Protect Read online

  Protect

  Benson Siblings

  Book Four

  A Corrupt Empire Novel

  Sarah Bailey

  Protect Copyright © 2019 by Sarah Bailey

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Please note the spelling throughout is British English.

  Cover Art by V Designs

  Published by Twisted Tree Publications

  www.twistedtreepublications.com

  [email protected]

  Titles by Sarah Bailey

  Dark Romance

  Corrupt Empire

  Betrayal

  Sacrifice

  Revenge

  Benson Siblings

  Provoked

  Promises

  Prohibit

  Protect

  Paranormal Romance

  After Dark

  Demon’s Destiny

  Vampire’s Kiss

  Witching Night

  Cursed Heart

  Death’s Angel

  Lucifer’s Cage

  Blood Magic

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About The Author

  To all my readers

  Your enthusiasm for my books keeps me writing

  Thank you for everything

  Chapter One

  Jennifer

  Past

  I never thought I’d ever feel the sting of betrayal from my own sister, but I was wrong. The pain in my chest was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Not even the day my father stole my innocence compared to this.

  How could they?

  It didn’t seem possible. Fi would never do anything to intentionally hurt me. She loved me. She was my soulmate. My twin. And yet she’d kept it a secret. Kept her relationship with him from me. Not only that, but I was the very last person to know.

  My sister and my therapist.

  How did I not see it? How could I not have known? Doctor Andrews had been my support network. He’d been so kind and understanding and yet he was fucking my sister behind my back like it was nothing. I didn’t care how sorry they both were. Sorry was meaningless. They’d lied to me. A lie by omission but a lie all the same.

  When I ran out of Dante’s house, I had no idea where I was going. I couldn’t go to James’. He knew too. They’d kept it a secret from me. Liora had tried to stop me leaving, but I’d told her to leave me alone. My heart hurt and I needed someone familiar. Someone who understood the complicated intricacies of my family. Someone I absolutely hated. Being alone right now wouldn’t do me any good. It would only make matters worse. Of that, I was sure.

  I trudged down the steps to his basement flat, feeling completely idiotic with tears streaming down my face. Reaching up, I rang the doorbell and waited. I’d be lucky if he even answered after all the times I’d fought with him and called him a dickhead.

  The door opened and there stood my archnemesis with a frown etched on his annoyingly handsome face. Brent had always towered over me. His brown hair was mussed and hazel eyes roamed over me with concern, like he couldn’t believe me, of all people, happened to be standing on his doorstep. To be honest, I hardly knew why I was here myself. Just the thought of going back home after what I’d discovered was the last thing I wanted to do right then.

  Brent and I had hated each other from day one. He called me a spoilt brat and I thought he was all ego and no substance. We’d been at each other’s throats since I was fifteen and he’d come to work for Dante. Brent was sort of like another big brother to James and Fi. Brent and I, on the other hand, never learnt how to get along with each other. As I got older, I tried to be civil with him for everyone else’s sakes. Didn’t mean I liked him.

  “Jen?”

  He knew how to tell Fi and me apart. Apparently to him, the differences between us were blindingly obvious although he never explained how. We were identical in appearance. Only our personalities differed in my opinion.

  “Can I come in?” I choked out, unable to keep the emotion out of my voice.

  He looked me over once more and stepped back. I’d never been down here before, having not wanted to be anywhere near Brent’s personal space. Taking hesitant steps, I walked in and he shut the door behind me.

  No going back now.

  He led me into his living room and indicated the sofa with his hand.

  “Can I get you something to drink?”

  I shrugged, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa.

  “What’s wrong, Jen? Why are you here?”

  He didn’t sound irritated, just concerned. I never thought I’d hear Brent talk to me without annoyance in his voice.

  “They all lied to me.”

  “Who has?”

  “Fiona, Doctor Andrews… and my brothers knew too. I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here. I didn’t want to be alone…” I stood up again, looking down at the floor. “I should go.”

  I started towards the door but was stopped by a hand on my arm. Raising my eyes, I found Brent staring at me with compassion in his gold flecked hazel eyes. How had I never noticed those flecks in his eyes before? What the hell was I thinking? This was Brent. He annoyed the shit out of me.

  “You don’t have to go. Come sit and tell me what happened.”

  I should’ve walked out the door and dealt with this myself. My feet didn’t move towards the hallway though. They carried me back over to the sofa. Brent took my coat from me and chucked it over an armchair before pressing me down on the sofa with a hand on my shoulder. He took a seat next to me. I eyed him warily, wondering why he was being nice to me.

  Brent wore a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It must’ve been his night off. Probably why he’d not been in the main house when I’d arrived earlier. He spent a lot of time upstairs with Dante, Liora and the cats. Though now Liora was pregnant, she told me he made himself scarce more often than not what with her pregnancy hormones making her a little crazy sometimes.

  “I feel stupid,” I whispered.

  “Why?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? You and I have never shared a conversation which hasn’t ended up in name calling.”

  He smiled and shook his head.

  “Well how about we call a truce and you tell me what your sister did to upset you. Contrary to what you might think, I don’t enjoy seeing you cry.”


  I looked down at my hands, feeling the weight of Fi’s lies beginning to suffocate me. Would I feel better if I unburdened myself even if it was to Brent? There was only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath, I dived in. The whole sorry story of what just happened upstairs spilling out as tears streamed down my face unheeded. How my sister and my therapist had been seeing each other behind my back and kept the truth from me all this time.

  Brent, to his credit, didn’t interrupt me. He sat and listened intently. I hadn’t realised how much of a good listener he was until now. Honestly, I never imagined Brent Coleman to have any redeeming qualities about himself other than his unwavering loyalty to Dante and our family. Maybe it had been wrong of me to be so hard on him.

  “They said they’re in love, but it doesn’t excuse them lying to me. It doesn’t make what they did any better. We tell each other everything and she kept that she’d fallen in love from me. That hurts more than anything. I knew something was up. I felt it in my heart.” I put my hand to my chest. “Right here. No one else understands how that feels. To know what your twin is feeling without having to ask, but I didn’t know this. I didn’t know she was in love. My own twin lied and kept something that important from me. It just… hurts so much.”

  I looked down at my hands, hiccupping on a sob. Brent dropped a tissue into my lap. I picked it up and dabbed my eyes.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “You’re welcome.”

  We sat in silence for a long moment, me sniffing as I tried to stop the waterworks.

  “You’re not going to run out and tell me how much you hate me if I tell you I knew about Fi and your therapist?”

  I shook my head and half smiled.

  “No,” I hiccupped. “You don’t owe me anything unlike the rest of my family.”

  “Jen…”

  I looked up at him. His eyes were cautious and his expression wary. Given the number of times I’d snapped at him, it hardly surprised me.

  “Do you need a hug?”

  I stiffened. The very thought of the person I hated giving me physical comfort sent a wave of dread running through me. I’d never willingly touched Brent like that before. It would be weird, wouldn’t it? I couldn’t deny I craved someone’s touch, just to ground me, to make me feel like I wasn’t breaking inside, but this was Brent. I internally shook myself for overthinking it. We’d called a truce and he was offering out of compassion. He wouldn’t use this against me or anything.

  “I guess I do,” I whispered, a fresh set of tears spilling down my cheeks.

  He shuffled closer and awkwardly put his arm around me. I sat stock still for a long moment, feeling utterly ridiculous. His body was so close to mine and I could feel his warmth. I wanted it. So I turned into him and pressed myself against his chest. He wrapped his other arm around me and mine curled around his back. I let out a long breath before a sob erupted from my lips.

  “How could she do this to me?”

  “You know she didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  Brent was right, of course, but it didn’t stop the pain coursing through my veins. The pain of knowing the people I loved and trusted had kept vital information from me.

  “I trusted him. He made me feel safe to tell him everything,” I sobbed. “To let go of my burdens. And then I find out he’s been with her. My twin. I feel like they stole each other from me. I need both of them and they betrayed me.”

  He stroked my back in a soothing motion.

  “You can’t control who you fall in love with,” he said, his voice low and full of regret.

  It made me wonder why he sounded like that. Who had Brent fallen in love with that he shouldn’t have? Why did I even want to know? I’d never wanted to know anything about this man before, so why start now? I told myself I didn’t care and whatever happened to him didn’t matter.

  Except it does matter. It matters a great deal.

  Shut the fuck up, brain!

  “I know,” I whispered.

  I didn’t blame Fi or Doctor Andrews for falling in love with each other. Fi was my sister so I could see why any man would be lucky to have her. She was strong, resolute and had always been there for me. But why did it have to be the one person I’d trusted with my burdens? Why did it have to be him?

  “It’s okay to be upset about it. They were all just trying to protect you.”

  Out of all of us, I swear they babied me the most rather than James. I might give my brothers shit, but when it came to keeping me safe, those boys and Fi were like mother hens.

  “I don’t need protecting.”

  “Oh trust me, I know you don’t.” Well, of course, he’d know that. I’d told him more than once I could handle myself. “Are you telling me you’d have been okay with it if Fi told you straight away?”

  I thought about it for a moment.

  “No… I suppose not.”

  I would’ve been mad and probably not continued therapy. Then I wouldn’t have been diagnosed and treated for PTSD. I would still be having nightmares at least twice a week and scaring the shit out of Fi every time I woke up screaming. I’d still live in fear that my brothers would be ripped away from me. In that respect, I was grateful Fi had kept the truth from me. Didn’t mean I had to be okay about her lying to me. Didn’t mean I had to be okay with their relationship because I wasn’t.

  “People do stupid shit out of love all the time. Life is messy. All you need to remember is your sister loves you, but she also wants to be happy. And I think you’ll agree she deserves that. You both do really.”

  Brent knew what happened to Fi and me. Dante told him so he’d understand the need to be cautious with us. When he’d first arrived, Fi and I had still been mute. He happened to be one of the first people I’d spoken to and it was only because he’d been annoying me. I’d told him to fuck off and leave us alone. I guess you could say we’d gotten off on the wrong foot and things hadn’t really changed since then.

  I pulled back slightly and looked up at him. His gold flecked hazel eyes didn’t betray his feelings at that moment.

  “Do you really think that?”

  “What? That you deserve to be happy? Yeah… I do.”

  “Even though you hate me.”

  His lips quirked up at the side. My eyes fell on them.

  “I might have thought you were a brat when you were a teenager, but I’ve never hated you.”

  I couldn’t stop staring at his mouth. I had no idea why. It was the first time I’d really spoken to him without thinly veiled animosity pulsing between us. Now, something entirely different seemed to be happening here.

  “Do you still think I’m a brat?”

  I think he noticed where my attention was because he shifted slightly, his arms tensing around me.

  “No.”

  “Then what do you think of me?”

  A loaded question if ever there was one. And I really had no idea why I’d asked it. I told myself over and over again I didn’t care what Brent thought about me.

  Liar, liar, pants on fire.

  “I think you’ve been through a lot of shit in your life and a lesser person would’ve crumbled, but you came out fighting. You’re a firestorm. Raging through the world and leaving ashes and dust in your wake.”

  I wasn’t quite sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult.

  “I admire your tenacity even though you continuously call me a dickhead without any real reason.”

  “You admire something about me?”

  My attention shifted to his body next to mine. How well built he was. How his hold was gentle yet firm. And how I really, really couldn’t stop staring at his mouth. I’d always been irritated by how handsome Brent was since I didn’t like to think of him as anything other than an arrogant prick. Now, my heart raced and I was wondering what he’d do if I closed the distance between us.

  “That’s what you’re focusing on? Well okay, then yes, I do, but don’t let
it go to your head.”

  “I won’t,” I whispered as I moved my hand from his back and rested it on his shoulder, my thumb brushing over the base of his neck.

  He seemed to take a long breath.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He searched my face, eyes full of hesitation.

  “You hate me.”

  “I do.”

  Lie.

  I was pretty sure right at that moment I didn’t hate him at all. In fact, I felt things about Brent which made my palms sweaty and my insides coil in anticipation. His closeness affected me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. Ones which had my thoughts scattered and desperately clinging to a rational explanation for why my heart slammed against my ribcage and the prospect of having him much closer enticed me.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?”

  My eyes were still firmly focused on his lips like I was trying to brand them in my memory. I wondered what they’d feel like against mine.

  “Fuck, Jen,” he muttered before his hand was suddenly in my hair, tugging me closer.

  When his mouth landed on mine, I snapped out of my trance and froze. What the hell was happening right now? Was Brent actually kissing me? And why, why, why did it feel good and make my body thrum?

  He pulled away abruptly, his hazel eyes wide with confusion and alarm.

  “Shit, I’m sorry, I don’t know what just—”

  I didn’t let him finish that sentence. My body acted on instinct as it pressed against his and my lips sealed away his words. Holy shit I was kissing Brent. And I didn’t want to think about the hows or whys. I just wanted to feel and explore whatever seemed to be pulsing between us. Desire. Hate. I didn’t care. All I knew is he felt good.

  My hands wound their way into his hair, tugging at the strands. I pressed him back against the sofa, needing to have his solid body flush with mine.

  “Jen,” he whispered against my lips like it was almost a plea.

  I parted my mouth like an invitation and he dove in, his tongue curling with mine. He tasted faintly of mint and beer. Next thing I knew, I was straddling him and it was hands running over each other’s bodies, the overwhelming need to explore every inch driving us. As his fingers brushed over my stomach, I shuddered. I wanted his hands lower, touching the most intimate parts of me.