled the pen out of my purse. “It didn’t burn him. He’s not a vampire. You’re just poisoning me against him and I have no idea why.” I tossed the stupid gold pen at him.

He caught it. “What do you mean it didn’t burn him?” He looked down at the pen like he thought it was broken.

“I put it against his skin twice and it did nothing.”

Bennett shook his head. “No. That can’t be right. It burned him ten years ago. Right here.” He pointed right above his left elbow. “I saw it with my own eyes. ”

I shook my head. Callum was right. Once a snake, always a snake. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying. I have no idea why it didn’t burn him this time. But he’s a vampire. And he’s messing with your head.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s you , Bennett. You’re the one with the pocket watch. You’re the one manipulating everything.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I think I do. I want my money out of this bank. And Zoey’s too. I want nothing to do with any of this.”

“Emma…”

I dropped the watch on the ground again. I lifted the heel of my boot to stomp on it.

“Stop,” Bennett said as he pulled me away from it. “I just told you that I need it.”

“You don’t need to rob banks, Bennett.”

“That’s not what I need it for.” He grabbed the watch off the floor.

“Then why do you need it?”

He kept the watch in his hand as he stared at me. “I can’t tell you.”

I shook my head. He was literally holding the watch. I couldn’t believe a word out of his mouth. “Put the watch down and just tell me the truth.”

He shook his head and set it down behind him on the desk. “That is the truth. I can’t tell you. I just…I have to show you.”

“I’m not going on a heist with you…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. That’s not my secret.”

“So you don’t steal things for a living? ”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “All the banks are insured. The only person we’re stealing from is insurance companies.”

“Stealing is stealing.”

“But we’re using it for good. We’re giving it to good people. We’re not just hoarding it for ourselves.”

“Oh really? What about all those artifacts in your vaults?”

“We’re preventing them from getting into the wrong hands. And we didn’t steal any of those. They’re rightfully ours. Anyone else who had them was the thief. Like Callum. The pocket watch never should have been in his possession. He was using it to kill people, Emma.”

I shook my head. “He’s not a monster, Bennett.”

“He is. I don’t know why the pen didn’t burn him this time. But just look for a burn mark above his elbow. You’ll see it. I swear it’ll be there.”

“Bennett…”

“And come back tonight. After the sun sets. And I’ll show you what I can’t tell you.”

I felt like I was stuck in some kind of game I didn’t understand. Callum whispering one thing in my ear. Bennett whispering another.

“Please,” he said. “You want the truth, right?”

I did.

“I’ll show you the truth.”

I wasn’t even sure he was capable of telling the truth.

I wasn’t sure Callum was either. I eyed the watch on the table.

But until I sorted everything out, I wasn’t sure where that watch would be safer.

In Callum’s hands? Or Bennett’s? Destroying it definitely seemed like the best option. But Bennett wasn’t going to let me .

And if he wasn’t using it to manipulate me…I wanted to know what it was for. Why was he so desperate to keep it?

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be back tonight then.”

“I know you don’t believe what I’ve told you about Callum,” Bennett said. “But please be careful around him. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’d never forgive myself.”

I touched the side of my neck. Where my hair was hiding the hickey Callum had given me last night. Callum had marked me because I’d wanted it. Because I liked it.

Bennett reached out, pushing my hair away from my neck. “Emma.” He said my name like it pained him. “I know I can treat you better than he can.”

I think maybe he was right about that. But I was messed up in the head. I liked when Callum sucked on my neck. It was just like Callum said…I’d fantasized about it endlessly for years.

But it was a lot more confusing when Bennett was touching me. His thumb gentle as it traced the bruise. “Next time, it might be the last time. One bite. And you could be gone forever.” He shook his head as his hand fell from my skin.

My heart was racing as I stared at him. One bite. What if I’d put my trust in the wrong guy? What if I’d made the wrong choice?

I needed to see if Callum had a burn mark above his left elbow. Because it was a lot easier to believe he was a vampire when I wasn’t looking right into his beautiful golden eyes.