Remembering the knowing look in Cara's eyes and the shit-eating grin on Lee's face after Bennett and I walked out of the hotel room earlier caused my face to flame and I knocked my head against the headrest of the car, groaning. Of all the moments in the world for that to happen... it had to be with Bennett's older brother and arranged girlfriend practically right outside. I didn't even think of it until after. Bennett seemed to have no qualms about it, a satisfied smile on his face as we drove back to his place. Fortunately, after making the decision to discuss what'll happen next regarding Mrs. Calloway at a later time, Lee had offered to bring Cara home, saving me the humiliation of being with them any longer.

"It's a natural thing that happens between couples," Bennett had said when I refused to leave the hotel room earlier.

Of course he'd say that. I flopped around in my seat, wanting to bury myself. There was a time and place for things like that. What the hell was I thinking? I was crazy. Beyond crazy.

"Henley."

I gave him a wary look. "What?"

"I love you."

And in a clichéd moment, my heart skipped a beat. "Oh. I-I love you too."

He hummed contentedly. "I like that."

"How can you say such embarrassing things so easily?"

"I don't find it embarrassing at all. There's nothing embarrassing about the fact that I love you."

I pressed my hands to my cheeks, hoping my face would cool down. How did he have no problem saying such cheesy things? How had he gone from dropping oblivious insults to charming the pants off of me? Literally.

"I did mean to ask you though, was it your plan to get me into that hotel room, or Cara's?"

"Well Cara convinced me to try and talk with you again, but I thought she meant like in a couple days or a week or something. I didn't know she was going to shove us in the hotel room. Although I guess it was a good thing she did."

"I'd say it was better than a good thing."

"Bennett!"

"I'd like to be locked up in my bedroom tonight."

"Ugh," I moaned, dropping my head into my hands. I'd unleashed a beast.

"You're going to stay at my house tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I don't have work tomorrow. And... I missed you."

This time it was Bennett who turned shy, his body becoming unnaturally still as pink crept across his neck. "Not as much as I have."

"Yeah, but I wasn't the one who chose to be away from you."

He didn't respond to that and I smirked a little, looking out the window. Sure, I forgave him, but that didn't mean he could get off that easy. I couldn't resist playing the victim just a little. Not when his pouty face was that adorable.

Wait. Did that make me a masochist?

"I take that back," I decided.

"No, you have every right to say that to me," he responded matter-of-factly. "But from now on, I'm going to try to avoid situations that allow you to say that to me."

"Good plan."

"I usually have good plans. However, it seems sometimes I have bad execution."

"You and Lee both have such weird diction."

"Says the woman who just used the word diction."

"I blame that on Ariana."

"Well I blame my choice of words on my mother and elder brother. If you'd like, I could try to incorporate more slang into my speech. S'up bro?"

"Yeah... please don't do that."

When we pulled into Bennett's driveway, I immediately noticed Lee's Maserati parked off to the side of the house. Glancing at Bennett, I saw his jaw was tensed, and he idled for a moment before shutting off his car. Was Lee here? He'd said that we'd talk about everything later, so why was he here?

"So now he's here?" Bennett muttered.

Oh.

Lee and I had talked, but Lee and Bennett hadn't had a chance to talk yet. Ever since Lee came back he'd been at my place. I'm sure he had a lot to tell Bennett. And Bennett probably had a lot of questions.

Questions they probably didn't want me to be around to hear. "I'll wait in the car."

"No, you can come in," Bennett said. "Lee will be leaving."

"He's probably here to talk to you."

Bennett's voice sharpened. "And why do I have to do everything on his terms?" He gripped the steering wheel, keeping his face pointed straight ahead.

I grimaced. Siblings— the one thing that brought out the most immaturity in all of us.

"Let's go in," I said. I could just hide out in Bennett's room if they wanted privacy. I'd been missing that Jacuzzi tub.

For a minute it looked like Bennett wanted to argue, but then he undid his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. I followed him up to the door, trying not to remember what happened last time we were here. He must have been thinking the same thing because he kept his eyes lowered and messed up the passcode twice. I cleared my throat, trying to avoid scanning the ground. I'd thrown a lot of money at him... I wondered if he'd picked it all up.

Bennett seemed to guess what I was thinking and he cleared his throat. "I put it all back in your bank account."

"What? Why?"

"It was in the contract. You fulfilled your end, so I fulfilled mine."

"We got rid of the contract. It fell like two months short."

"I still owe you the money."

"No, you— actually, never mind." I shut my mouth, pressing a hand to my forehead. Bennett could mature, but he'd probably always be oblivious. "We'll talk about this later. Your brother is inside. You handle that first."

Lee was resting on the couch reading a paper when we walked down and into the living room. I noticed his shoes were still on...and his feet were resting on the cushions. Bennett sucked in a deep breath and Lee looked up, his eyes widening as he immediately sat up, placing his feet on the floor and tossing the papers he was holding onto the coffee table. "Oh, Bennett, you're back—"

"So you invite yourself into my house and put your dirty feet on my couch without even so much as a hello or I'm sorry or—"

"—To be fair this is my house too—"

"—Any time of warning and how did you even get in? I changed the locks and there's a passcode."

Lee pushed himself off the couch, rocking on the balls off his feet. "You're very easy to figure out, Ben. I cracked your passcode in less than three tries."

Bennett crossed his arms. "Take your shoes off."

Lee slipped off his shoes and I watched Bennett's fingers twitch as Lee kicked them to the side. "Still as mysophobic as always, I see. And hello Henley."

"Hi Lee."

"I've already told Henry, but I thought I'd stay at Bennett's now that every thing's out in the open. No need to worry about my mother finding me."

"Where were you staying before? Go back there," Bennett snapped.

"At your girlfriend's place. Of course, I'll gladly go back—"

"Never mind, stay here."

Lee smiled contently. "Very well."

Bennett scowled at Lee and Lee seemed unaffected, stretching out his arms and yawning. I planned making my escape to Bennett's room, but Bennett must have known what I was scheming because just as I took my first step away, he grabbed my elbow and stopped me.

Lee blinked at us. "Am I intruding on you two?"

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" Bennett asked.

"I'm glad you worked things out with Henley? Great character development on your part."

"Lee."

"What?"

"You know what I mean."

Lee sighed. "I'm here, Bennett. I'm back. I don't know what else there is to say. Should I apologize? Should I say I feel guilty? I thought about it, but I realized I'd never be able to express just how sorry and ashamed I actually am."

And there it was. I glanced between the two men, watching as Bennett's anger melted and Lee's posture tightened. I didn't want to be here for such a private moment, but Bennett's grip on me was vise like.

"That's not what I meant," Bennett said, and I could tell he was trying to keep his voice from shaking. "It's not your fault everything became too much and it's not your fault our mother sent you across the country and left you to rot."

"It is my fault. It was my choice. I left you behind to deal with my mess. That's why I had to come back. Everything that's happening now is my fault. I have to fix this."

"No, we have to fix this. You and I both. Why didn't you come to me when you came back? I'm your brother. I can help you much more than Henley. How could you show up at my house and not even ask if I was doing okay? I've been worried about you, dealing with everything alone, hoping you'd come back... and when you did you couldn't even look at me properly."

Lee looked as if he'd been slapped. "Bennett, it's not that I didn't want to see you—"

"Well, that's what it felt like."

"I'm sorry. I just was afraid if I were with you, our mother would notice and try to send me away. I wanted to see you too. But I couldn't risk it—"

Bennett looked at him evenly. "Sometimes we inadvertently hurt the people we care about when we try to protect them."

I couldn't blame Lee for not having a response to that. Even I was a little shocked.

"I see we're more alike than ever," Bennett continued. "But I've learned that it's okay to ask for help. Actually, it's better to ask for help. Otherwise you'll struggle and blame yourself. You don't have to fight your battles alone. It's time you learn that too, Lee."

Lee stared at Bennett for a moment before letting out a soft laugh. "Why do you sound like my big brother right now?"

"You don't always have to look after me. I'll look after you, too. Just don't leave again."

I politely avoided my gaze and once again tried to shake my arm loose, but Bennett still wasn't letting go. Judging by the fact he was nearly cutting off my circulation now, I think he wasn't planning on it any time soon. Still, it felt wrong for me to listen. It wasn't easy to put your feelings out there like that. Especially for someone like Bennett. Maybe he was keeping me anchored for moral support.

Lee stepped forward and ruffled Bennett's hair. "That's the plan, Bennett."

Finally, Bennett bristled and let go of me, swatting off Lee's hand. "Good."

"My cute little brother, when did you learn to be so honest with your feelings?" Lee cooed, pulling Bennett into a hug. "I almost cried, honestly."

Bennett tried to shove Lee off him, but only managed to wave his arms around helplessly. I smiled a little. The relief in the air was almost tangible. They were good brothers.

However, when I imagined this scenario with my brother, I gagged. Brandon's feelings consisted of being hungry and being annoying. A touching moment with him? Impossible. I cringed to even think of such an instance.

"So should I leave the house tonight?" Lee asked, stepping back from Bennett and returning to his position on the couch. "Do you two want to be alone? I understand if you do."

"No, you can stay," Bennett said.

"Henley, is that okay?"

"What?" He was asking me? "This is your house. I think. Isn't it?"

Lee nodded. "Yes. Bennett has apparently left my room completely untouched. Henry told me he doesn't even go into there."

Bennett flushed. "Henry..."

"Why don't we order a pizza?" Lee suggested, walking over to the kitchen and peering in the cabinets. "All the feeling sharing has made me hungry and Bennett clearly doesn't need substance to live, considering how empty these cabinets are. What kind of pizza do you like, Henley? Cheese? Hawaiian?"

"Cheese is fine."

"You and Bennett are so boring. I'll get half Hawaiian then. You'll have to put it on your card though, Bennett. Okay? Bennett?"

Bennett didn't answer. He had picked up the papers off the coffee table and now was staring at them, frozen in place. Lee noticed this and quickly moved to grab them from him, but Bennett yanked them out of reach at the last second. "What is this?" Bennett asked.

"It's nothing, give it to me."

"This isn't nothing, Lee. Why do have her tax return forms?"

Her? As in Mrs. Calloway? It had to be. What was Lee doing with those forms? Was he plotting something? I tried to peer at the papers, but the text was ineligible. A part of me thought maybe that was a good thing. I didn't want to know how much Mrs. Calloway made a year. I'd probably cry.

"I'm just covering the bases," Lee said, ripping the papers out of Bennett's hands. "Don't worry about it."

"Tax fraud? Do you really think our mother is that stupid?"

"Do you really think she isn't capable?"

"You might as well check for money laundering too."

"I am. I told you before, I'm going to kick her of her position. I'd like to avoid having her criminally charged, but I'll take what I can get. I'm sure she could avoid jail time if it came to it."

"Lee," Bennett protested.

"It's what we have to do, Bennett. I'm going to resume my position as the successor. I'll make this a better company. I'm going to be making my rounds with the board and share holders once I make an official announcement."

"What if you find something? Would you really tip off the IRS?"

"If I found something, yes."

"She's our mother."

"I know," Lee responded coolly, not missing a beat. "It's fine if I work myself to the point of passing out because she's my mother. It's fine if she threatens to dump me and you out on the streets because she's our mother. It's fine that I deal with the families of employees she dismissed who then couldn't pay their mortgages anymore solely because our mother was having a bad day. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

Bennett lowered his gaze to the ground. "I see."

Lee exhaled softly. "I'm sorry Bennett, but this can't go on any longer."

"I understand."

"I doubt she's committing tax fraud. I'm just looking for anything we could use against her right now. I love her and I don't want to hurt her, but she needs to know when enough is enough."

Bennett straightened out his shoulders. "I'll help you. I can't forgive what she has done to you and Henley."

"Neither can I. And Henley, I know you're not part of our family yet, but I think you should be involved in this too. We might need your help."

"I said before I'd help you," I told him, gripping the fabric on my thighs. "But I understand this is also a family thing, so let me know if I ever overstep my boundary."

Lee smiled. "I doubt you would."

"Anyway, it's way too tense in here. I'm sweating," I admitted. Hearing Bennett and Lee talk so seriously made me feel like I was suffocating. "I'm going to go order that pizza."

"I have a gift card for a place that delivers here, so let's order from there. The card's in my room," Bennett said.

"I'll get it!" I volunteered. Maybe I could give them a private moment still.

"It's in a box in the top drawer," Bennett told me as I hurried up the stairs.

I slipped into Bennett's room, walking slowly toward the dresser. I'd seen the box before, but never had looked in it. When I took off the lid, I rolled my eyes. It was full of gift cards to all sorts of places. Of course Bennett would have a collection of gift cards instead of spending them like normal people.

Note to self, don't buy Bennett gift cards for presents.

After dawdling around for an amount of time I figured wouldn't be suspicious, I headed out of the room. Just as I stepped out, the front door opened, and I jumped back, hiding behind the doorsill. I peeked out, expecting to see Mrs. Calloway but seeing Sebastian instead. He headed straight for the stairs and I sighed in relief.

"Bennett, I have something to show you," I heard Sebastian say as I exited the room and peered over the banister down at him.

"How did you get in?"

"Your passcode isn't very hard to figure out. But that's not why I'm here. This is important. Look at this," Sebastian responded, thrusting the folder at Bennett.

Bennett opened it and examined the first page, his eyebrows drawing together. After a second he snapped the folder shut, turning to Sebastian and saying something I couldn't hear. Sebastian looked up at me as I rounded the corner to the stairs, wondering what was in the file. Dirt on Bennett's mother? If anyone could find anything, it'd definitely be Sebastian.

"What's up?" I asked as I approached the trio.

"Nothing," Sebastian said, taking the file back from Bennett and holding it tightly.

I pursed my lips. "Uh, that's not suspicious. What's in there?"

"It's work related. I didn't realize you were here," Sebastian responded. "I'll save this for some other time."

"I don't mind. You can talk."

"No, I'm in a hurry anyway."

A light sheen of sweat was on Sebastian's forehead and Bennett kept fidgeting with the collar of his shirt. Something was going on. Lee noticed too because he made eye contact with me and nodded toward the folder. Apparently I wasn't the only curious one. With subtle acknowledgements, Lee and I made our plan.

I reached for the folder first and Sebastian pulled it back, right into Lee's awaiting hand. Lee grabbed it and opened it, easily avoiding Sebastian when Sebastian tried to take it back.

"Lee!" Sebastian barked.

I paused, reeling at the fact that Sebastian had the capability to sound angry. He was instant pissed.

Lee just casually opened the folder, unaffected by Sebastian's tone, but the gleeful smirk on Lee's face slid off almost immediately. "What is this?"

"Lee, give that back to me," Sebastian urged.

"No. Sebastian, why do you have my medical file?"

___________________________

I bought this light up message board yesterday to motivate myself. And lo and behold, it worked! I updated 😂😂😂

Who's going to Wattcon? Three weeks away!!! I can't wait to meet you all! I'm not on any panels which means that I can sneak away and talk to everyone while the other panels are happening hehehe. Let me know if you'll be there!

I'm keeping this author's note short because I don't deserve to leave one for being such a terrible author LOL