Page 170 of Shattered Silence Duet

Her little hands clench into fists before she darts forward, hugging him so quickly, he doesn’t even have a chance to return it before she pulls away and bolts in my direction.

“Why don’t we go wait on the porch? I have something I want to give you before we leave,” I tell her. She nods, waving to the guys as we move outside.

Chapter 35

Mina

Ben looks handsome in his lightweight blue jacket, white t-shirt, and blue jeans as he leads me onto the porch and shuts the front door. We move over the railing and lean against it sideways, so we’re facing each other.

“You said you have something to give me?” I ask, filling in the silence as he stares at me silently.

“Oh, right. It’s just that first…” He licks his lips, pulling my hand up to hold between his. “I need to apologize.”

I take a deep breath and listen. There has been a lot of this lately. And every time one of them apologizes for what they’d done, I’m given a little insight into the circumstances around it. And each time, it made me see that they didn’t have bad intentions. And as much as finding out had originally hurt me, I’m starting to appreciate that they still seemed to seeme, even with the case hanging over them.

I still don’t think it makes what they did okay, but I understand why they did it now. I was more upset with the twins, Dom and Atlas, for pursuing something intimate with me before telling me the truth. That hurt. It was why it was easier to forgive Tucker than it was the twins. But I appreciated that without me evenhaving to say anything, Jasper and Max just knew they had more to make up for.

The way they refused to give into their own pleasure last night, making the whole evening about my enjoyment, had meant a lot and gone a long way towards me forgiving them.

Looking up at Ben right now, I know that whatever he has to say will be honest and heartfelt, and that, in my own way, I’ve already forgiven him, without even needing to hear his reasoning.

“Mina, I’m so sorry for how everything played out. Even though we couldn’t break our cover at the beginning, I should have voiced my opinion more with the others to tell you the truth straight away. I pride myself in being smart, and I should have seen how our actions would be perceived by you. We should have told you in the hospital room, as soon as you woke up, who we were.”

“Thanks, Ben. That means a lot.”

“You’re forgiving me too easily, Princess,” he says, a smile playing at his lips as he sighs.

“Oh? Who says I’ve forgiven you? I’m pretty sure I was promised a gift of some sort and a full day with you?” I ask him, feeling confident as I raise an eyebrow up at him in question, making him chuckle.

He reaches into his back pocket. “You were indeed. And Princess, I’ll spend every day for the rest of our lives apologizing to you if that’s what it takes.”

Caught in the gaze of his beautiful brown eyes, I’m only able to swallow the lump in my throat and nod. He breaks the connection as he looks down at the small box he holds out to me. I reach out and lift the lid revealing a sleek rose gold watch.

“Oh! It’s so pretty, Ben. Thank you.”

“This is no ordinary watch. It’s a phone, so if you ever lose your own phone, you can still call us on this,” he says, showing me the call button where all their names are listed. “And it has a gps tracker in it, so we can always find you.” My heart leaps to my throat at that thought as my wide eyes meet his.

“So if… If someone takes me, if I’m wearing this, you’ll be able to find me?”

“Anywhere in the world,” he replies softly.

I try not to cry from such a thoughtful gift. Having that extra level of safety means everything to me. And if the way Ben pulls me into his chest, hugging me firmly, tells me anything, it’s that he knows it.

He kisses the top of my head. “We just want you to feel safe, Princess.”

“Thank you, this is… This is amazing.”

He helps me put it on as the front door opens and Atlas steps out. I instantly feel the tension as we look at each other. We haven’t really had time to speak since the whole incident happened, and I’ve been feeling uneasy about him and Dom asking me to be their girlfriend before telling me the truth about who they were.

Sooner or later, we were going to have words. But despite his scary appearance, Atlas was like a teddy bear on the inside, and I didn’t want to hurt him, even though he’d hurt me. I’m afraid if I tell him how I’m really feeling, it would make things worse. I’m not sure where we stand now, if he’s even still my boyfriend or not, and that thought alone makes me anxious enough that I know I need answers. Whatever the answer is, I need to know… today.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Ben says, taking my hand and directing me to the SUV. He opens the passenger door for me, but I turn to Atlas as I speak. “You can sit in the front. I’m sure it’s crammed in the back for your long legs.”

“It’s fine,” he says, not looking at me as he opens the back and jumps in, closing it behind him. I look up at Ben, who shrugs, then gestures for me to climb into the passenger seat.

“Oh my goodness, look at the babies!” I tell Ben and Atlas as welook into the penguin exhibit. We watch them waddle around all adorably, making me coo at the cuteness.

“I didn’t know you liked penguins so much,” Ben says with a smile, watching me more than the animals, which is something I’ve noticed them both doing all day.