Page 98 of Bitten By Desire
I dropped the watch on the ground again. I lifted the heel of my boot to stomp on it.
“Stop,” Bennett said as he pulled me away from it. “I just told you that I need it.”
“You don’tneedto rob banks, Bennett.”
“That’s not what I need it for.” He grabbed the watch off the floor.
“Then why do you need it?”
He kept the watch in his hand as he stared at me. “I can’t tell you.”
I shook my head. He was literally holding the watch. I couldn’t believe a word out of his mouth. “Put the watch down and just tell me the truth.”
He shook his head and set it down behind him on the desk. “That is the truth. I can’t tell you. I just…I have to show you.”
“I’m not going on a heist with you…”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. That’s not my secret.”
“So you don’t steal things for a living?”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “All the banks are insured. The only person we’re stealing from is insurance companies.”
“Stealing is stealing.”
“But we’re using it for good. We’re giving it to good people. We’re not just hoarding it for ourselves.”
“Oh really? What about all those artifacts in your vaults?”
“We’re preventing them from getting into the wrong hands. And we didn’t steal any of those. They’re rightfully ours. Anyone else who had them was the thief. Like Callum. The pocket watch never should have been in his possession. He was using it to kill people, Emma.”
I shook my head. “He’s not a monster, Bennett.”
“He is. I don’t know why the pen didn’t burn him this time. But just look for a burn mark above his elbow. You’ll see it. I swear it’ll be there.”
“Bennett…”
“And come back tonight. After the sun sets. And I’ll show you what I can’t tell you.”
I felt like I was stuck in some kind of game I didn’t understand. Callum whispering one thing in my ear. Bennett whispering another.
“Please,” he said. “You want the truth, right?”
I did.
“I’ll show you the truth.”
I wasn’t even sure he was capable of telling the truth. I wasn’t sure Callum was either. I eyed the watch on the table. But until I sorted everything out, I wasn’t sure where that watch would be safer. In Callum’s hands? Or Bennett’s? Destroying it definitely seemed like the best option. But Bennett wasn’t going to let me.
And if he wasn’t using it to manipulate me…I wanted to know what it was for. Why was he so desperate to keep it?
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be back tonight then.”
“I know you don’t believe what I’ve told you about Callum,” Bennett said. “But please be careful around him. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’d never forgive myself.”
I touched the side of my neck. Where my hair was hiding the hickey Callum had given me last night. Callum had marked me because I’d wanted it. Because I liked it.
Bennett reached out, pushing my hair away from my neck. “Emma.” He said my name like it pained him. “I know I can treat you better than he can.”
