Page 95 of Wild Justice

“He’s always going to worry about you, Lulu. Not because you’re wild or impetuous or spontaneous. But because he loves you and doesn’t want anything to happen to you. We’ll feel that way about our kids, too, someday.”

“You always know the right thing to say.”

“I don’t, but it’s sweet that you think I do. Now, what can I do to help you get ready? I’m at your service.”

Sliding her hands up his chest, she wound them around his neck, her fingers making lazy circles on the back of his neck. Her eyes were soft with all the love that he was feeling, too. He hadn’t planned to fall like this, but how great was it that he had.

She amazed him. Lulu Reilly was one of a kind.

“Kiss me,” she commanded. “Then we’ll go eat pizza.”

Who was he to argue? Kai would kiss this woman any time of the day or night.

Hopefully, for a lifetime.

26

New York City

The best partof a business trip was when it was over, and Bennett Reilly stepped through his front door. He’d been gone three days in Toronto, and he was happy to be sleeping in his own bed tonight.

All he wanted to do was order in a pizza, take a long hot shower, and get some rest. He’d been functioning on about four hours a night, and he was looking forward to some solid sack time.

The lights were on in his apartment, so he assumed that his girlfriend, Sophie, was there to greet him. She didn’t live with him, but since she had three roommates, she spent several days a week at his place. He didn’t mind it at all. She didn’t make a lot of noise when he was working, and she was good company.

Frowning, he looked down at the floor in his entryway. There was a box sitting there filled with what looked like some of Sophie’s things.

“You’re home a little early.”

“We had a good tailwind, I guess,” Ben replied, motioning to the box. “What’s this?”

Sophie wasn’t smiling, which was strange. She was usually happy when he returned from a business trip. Sometimes, she’d even have a surprise dinner made for him. In fact, she wasn’t dressed in her usual pajama pants and t-shirt for lounging around the apartment. She was in blue jeans, a gold sweater, and brown boots.

“Are you going somewhere?” he asked before she could answer his first question. “Shit, did I forget that we had plans tonight?”

“No, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if you did,” Sophie said, reaching for her coat from the rack by the door. “As for what the box is, those are all of my things. At least, I think it is. If you find anything else, can you please set it aside, and I’ll send Julie over for it?”

“Why are you taking all of your things? What’s going on here?”

Ben didn’t quite understand. It had been a long three days, and he was exhausted. He didn’t have time for one of Sophie’s games tonight.

“I’m breaking up with you,” Sophie said. “I would have thought it would be fairly obvious, but you’re probably thinking about business, right?”

“That business pays for a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side. Something that you seem to like.”

Ben couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his tone. He’d stepped back into his home, and now Sophie was kicking him in the gut.

“Ben,” Sophie said with a shake of her head. “It was never the apartment, or the fancy car, or the expensive trips. It was you. I wanted to be with you. But now I’m just tired, and I can’t do this anymore.”

“I am with you,” he replied, his tone laced with frustration. “We’re together. Why would we break up? Everything has been great. We rarely argue or even disagree. We have fun.”

His arguments sounded lame to his own ears. He wasn’t the type to beg a woman to be with him, but this was a surprise. He hadn’t seen this coming at all.

“Are we together? Really?” Sophie asked, her brows raised. “Everything has been great…for you. Not for me. The reason we never argue, Ben, is because you never listen to me. You don’t think about what I want or need. It’s all you, and you just steamroll over everyone else so that you get what you want. Which is usually just to work. I can compete with other sexy women, but I can’t compete with a sexy job. And frankly, I don’t want to. I want to be with someone who cares enough about me to listen now and then.”

“I care about you. I listen.”

Her words had hit him hard, though. He was a workaholic. He was aware of that, but he’d thought he was doing a good job of balancing it with life.

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