MilaThe phone rang, and I waited for Ben to pick up. After a couple of rings, it rolled over to Ben’s voice mail. I felt a little deflated. I had hoped to speak to him in person so we could clear the air, but he was probably busy. Maybe it was another emergency, although I hadn’t heard anything.“Hi, it’s me,” I said after the tone, “I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. And let you know what’s going on here at the hospital. Two of the firefighters have been moved to regular recovery rooms, so that’s great. They’re healing well, and they’ll be out of here soon. Jonas is still in ICU, but he’s awake and making progress. At this rate, he shouldn’t be here much longer.” I paused. “I just wanted to let you know. Give me a call when you have a chance.”I hesitated, not sure how to end the call. In the end, I merely hung up. I had left him a message, and that counted for something.My shift finished at a decent time. When we didn’t have a lot of ICU patients and there were

BenAfter I helped Penny ensure the reception was ready, we headed toward the church. It would be a closed casket. Uncle Dean had been hurt too badly in the crash for the guests to see what had happened to him. I was relieved it would be closed. Even if Uncle Dean had looked perfect, I didn’t think Penny would be able to handle seeing her husband’s deceased body.Everything had been taken care of when we arrived. The florists had already set up all the flowers, the casket was in place, and the reverend was ready with his sermon. He took over from me, consoling Penny, and I was relieved to get away from her for a short while. Her sorrow was so intense, it threatened to drag me down, and I had so much going on already.I walked out of the church and stood on the little pathway that wound through trees and shrubs to the side. I had been thinking a lot about my life and where I was going to live it. New York wasn’t my home, but I would have to make it so. I didn’t want to do that without

MilaSkylar groaned. “This is so frustrating.”“Yeah, it is,” I said, and I thought back to the session with my hand and pink dildo that had followed after Ben had left me. I didn’t tell Skylar about that, though. She didn’t need to know I had thought about Ben fucking me the entire time I’d been getting myself off.“We haven’t talked since he left,” I said. “Somehow, I doubt we will talk.”“What do you mean?” Skylar asked.I drank the last bit of wine in my glass and held it out for Skylar to pour me another one. When the glass was full, I looked down at the red liquid.“He’s gone. He left to go back to New York.”Skylar frowned and blinked as if what I had said didn’t compute.“We’re talking about now, right?”I nodded. “Apparently, he left on Sunday.”“Apparently?”“Yeah, he didn’t even let me know he was going. It was the reading of his uncle’s will on Monday, but he never told me he was leaving. I heard it from Jerrod on Monday night. He hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye.”“Wh

Ben“That was quick,” I said when we were done. We’d packed it all up into three boxes that I would send to New York when I flew back. “Let’s go have a drink for old time’s sake.”Jerrod rolled his eyes. “I don’t actually enjoy celebrating old time’s sake because it means you’re leaving, but I can do with a drink.”We drove to The Cottage and walked to the bar. Jerrod stepped behind the bar and poured us each a beer straight from the beer tap.“So, are you ready to be the Big Boss again?” Jerrod asked when we sat on the bar stools and sipped our beer.“I guess so,” I said. “I mean, I know what to do. I don’t need anyone to show me the ropes.” A pang shot through my chest when I said it. Uncle Dean had shown me the ropes the last time. And now he was gone.“The perks of being in charge is that you get to leave from the office whenever you feel like it. Plus, you can have as many women as you like.”I chuckled, and we clinked our beer glasses in salute to what Jerrod has just said, but

MilaHe glanced at me. “Uncle Dean’s death is almost identical to the death of my father. It’s too much of a coincidence. The police contacted Penny, Uncle Dean’s wife. They’re investigating the crash as murder.”My blood drained from my face, and all the awkwardness was forgotten. “Are you being serious?” I asked.Ben nodded. “Yeah, it’s a big deal. I don’t know what to think about it, to be honest. I’m starting to think maybe it wasn’t just an accident. Not even for my father’s death. What if someone was responsible for it? What if it was planned?”I was suddenly terrified for Ben’s life. I didn’t know how realistic it was that people were being taken out that way, it sounded like the stuff of movies to me, but if it was true, what about Ben? What if he was in danger?I didn't want to say it to him. I didn’t want him to freak out about it. But I wanted to urge him to start driving instead of flying if any of this was real.“What are you going to do?” I asked.“I’m thinking of hiring