my gaze, wordlessly spewing guilt in my direction.
“You fucking piece of shit.” I drag him forward and slam him back again. “You stupid, fucking piece of shit. How could you be so reckless?”
“You weren’t here when Luther was around.”
All the air leaves my lungs on a heave. Despite how things were adding up—even though evidence was mounting—I still hadn’t believed.
Not entirely.
Not until now.
I release his throat and stumble backward.
He’s dead.
Benji is as good as buried. No trial. No second chances.
“Jesus goddamn Christ.” I shove my hands into my hair, pulling at the strands to try to make the mania stop.
“You’ve got no idea what it was like.” He straightens from the wall. “You wouldn’t understand.”
I can’t deal. Can’t even fucking fathom his level of stupidity.
Problem is, if I don’t take this to Torian, I’ll be dead alongside Benji. And if I rat out my own blood, the admission probably wouldn’t absolve me anyway.
There’s no way out of the mess he’s created. There’s no possible way I can fix this shit.
“Why?” My question is barely audible. “Why the fuck would you even…” I can’t finish the sentence through the bile thickening at the back of my throat. “How did this all start? You had to have known what he was doing. There’s no way you weren’t aware of those women.”
His shoulders slump, and he throws his hands up at his sides. “He—”
The back door to the restaurant opens, quickly dragging my attention to Layla whose mouth gapes at the sight of us.
“What’s going on?” She slams the door shut and scrambles down the stairs.
“Get out of here, Layla.” I glare at her. “This is a private matter.”
“No,” she pleads. “It’s not. He’s my husband. This includes me, too.”
I scoff. “You’ve got no idea—”
“Yes, I do.” She rushes in front of Benji, acting like a shield to my rage. “I know exactly what this is about. Please, Luca. We’ve been waiting for the news to get out for years. We never thought our actions would cause this much trouble.”
Our actions
I’m blindsided. Again. Completely and utterly dumb-fucked.
“It was my idea for Benji to tell you there was another woman,” she pleads. “I’d hoped it would stop you from digging further. We just needed a little more time. Once Robert was taken care of this all would’ve blown over.”
“Blown over?” I seethe. “How the fuck do you think this would’ve blown over? Your husband was ratting on your brother.”
“Layla,” Benji warns. “Let me deal with this.” He grabs her arms, attempting to drive her away. “Go back inside.”
“I can’t.” Tears form in her eyes. “This is because of me. I started this.”
“Layla,” Benji snaps. “Get back inside.”
She reaches for me as she’s pushed to the side. “Luca, please let me explain.”
My nostrils flare. My fucking head threatens to explode.
I don’t want to hear from her.
The only explanation I need will come from Benji. But that asshole isn’t as open to being a Chatty Cathy like his wife.
“I was a horrible person when I first met your brother,” she says in a rush. “I was materialistic and petty. Like everyone in my family, I craved money, but I wanted some for myself. Some that was my own. Our own,” she clarifies.
“I wanted to have financial security because Dad kept telling me Cole would never succeed in taking over the business, and the thought of being poor scared the hell out of me. I was the one who put pressure on Ben to do something about it. Something above and beyond the work he did for my brother.” She blinks those long lashes at me, her tears building. “When Dad offered to pay us to keep tabs on Cole, I didn’t think it would be a big deal. It was only a father wanting to be updated on his son. At least, that’s how it started.”
“Layla,” Benji grates. “That’s enough.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I clench my fist, preparing to silence him. “At least she has the balls to talk.”
“Fuck you. I can talk fine on my own.” He tugs down his shirt, righting the crinkles as he speaks under his breath. “It was only meant to be brief updates on business dealings. I’d be financially compensated if I kept Luther in the loop. That’s all. We thought we were setting Stella up for the rest of her life in case things went south under Torian’s leadership. But before we knew it, the demands got bigger and the threats started. It went from being harmless information to