Page 66 of Benji

“But he knows it now,” I mumbled. “And if he doesn’t admit it, report it or whatever, then he’s in trouble. He said something about a possible mistrial. Fucking hell, what if my father walks free because of me?”

Fitch held me a little tighter. “Then we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Then he added, “Dom will make sure it doesn’t happen. He’s a legal wizard or something.”

“He called you?” I asked. “When he said he’d called someone, I was expecting cops, not gonna lie.”

“Yes,” Fitch said with a wiggle. “Thought he was putting in a booty call and I got all excited, like hell fucking yes, I’m up for a lunch-break fuck. Then he told me you were in trouble and you needed me, so here we are.”

“Sorry you missed your booty call,” I said.

He sighed dramatically. “I’ll forgive you this one time.”

“I have to say,” I whispered, “when Dominic was sitting across from me with the case file of me, he was kinda scary.”

“Mmm,” Fitch said, wiggling again. “Did he use his big bad daddy voice? Because it’s fucking hot.”

Ky laughed this time and I gave Fitch a nudge. “I said he scared me. But then he called you, so I’m not sure what to make of him.”

Fitch sighed. “Lemme tell you something about that man. He ain’t nothing but a big old teddy bear. Hard and cold on the outside, soft and gooey in the middle.”

“Like all good daddies should be,” Ky added.

“You two are fucking perverts,” I mumbled. “I love you both.”

We were quiet for a moment, watching some millionaire real estate show on the TV. My eyes were getting heavier and these two warm bodies snuggling into me were making me drowsy.

The emotional onslaught from before had taken it out of me.

“I think you should fight him,” Fitch said quietly.

I blinked myself awake. “Fight who?”

“Your father.”

I shook my head. My immediate response was no. Like a reflex. Don’t fight back because he wins every time, and the resulting punishment is never worth it. Itwas ingrained in me to never fight back, to never question.

“Think about it,” Fitch said. “Now’s the only chance you’ll probably ever get. He’s already in prison, awaiting his trial. He can’t come for you. He can send whoever he wants in his place, but it’s not him. You don’t have to face him.” Then he shrugged. “And you’ve got two lawyers on your side who are out there right now, probably trying to figure out how to beat him while protecting you. There’s never been a better chance, Benj. Think of it like the boss fight at the end of a video game but you don’t have to fight him alone. You get to join forces with other fighters to bring him down.”

Was . . . was that . . . could that be true?

I . . . I wasn’t sure.

“I think he’s right,” Ky said. “When are you ever gonna have the state’s best lawyers on your side?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “If he knows I helped them, he’ll never stop coming for me. The best I can do is hope they put him away for a while and he has so much other shit going on that he forgets about me.”

“That’s not gonna happen,” Fitch murmured. “You know things he doesn’t want people to know.”

I sighed.

I knew what they were saying was right. This was the best chance I ever had. The only chance I’d ever get for any hope of being free from the dark shadow that was my father.

But fear was stopping me. Valid fear, fear taught tome by firsthand experience of just what my father was capable of.

I wasn’t strong enough.

“Can you give an anonymous tip?” Ky asked.

Fitch snorted. “Hmm, love me some anonymous tip.”

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