Page 209 of The Rules
He could answer. He could explain that crossing lines didn't mean becoming his brother. That sometimes justice required compromise. That his hands had never been as clean as he'd pretended.
But instead—
He reached for the sharpest thing he had: deflection.
He leaned back, voice smooth, tone just detached enough to sound composed instead of cornered.
"You and Julian seem to get along surprisingly well,"
Ben said, dry and almost thoughtful. "Almost like you prefer his way of doing things. That what you're into now?"
Ben watched her reaction carefully, measuring each flicker of emotion that crossed her face. It was calculated. He knewexactly what he was doing. Change the subject. Shift the weight. Make her explain herself instead.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he saw it in her expression.
She didn't rise to the bait. Didn't take the defensive.
She just watched him.
And for a moment—he felt like he was under a microscope. Like she could see through the armor he'd perfected, right to the core of what was actually bothering him.
"That what this is about?" Kath asked, her voice calm and quiet.
She knew it wasn't.
And worse? He knewsheknew.
Ben held her gaze. For a second too long. The air between them felt charged, heavy with things neither of them were saying. He could feel his control slipping—not dramatically, not obviously, but in that subtle way that only she seemed able to detect.
Then he stood. Slowly. Deliberately. Each step closed the space between them until she had to tilt her chin to meet his gaze.
"I don't lose, Katherine. Not to him. Not to anyone."
The words came out low, even—delivered with the quiet certainty of a man stating a law of nature.
But it didn’t land the way he expected.
No flash of indignation. No sharp retort. Just silence… and a look in her eyes that unsettled him more than rage ever could.
Sadness.
Or worse—disappointment.
And somehow, that hit harder than defiance ever would.
And suddenly, the room felt smaller. The walls seemed to close in, the air thicker, heavier. Her gaze remained steady, unflinching—seeing right through the deflection to the fear beneath it.
"That's still not an answer," Kath said softly, unshaken by his intimidation tactic.
Ben exhaled—sharp, almost frustrated. He took a step back, creating distance between them again.
Because it wasn't an answer. Because she wouldn't let him escape this conversation with his usual deflections and redirection. She was pushing past his defenses, past the walls he'd built, straight to the question he'd been avoiding since he first called Julian.
And for a second—just one—he wondered what the answer evenwas.
Was he turning into Julian? Into someone who bends the rules so far they snap? Into someone she should fear instead of trust?
The thought settled in his stomach like lead. Heavy. Cold. Undeniable.
