Page 75 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. Two (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #2)

Wren

I’m not sure what wakes me up—the terror of being chased through the house or the sound of my bedroom door opening. I bolt upright, yelping when I see his silhouette lit by the dim lights in the hallway.

He’s holding something.

Something big.

It’s a weapon.

“Wren? What’s wrong?”

Throwing back the covers, I scramble away from him. And then I’m falling, crashing to the floor. My ass hits the ground, and my shoulder knocks into my nightstand, sending pain ricocheting down my arm.

“Fuck—sweetheart, it’s okay.”

Light floods the room, and I hold up a hand to shield my eyes. “Rhett?”

Rhett. Not him.

There’s a light thud, and then he rounds the bed and drops to his knees beside me. His touch is gentle as he eases an arm around me.

“Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?”

“No, I… I’m fine.” I think.

“What happened?” he asks.

“He chased us,”

I mumble, rubbing my eyes. Getting up so quickly has me disoriented.

“He was killing us off one by one, and I was hiding in here, and then the door opened, and I…”

“Hey. It was just a dream.”

Rhett works an arm around me, coaxing me out of the corner I realize I squeezed myself into.

“Thomas can’t get to you here.”

Even as my anxiety fades, I find myself shaking my head.

“What? No, not Thomas. I meant Ludo.”

That causes Rhett to completely freeze. He stares at me, his arm still around my back and holding me up.

Almost immediately, I realize I should’ve let him believe otherwise.

“No—no, it’s fine. I know he’s locked up. And chained up. It’s just my anxiety. I know he can’t get to us. Please don’t kill him—not until you’re ready.”

But Rhett shakes his head, his expression set. His mind is made up.

I grab his arm when he moves to stand, holding on as tightly as I can.

“No! Rhett, I’m begging you. I don’t want to be the reason you do something you end up regretting.”

“Protecting you will never be something I regret.”

He says it so fiercely, a direct contrast to how he lowers himself back to the floor and caresses my face.

“Just stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.”

This time, he slips away before I can grab him again. I get up as quickly as I can. Now that I’ve had a couple minutes awake, I’m not nearly as unsteady on my feet. My head still hurts like a bitch, but I’m not dizzy or anything.

I dash for the door, only realizing once I’m out in the hallway that I’m not fully clothed. With a groan, I turn back, grabbing some pants from my dresser. As I do, I notice what’s on top.

What Rhett was holding wasn’t a weapon, and it isn’t big at all. It’s a plate, holding a few slices of bread and a steaming bowl of soup. My heart melts at the gesture, but I barely have time to think about it.

“Rhett,”

I call as I run through the house.

“Rhett, wait!”

But he’s already too far ahead. I have to take the stairs at a normal pace, too afraid I’ll lose my balance and fall down them. By the time I’m at the door to the second basement, my heart is pounding rapidly.

I throw the door open, and my stomach drops when I don’t see Rhett. As I descend, I look around, but he isn’t down here. The light is on, though, which means he’s already in the cell.

Even though I know he won’t hear, I pound on the door.

“Rhett! Rhett, don’t!”

After a few seconds, the door swings open, and I’m immediately hit by the sound of screams. I stumble backward, staring at Rhett as he steps out of the cell and shuts the door. Immediately, the screams stop, silenced completely by the soundproofing inside.

Screams. Ludo is alive. Thank fuck, he’s alive.

Rhett is holding a sledgehammer in one hand. As he takes me in, his hard expression softens.

“What did you do?”

I whisper.

“He’ll never walk again.”

He drops the sledgehammer to the floor before wrapping me up in his arms.

“You’re safe. I promise, sweetheart.”

“I thought you were going to kill him,”

I breathe out.

“I was. Didn’t come up with this idea until I was halfway down the stairs.”

My arms tighten around him, my fingers fisting his shirt.

“I’m glad you didn’t. You deserve this. But…”

Tilting my head up, I meet his gaze, butterflies coming to life in my stomach.

“Thank you.”

With an almost imperceptible smile, Rhett dips his head down. His lips meet mine in a kiss that’s startlingly sweet considering he just broke a man’s legs.

For you, my mind whispers. He did it for you.

“Is everything okay?”

Benny shouts from the top of the stairs.

Shit. In my desperation to get to Rhett, I forgot to close the door.

Footsteps pound as Benny runs down the steps, quickly followed by Elliot, Oliver, and then Andrew.

“Wow,”

Benny says, his gaze zeroing in on the door that leads to Ludo’s cell.

“What’s in there?”

“Nothing,”

Rhett replies smoothly, turning to face everyone while keeping an arm around me.

Benny eyes the door.

“I thought I heard someone screaming.”

At that, Rhett hesitates. What’re his choices? Gaslight his brother, lie, or tell the truth. None of those are anything near the way Rhett wants to treat Andrew and Benny.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says.

“More secrets?”

Benny crosses his arms.

“You still haven’t told me why you were a prisoner! And I don’t understand because Mr. Holloway and Mr. Axel are nice. And then there’s the package, and then—”

“Package?” I ask.

“It’s nothing,”

Elliot answers quickly.

“No!”

Benny shouts, and I realize that he’s not just annoyed. He’s lost. Confused, lonely, worried, and I think even a little scared.

“Ben,”

Andrew snaps.

“That’s enough. Now isn’t the time for a temper tan—”

“No.”

Rhett steps forward, his firm tone silencing Andrew immediately.

“Benny deserves answers. You both do.”

***

Once we’re all upstairs, Rhett has us sit around the kitchen table. Oliver retrieves my soup from my room, and I dip my bread in it and eat slowly. The flavors explode on my tongue, dancing together, and the bread is so soft and delicious.

“Is all of Meredith’s cooking this good?”

I whisper to Oliver.

He nods, his eyes glittering.

“She’s an amazing cook.”

“All right.”

Rhett releases a long, slow breath.

“Benny, Andrew, I’m sorry it took me so long to explain everything. I know it’s been a rough couple days.”

Benny still looks upset, but the fact that he’s finally getting answers seems to be placating him enough. As for Andrew, he looks nervous—probably because Rhett could very easily expose that he took part in putting us all through hell.

“For you guys to get the full picture, we need to go back in time a while—to before you were born, Benny.”

Rhett pauses, probably bracing himself for all the emotions he’s about to unleash.

“Remember when I told you that Richard was married to another woman before yours? Her name was Vivian.”

“That’s your mom, right?”

Benny asks.

“Obviously,”

Andrew mutters.

With a glare, Benny punches him in the arm.

“I heard that!”

“Hey.”

Rhett keeps his voice gentle, waiting until his brothers have turned back to looking at him.

“I have a lot to tell you, so I need you guys to stay focused.”

“Sorry,”

Benny mumbles.

“My parents had me while Richard was in medical school,”

Rhett continues.

“He had to drop out to take care of me and Mom, and he came to resent me for it. It wasn’t until after Sammy was born and I’d graduated high school that he was able to go back to school. By then, Sammy was already dead.

“She was shot, right?”

Benny’s eyes are filled with so much sadness as he asks it.

Rhett nods.

“She’d be about Andrew’s age if she was still alive. A couple months older, I think.”

Benny’s features light up with rage.

“But that means that she was nine! Who’d kill a nine-year-old girl?”

“A man who only cares about two things,”

Rhett replies.

“Himself, and power.”

“Who?”

Andrew asks, but based on his tone, I think he already knows.

“It was Ludo.”

“Mr. Holloway?”

Benny looks from Rhett to Andrew and then back again.

“But he was helping us. None of this makes sense! Why was he helping us but keeping you prisoner?”

“He was lying,”

Andrew says.

“I fell for it. I… I’m sorry.”

“We stole something from him,”

Rhett says, “but we got caught. He was keeping us prisoner while he punished us.”

Benny’s eyes widen.

“Punished you? How?”

Again, Rhett hesitates. Oliver and Elliot share a look of worry. Can we tell Benny the truth? It’s a lot for a child to handle.

Apparently, Andrew doesn’t have the same reservations.

“Ludo was going to kill them, and he was using you as leverage to keep them in line. If they tried to escape, Ludo was planning on killing you.”

At that, Benny’s face goes slack. “He… but…”

“We wanted to escape sooner, but we had to wait until we could make sure you’d be safe when we did,”

Elliot says.

“Ludo is good at manipulating people into believing what he wants them to believe. He’s not a good person—he’s as far from it as someone could possibly get.”

“What about your bodyguards?”

Benny asks weakly.

“They were Ludo’s men making sure I didn’t try to run.”

Benny blinks rapidly, but I still see the tears he’s trying to hide.

“And Mr. Axel? He was a prisoner, too, right?”

“He… he worked for Ludo,”

Rhett says, his eyes shining with an unspoken apology.

“But he also helped us escape. We wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him.”

With a quiet sniffle, Benny shakes his head.

“You’re lying.”

“He wanted you to know that he’s sorry.”

The regret in Rhett’s voice matches his pained expression.

“You’re lying,”

Benny yells. He stands so forcefully that he knocks his chair back, and it almost topples to the floor.

“He would never work for a murderer.”

“Benny—”

“No! I don’t believe you.”

He runs out of the kitchen.

“Ben,”

Andrew shouts, and I wince at the harsh impatience in his tone.

“You get your ass back here right now.”

“Don’t,”

Rhett says. When Andrew gets up, Rhett jumps to his feet and grabs him.

“Let him go.”

“He’s too old to pull shit like this. He knows better.”

“And you should know better than to yell at him the way Richard does.”

Andrew’s head snaps back like he’s been slapped.

“What? I’d never—”

“That’s exactly who you just sounded like,”

Elliot says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“Doubt he’s changed much since the last time we saw him.”

Oliver nods in agreement.

“He’s allowed to be upset,”

Rhett says.

“Just give him some time to process.”

With a sigh, Andrew flops into his chair.

“He’s acting like a five-year-old.”

“No, he’s not. He’s acting like a twelve-year-old who’s been emotionally abused his whole life, recently got kidnapped, had his entire life turned upside down twice, and just found out an adult he looked up to is a shitty person.”

Elliot’s voice is hard, and just a touch of impatience bleeds through.

I expect Andrew to snap back at Elliot, but he sighs and rubs his face. Again, those conflicting feelings rise up in me. I don’t know what to think of Andrew—to be understanding of him or not. To give him room to grow or to continue being cautious of him.

Maybe it’s both.

“Ludo’s behind that door downstairs, isn’t he?”

Andrew asks.

Rhett nods.

“I don’t think Benny is ready for that yet.”

“Definitely not,”

Andrew mutters.

“Are you gonna kill him?”

Narrowing his eyes, Oliver asks, “You gonna keep your mouth shut about it?”

“Who am I gonna tell, the cops? How the fuck would I do that without admitting that I kidnapped my little brother?”

“Fair point.”

“What were you doing in there earlier, Rhett?”

Elliot asks.

“Breaking his legs.”

He says it so casually, like he’s talking about going on a run or grabbing a drink of water.

Oliver lets out a low whistle.

“Good. The bastard deserves it.”

“He really killed Sammy?”

Andrew asks.

“How did it happen? You said she ran from school?”

Rhett sighs heavily.

“Richard was never around, so I had to pick her up from school every day to make sure she got home safe. She slipped away one day, and as far as we can tell, she got lost on the way home.”

“I know I was just a kid, but… I’m sorry,”

Andrew says quietly.

I think we’re all surprised to hear him say it. Elliot and Oliver exchange a glance while Rhett places a hand on Andrew’s shoulder.

“Thanks. I… I’m sorry, too.”

For the rest of the evening, we give Benny some space. We figure that when he’s ready to talk, he’ll come out of wherever he’s hiding—his room, probably. When I was younger, I used to be the same way. I just needed some space to process my feelings.

At some point, I get cold and head upstairs to grab a sweater. My bedroom door is closed, but I can see light shining through underneath it.

How odd.

Pushing it open, I peer inside. And there’s Benny, curled up in my reading chair with one of the books he’s borrowing.

“I know I shouldn’t be in here,”

he blurts.

“But I figured no one would look for me in your room. Please don’t be mad.”

“Fair enough.”

I enter my room slowly, keeping my posture lax. It doesn’t look like he wants to leave, so at the very least, he doesn’t feel the need to hide from me. At the most, maybe he wants someone to talk to.

“I know Rhett wouldn’t lie to me,”

he says, his voice just barely wobbling.

“He’s a good person. Every time I think he’ll yell at me the way Dad does, he’s nice to me. He’s…”

Benny frowns, a line appearing between his eyebrows as he tries to think of the right word.

“Patient?” I try.

“Yeah. Patient.”

Benny fidgets with the book, tracing the spine anxiously.

“And he’s tried to tell me the truth about everything. Or tell me he will eventually, which he did tonight.”

Lowering myself onto the edge of my bed, I give him a sympathetic smile.

“He’s doing his best. This is all new to him, too.”

“I just don’t want to believe Mr. Axel would work for a killer.”

Benny shakes his head.

“I liked him.”

“For what it’s worth, I think Axel was one of Ludo’s prisoners, too. Not in the same way as the guys, but… well, I don’t think Axel likes Ludo, or even wanted to work for him.”

“Really?”

I nod.

“That helps some.”

He flips through the pages, still avoiding my gaze.

“Is Rhett mad at me?”

“No. He’s worried about you.”

“Should I… apologize?”

“Do you think you hurt him?”

Benny’s eyes widen. “Did I?”

“I’m not sure.”

Resting my elbows on my knees, I lean forward.

“My general rule of thumb is that if I’ve treated someone in a way that I wouldn’t like to be treated, then I should apologize to them. Well, unless I don’t like them, or I think they deserve however I treated them.”

“So I don’t have to apologize to Andrew anymore?”

“Ummm, well, that’s—”

Benny snickers, covering his mouth with his hand.

“I’m joking.”

I let myself laugh. It’s been a while since I interacted with a kid this much. Sometimes it’s stressful, but overall, I like Benny.

“Will Rhett… will he make me…”

Benny trails off, dropping his gaze.

Oh. Oh my god.

I guess this whole time, there’s been a part of me that hoped Richard treated his other two sons better than he treated Rhett. Considering Benny wanted to run away, it’s completely naive. I just didn’t want to think about it.

“Rhett will never, ever make you beg for his forgiveness,”

I say softly.

“I promise.”

That seems to help Benny relax. He still looks a little nervous, though.

“Will you help me find him?”

“Sure. I think he’s downstairs with the others.”

That makes him hesitate.

“Could you…”

I smile.

“You want me to ask if he can come up here?”

Benny nods.

“Sure. Just give me a couple minutes.”

Downstairs, I find the guys in the living room. Andrew disappeared a while ago, probably to hide out in his room like we thought Benny did. I don’t think he knows how to handle being around the guys after what he did to us.

“Hey.”

I wrap my hand around Rhett’s bicep.

“Can you come with me for a few minutes?”

“Yeah, of course.”

He stands from the couch and takes my hand.

“What’s going on?”

Before I answer, I tug him out of the room. Benny obviously wants privacy, and I don’t want to betray his trust.

“I found Benny in my room. He wants to talk to you.”

A line appears in between Rhett’s eyebrows.

“Is he okay?”

“I think so.”

In my room, Benny is anxiously pacing in front of my bookshelves. He stops when he sees us.

“Do you want me to go?” I ask.

“No, you can stay.”

Wringing his hands, Benny risks a glance at Rhett.

“I’m sorry for yelling. And—and for running away. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re allowed to be upset.”

Rhett steps forward, still keeping enough space between them so Benny doesn’t feel crowded.

“You’ve been through a lot in the past month.”

With a frown, Benny watches Rhett carefully. Based off what I know of Rhett’s childhood, this probably isn’t the reaction he was expecting. I’m sure there’s a part of him that’s waiting for Rhett to start yelling or to say cruel things. My guess is up until now, he’s never been allowed to be upset.

“You mean that?”

Benny asks.

“Yeah,”

Rhett replies, and I almost miss the nervousness in his voice. This is all new to him, too.

“I mean, it’s always best to not treat people poorly because of your feelings, but of course I forgive you.”

At that, Benny’s shoulders drop a couple inches, and relief fills his expression. He closes the distance between them and throws his arms around Rhett’s torso. As he squeezes his eyes shut, he holds onto his older brother tightly.

“Hey, you don’t—you don’t have to hug me if you don’t want to.”

Rhett is holding his arms out like he’s afraid to touch Benny.

“I do want to.”

Benny says, looking up at Rhett.

“Thank you.”

“For… for forgiving you?”

Benny nods.

The tears in Rhett’s eyes are unmistakable. He swallows while he tries to blink them back.

“Benny… you don’t—you never have to thank me for that.”

My chest squeezes as I watch them. I wonder if this is something that Benny will look back on in ten or so years. If he’ll realize that Richard isn’t the standard—that there are people who’ll love him no matter what and actually treat him like it.

I’m glad we’re killing their dad, I realize. Unlike Thomas, Richard still has the ability to harm his kids. I don’t want Benny to have to go back to living with a man who makes him think that forgiveness is something he has to thank someone for.

Quietly, I slip out of the room. Benny said I could stay, but I feel like I’m intruding. I have my sweater, and that’s the reason I came up here, anyway.

“You’re sure?”

Benny asks right before I close the door softly.

With an aching heart, I tiptoe down the hallway. Yeah, Richard definitely deserves to die, and I can’t wait to watch the life fade from his eyes tomorrow night.