Page 49 of Vicious Deception
Rhett
Thenextcoupledaysare agonizing. I wait for Axel to give me an update, but one never comes. Whenever we’re in the same room together, he barely even looks my way.
He and Ludo seem extra busy. I suppose now that Holloway’s fake honeymoon is over, it’s back to work like usual. They both seem more tense than normal.
As for me and Benny, our schedule stays mostly the same. I’m able to spend time with him for a little bit after breakfast, during lunch, and then after dinner. His tutor is nice, and I wonder how much Ludo is paying her to keep quiet.
My hope dwindles with every day. Seeing Oliver and Elliot in their windows doesn’t help, either. Especially Oliver—he looks worse and worse every time I’m able to catch a glimpse of him.
“Did you like school?” Benny asks me one day after dinner. Apparently, he had an especially difficult time focusing today, although Axel still slipped him a package of sour gummies.
“Depends on the subject,” I reply, catching the ball he throws my way and tossing it back. “And the grade.”
“What was your favorite grade?”
“Probably eleventh.”
“Why?”
“Before I got together with two of my partners, I—”
“You have two partners?”
“I have three, actually. Two boyfriends I met in high school, and a girlfriend we all met later.”
“Huh. That’s cool.” He tosses the ball back.
“I didn’t start dating Elliot and Oliver until senior year,” I say. “Not until after Sam died. The year before that, Ell, O, and I had gotten really close, you know? And Sammy was still alive, and even though Richard was neglectful, I felt like I had a family I could trust.”
When I throw the ball back, Benny holds it, his expression turning contemplative. “I wish I had that.”
“You have Andrew, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Benny says on a sigh. “He’s an asshole sometimes, though. And my mom . . . I don’t know. Sometimes she’s great. Sometimes she’s not. I just wish . . .”
“You were born to different parents?”
He nods, and he drops to the ground, setting the ball in his lap. “Yeah.”
“I used to wish the same thing all the time.” Coming closer, I sit down next to him. I’m pretty sure he was getting bored of playing catch, anyway.
“I’ve got you, though, right?” Benny asks, looking up at me. “You can be my family now?”
I smile. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I hope.
“What if Mom and Dad try to fight Andrew and win?”
“We won’t let them.” I don’t elaborate. For now, I can let him think thatweis me and Ludo, not that it’s me, the guys, and Wren.
Letting out a breath, Benny flops onto his back. He’s got a lot on his shoulders for a twelve-year-old. No kid should ever have to deal with an abusive parent, let alone having to figure out a way to get free of one.
“You won’t have to go back to living with Richard,” I promise him. “I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that’s the case.”
I’m not delusional enough to think that Benny fully trusts me yet. That’ll come with time, as long as I work to prove myself. Making sure Holloway doesn’t kill us all is the first step. Dealing with Richard will be the second. And after that . . .
While Benny and I sit in the grass, I let myself dream. Even before we were captured, I didn’t give myself the space to think about the future much. I’ve known it’ll be nice, and I want us all to have a chance to live out our dreams. Both Elliot and Oliver have so many things they want to do. I think Wren does, too—she just has to finish uncovering the parts of herself she buried. As for me, all I care about is that we’re happy. I want to see them get everything they want and be there to help when things get rough.