For Your Sake (35 page)

              Her face turned away from him as she struggled.  “Ben…..let go….you’re…..you’re
hurting
me.  Really!”

              “Then answer my question, darlin’.  Who……
the fuck
…..are you? 
Really?”
The last word was a mock.

              She had tears in her eyes and sobs were catching in her throat.  “Eva.  Eva Sinclair.  Ben, please……what’s going on?  What happened?  Why’re you doing this to me?”

              “Is Sinclair your real last name?”

              Her eyes widened.  There.  Gotcha, sweetheart, he thought.  But she continued to suck in her breath.  “Of
course
it is!”

              “And your father is……?”

              “Michael.  His name was Michael.”

              “Right, right,” Ben sassed.  “Lineman.  Died of a heart attack.  Or was that a lie too?”

              Her sobs began to grow.  She was beyond scared.  She was petrified.  Of him?  Of the possible truth she realized he discovered?  “No, it wasn’t!  Everything I told you was the truth!  I swear, Ben.  I swear to God!  Please, stop.  Don’t do this to me.  Why are you doing this to me.”

              “Because I trusted you, Eva.  Because…..” holy fuck, was he going to…..,”because I fell the fuck in love with you.  Yeah, we’ve been playing house, but you kept that fine line drawn, darlin’.  Kept secrets from me when I told you…..no,
demanded
that don’t fly with me.  I told you I draw the line at betrayal and I meant it.  This patch I wear –
Three Deadly Sins
– biggest ones the club holds no mercy for – deceit, theft and betrayal. Someone crosses me, crosses the club, they pay –
big
time.  You want to know why I carry a gun?  You ain’t stupid, darlin’.  Figure it out.  I don’t care you’ve turned me inside out, don’t care you’ve twisted my shit around, don’t care that I fell so fucking hard for you I can’t wrap my head around it.  Because if I find out you’ve lied, or betrayed me, you’ll see exactly how big the payout is.”

              She was done struggling, crying so hard that she went limp.  “I swear.  Ben, I swear.  I don’t know what you’re talking about.  Tell me what you’re talking about?”

              Suddenly, he heard his sister’s pleading voice:

             
“Oh my God.  I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.  I never meant to……..I really did want to see you.  I didn’t….I didn’t mean for this to happen.  Oh my God, Ben.  I’m so sorry.”

             
Ben held her body up, that towel coming loose.  Sex wasn’t an option when he was this angry.  He could hurt her.  Seriously hurt her.  He had to keep that control which was his calling card.  He had let go of it for a moment when he confronted Lisa in the body shop that fateful night.   Now, more than ever, he had to hold onto it, to prove he was capable of keeping emotion separate from club business.  He’d done so with blood family.  Now he had to do it with a woman he was in love with.  Holding back sick waves of nausea, he held her chin and tipped her head up.  “Carmine Caprese.”

              Not a flinch.  Not a jolt.  The name didn’t affect her one bit.  “Who’s that?”

              “You tell me.”

              She’d given up.  This strong, independent, sharp woman was a surrendering mess who had lost the will to fight for the innocence he was questioning.  “I don’t know.”  She caught her breath in between her words. “I don’t know who that is.  Please, stop Ben.  You’re scaring me.  You’re really scaring me.  What happened?  What did I do?  What have I done?  Tell me.  Something.  Anything.  But please, don’t……” she lowered to a hoarse whisper, “don’t hurt me.”

              Finally letting her go, he backed away, watching her body sink to the cold, tile floor.  “You have no idea who that is?”

              She shook her head, looking up at him with those vivid blue eyes glittering with tears.  “I don’t.  I swear on my father’s grave I don’t.”

              “You know, Eva.  That’s the first time you referred to him as your ‘father’.  You always referred to him as ‘dad’.  Was there a reason?”

              “I just liked it better.  ‘Father’ is so…..formal.”

              Was she telling the truth?  Was it possible she had no idea?  That this was kept from her all these years?  Quickly, he thought of the story she told the night her mother walked out.  No…..taken from her home when she was six years old:

              “
He told me a man named Tony came for my mom that night.  Was a relative of a man my mom had an affair with at an insurance convention in New York a year after they were married.  Obviously this guy became obsessed with finding her and did – six years later.”

             
Her mother had an affair six years before she was born.  Six years later, that man sent someone named Tony to collect her mother.  Tony.  Tony.

             
  “My name is Antonio Conti.  I’m consigliere for don Carmine Caprese.”

             
Holy shit!  It was Carmine Caprese Eva’s mother had an affair with – and became pregnant with Eva with.  And it was Tony - Antonio – who came to collect her, leaving her husband Michael to care for Eva.  To make him think he was her real father all these years. 
Holy fucking shit!

             
“Ben.”  He was too lost in his back-tracking to hear her cracked voice.  “Why?  Tell me why?  Why did you do this to me?  Who is this man?”

              She didn’t know.  Jesus Christ, she didn’t know.  And he was going to…….

              He went to help her up, but she flinched, pushing herself away from him across the bathroom floor.  “Eva?”  He bent down, knowing she had nowhere to go.  What the fuck could he possibly say now to erase all he just threatened her with?  That he would kill her if he had to?

              That he loved her.

              “Listen, darlin’.  You gotta get dressed.  Van’s coming to pick us up.”

              She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.  I want you out of my house.  Out of my life.”

                How the hell would he repair this?  “Sorry, Eva.  Can’t do that.  Club orders.

              “Not till you tell me what this is about.”  Little spitfire got some of her gumption back.

              He ignored her protests and helped her up.  “I will.  In the van.  We got a long ride ahead of us.”

~~~***~~~

              Lies.  Sick, disgusting lies.

              Or…..were they?

              Eva thought of little else as she sat in the cargo area of the Skulls’ van with Ben and Wes.  Taz was driving, Tanner was shotgun.  The rest – the top officers in the club – led the way on their bikes to the home of a one Carmine Caprese, mafia
don
.  Her mother’s lover whom she left her husband for.

              Her biological father.

              Ben tried to give her the details with a slow drip, as if it would be less painful than it already was.  She basically asked him to cut the crap and just spill it, not having any patience since being threatened by this man – this man who professed his love for her – before being taken from her home and delivered to this
don
.  Just like her mother had been twenty six years ago.  The past really did come around full circle.

              They rode in silence and was glad for it.  She had nothing to say to Ben.  She was a jumble of confusion wanting to stay as far away from him, yet wanting those large, protective arms around her and tell her it would be fine.  Yeah, right!  This very man who, several hours ago, admitted to falling in love with her, yet willing to turn on her at the slightest hint of betrayal.  His actions in the bathroom frightened her, but opened her eyes.  For nearly two months she slowly fell for this man who chopped her wood, painted her dining room, redesigned her kitchen, shared morning coffee and loved her body.  But when he had her up against the bathroom wall, insinuating she deceived him about her true identity -
that
was the real ‘Big’ Ben Lawson – outlaw biker.  Sheesh, that sounded like some lame reality show title.

             
How could she still love this man after that?  How could she love him – or any man – at all?  This was all on her.  William showing up and proving he moved on from having his heart broken challenged her to do the same.  She lowered that wall and let Ben Lawson in – him and his motorcycle club.  And
in
they came, with this big bombshell which changed her life.  She wondered – she dreaded – if her dad….if Michael knew.  Knew the truth.

              The truth?

              “
You’re a good girl.  Not even this truth will take that away.”

              “You’ve lost a lot in your life, Eva.  But don’t let it rob you, or let whatever you find out destroy any part of yourself.”

              “Just do what they tell you.” 

              “You listened to them.  To him.  You must continue.  Only then will you discover.”

             
Eva couldn’t breathe as the psychic’s - Linda Moore’s - words flooded her brain.  Was that…..was this……did she?  She went ice cold, folding her arms around her body clothed in a long sweater and jeans.  Her damp hair was pulled tight away from her face in a ponytail as Ben barely gave her time to put boots on, let alone dry her hair.  She hadn’t a stitch of make-up on and the blood which drained from her face made her in desperate need of blush. 

              “We’re here.”

              Taz announced their arrival, but Eva wasn’t paying attention.  The only thing she cared about was would she be leaving – alive.  Both men up front got out and Tanner slid open the side door.  Wes climbed out first, then Ben, extending his hand to Eva who looked at it as if it had leprosy.  He was trying to undo the damage and she was playing it hard.  But then he reminded her of the man he is.  “Take my hand, Eva.  Now.”

             
“Just do what they tell you.” 

              Scooting forward against the dirty floor of the van, Eva held her hand out and took Ben’s gloved one.  Even through the leather she felt its warmth soothing the chill throughout her body.  Once out, she forced herself to look around, in case she found herself trapped here and had to dial 9-1-1 and describe her surroundings.  Hell, she didn’t even know if she was still in West Virginia or not.  The three lead bikes had stopped in front of a tall, iron gate which surrounded the complex like a prison. 

              Several men in long coats met them at the gate to open up.  One man in particular, wearing a hat and a tan coat, held his hand up, halting the club’s entrance.  The members stopped and the man nodded the other men forward.  “Same courtesy, gentleman,” the man in the hat said.  “No weapons inside.”  Eva watched as the long-coated men patted down each member of the Skulls before the man in the hat zeroed in on her.  Ben was holding her by the upper arm and it was not about to fight him.  For some reason, the Mountain Skulls seemed like the lesser of the two evils here.  “Eva Sinclair.”  It wasn’t a question, but as if he knew it was really her.

              “Who are you?”

              The man in the hat put the flat of his hand to his chest.  “Antonio Conti.  I’m the
consigliere
.”

              Eva didn’t know much about mafia hierarchy, but recognized the title.  This Antonio was the Caprese family’s Tom Hagen.  And, according to Ben, he most likely was the ‘Tony’ who had come to take her mother that night.  Her mother!  Oh, shit was she……?

              “Is
she
inside?”  Her tone was panicked and angry.

              Antonio crossed his hands below his waist.  “No, Miss Sinclair.  She is not.”  He didn’t have to ask.  He knew who Eva was referring to.  Men came forward and Antonio motioned Ben aside so he could be frisked, his gun removed from the holster under his cut.  “You’ll get them back when we’re done.” That was somewhat of a good sign to Eva.  They planned on letting the club leave.  She, however, was a different story.  Antonio motioned.  “Follow me.”

              Through the gate and up a beautifully designed driveway paved with slate blue and cream Belgian block stone, their path was lined with security lights and cameras.  The stone swirled to a hexagon design in front of a lit fountain which spewed water from a statue which looked as if it came from the old Roman coliseum.  Inside the hexagon, black stone formed a scripted ‘C’.  The house itself wasn’t large story-wise, but long.  From what Eva could tell on the ground – in the dark – it was a sprawling ranch-style which looked ‘L’ or ‘U’ shaped.  What the iron gate did for safety, rows of narrow, lush green trees shrouded the dark-stained exterior of the estate in privacy.

              Through the main entrance, the club followed Antonio, Vic first, Aero second then Doug and so on.  Ben and Eva were last with three Caprese men close behind.  The interior wasn’t a gaudy, ornate testament to someone who had money – lots of it.  It was subdued, almost old-world Italian with brushed marble, rough wood, tapestry cushions, sturdy furniture, heavy drapes and paneled walls with – gasp – murals all done with the colors of a Tuscany village.  Carmine Caprese didn’t live in a manner which spelled out how rich and powerful he was, but rather…..comfortably.