Page 60 of Benji

“No. He’s at home by himself. I should be with him. Or something. I don’t know.”

“You’re implicated,” he said flatly. “This case is now in jeopardy. Every file, anything you’ve touched, which is all of it.”

I stared at him, mouth open.

I hadn’t even thought of that.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No . . .”

He leaned in, his voice a whisper. “He’s the son of Bruno Barbieri. The man we’re trying to put away for some very serious crimes. The son, who is currently living at your house, and you’re paying him for sexual?—”

“No. I’m paying him for loss of income when I hit him with...”

“With your car,” he finished for me. “Can you see how this looks?”

“He ran out in front of me,” I countered. “He was being chased...”

Then I realised why he’d been running, blood draining from my face. “Oh fuck.”

Dom was immediately concerned. “What is it? He was being chased?”

I nodded. “Who did you tell about this?”

“No one. I wanted to speak to you first.”

I stood up and grabbed my jacket. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“To speak to Benji.”

Dom stood up but raised a hand. “Wait. I can’t. I can’t see him now that I know. I’m lead counsel?—”

“You said his father wouldn’t have bothered killing him because he’s gay,” I said, grabbing my keys and phone.

“Right.”

“But he’s been trying to find him, sending men to find him and chase him. He’s staying at my place to lie low from the two men who were chasing him the night I hit him.”

“What are you saying?”

“So Bruno wouldn’t kill him for being gay,” I said. “But maybe he would kill him for being a witness.”

Dom scooped up the photos and folder. “Witness to what?”

“That’s what we need to find out.”

I was so freaking nervous.Equal measures of dread and fear made for a fast and possibly reckless drive home, but I pulled into my parking spot and Dom had to run to catch up to me. The stupid elevator took its miserable time, and for a second, I considered taking the stairs, until Dom clapped my back.

“Hey,” he said. “Take a breath for me. And a second to think.”

“Think about what?”

“About how this is bigger than just you and him, okay? There’s a lot at stake here.”

I glared at him as the elevator doors opened, and maybe that one second of grace stopped me from saying something I’d later regret.

We stepped inside and I thumped my floor number. “I’m very aware of that,” I said, voice cool.

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