Page 32 of Devil's Den

She let out a giggle. “I’m so sorry.” She pressed a hand to her lips. “I don’t even know why I am laughing.” It took her several moments to gain her composure and when she did, she finally took the file from him and forced a smile to her lips.

Rome stepped back and waited, watching her, unable to look away, and not wanting to.

She opened the first page, and the more she read and saw the pictures, he noticed the frown deepening within her brow.

By the time she got to the end of the file, she shook her head. “I had no idea.”

“My men caught him entering Bratva territory. When I took over the city, I pushed everyone back. There is only one reason for him to go into Bratva territory.”

He saw the tears in her eyes.

“He’s selling you out,” Beth said.

“Yes,” Rome said.

Beth slammed the file closed. “Do you have him?” she asked.

He was silent.

“If you caught him entering Bratva territory then it is only right to assume you have captured him coming out of that … turf or whatever. It’s why you’re bringing me this, right?”

“Anyone else would be dead,” Rome said.

He watched as she swiped at a tear. “Are you asking me to… beg for my brother?”

“Beth, it is because of you carrying my child and the way I feel about you, that I am giving you a choice,” he said.

“What choice do I have?” Beth asked.

“If you want me to keep him alive, then I will do that, but you have to understand he will have to be monitored.”

“You’ll have to lock him up?”

He nodded.

“And the other.”

“You know the other.”

“Kill him?” she asked.

He nodded.

Beth looked down at the file. “You know, I thought he was different from our parents.”

He saw the tears welling in her eyes and it made him hate Ben even more for pushing him into this corner. There was a lot of stuff he’d not even put in the file. Beth didn’t need to know that her brother had attempted to become a pimp, by hurting women and forcing them to earn money for him. That had been short-lived as another pimp hadn’t taken too kindly to him hurting his girls. There had also been the attempted loan-sharking, where he’d used Beth’s hard-earned money to try to build his own empire and threaten people. There was thieving as well.

The list went on and on.

Beth saw just a few of the select issues Ben had caused in the last five years. The man was a master manipulator, but Rome didn’t buy any of the bullshit as he’d seen it all before.

Ben was on a crash course, and the only destination he was heading to was six feet under.

Rome knew there was only so much he could do, and he’d already given him plenty of chances. He wasn’t kidding. Anyone else would be dead already. He’d have killed him himself, butBeth meant more to him. She was his one and only weakness. Her and the baby she carried.

“Can I see him?” Beth asked.

Rome knew it wasn’t a good idea, but he found himself nodding anyway.

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