He stepped forward, not into the soft light, but beside it, letting the shadows frame him. He didn't look at Eden. He looked at the man by the bed.
The air was so heavy that Eden was inclined to cross her arms over her naked chest.What is going on?Benson’s face was a blank slate. Then – there it was.
Recognition. Disbelief. Something hard and ugly illuminating his eyes.
“Liam.”
Eden's head snapped between them. “You know each other?”
Liam grinned. “Ben! I should have known. We’ve been bumping into each other everywhere as of late.”
Benson took a step, hands clenching. “What the hell are you doing here? With her?”
“The better question,” Liam said, finally turning his gaze to Eden. That look was both possessive and pitying, as if he extended his condolences for what was about to happen. As if he had accepted it on her behalf, “Is what the hell is she doing withyou.”
“Stop it.” Eden’s voice was thin on the thick air. “Both of you. What's going on?”
Benson ignored her, his focus locked on Liam. “You’re here because of me, aren’t you? That’s it. Stay out of my life, man.”
Liam laughed. “Yourlife? Come on, I've been fucking her for weeks! And, apparently, so have you!”
The words hit Benson like a physical blow. “You’rethe other boyfriend?”
Eden stood frozen, a spectator in a nightmare. The room spun. Liam. Benson. Her men.What the fuck is going on!They knew each other? Had business… a history?But Liam is ten years younger than Ben.But they weren’t even in the same line of work! What the hell!
“Someone explain to me what this is about.” Her voice shook when she spoke. As both men glanced at her, as if they suddenly were aware of her presence, she continued, “Ben, this is a coincidence, I swear.” She turned to Liam, still covering her breasts with her arms. “You’ve gotta believe me. I dunno how you two know each other, unless you’ve got bad blood from…”
Ben’s eyes alit in sudden knowledge. “You’realso the other guy from the island!”
Even Liam was slightly shocked at that. “Wait. You were there? That wasyou?”
“What the fuck!”
“What the hell!”
“So, we… you and I…” Benson pointed to Eden. “Both of us. With her. At the…”
“At the orgy, bro.” Liam almost doubled over laughing.I don’t get what’s so funny!Eden was mortified. She didn’t know why the hell she was mortified, but this wasnotgoing how it should!I should be the subject of a damn spit roast right now!Where were the freakin’ moans and high-fives! “Holy shit. I shoulda recognized you, but I never thought in a million years we’d be there at the same time again!”
Benson’s head snapped toward Eden, the earlier amusement gone. “Is he the one, angel? Your other boyfriend?”
Eden flinched, her arms tightening around her bare chest. She felt like a specimen under a microscope, her life a series of unfortunate coincidences laid bare. “Yes,” she whispered.There was a phantom ache where Liam’s hands had been only moments before. “He is.”
A muscle tightened in Benson’s jaw. He turned back to Liam, a beast circling its rival.
“And how,” Eden asked, “do the two of you know each other?”
Liam leaned against the doorframe, a picture of insolent calm. “We go way back. Don't we, Ben? We shared more than a few women in our day. Some secrets, too.”
Benson scoffed. "Secrets? That's one word for it. We shared a life for a while. You left a pretty big hole when you walked away."
Eden’s mind reeled, trying to stitch together the fragmented clues. A life? Nights? Other women? Secrets? She could barely breathe. "Wait, what? What are you talking about? How... how do you two know each otherexactly?”
Liam’s gaze drifted to her before he looked back at Benson. “Some debts take a long time to repay, don't they, Ben? Some things... you don't just walk away from.”
Benson's response was a low growl. “Don't you dare talk to me about debts. You have no idea what you cost me.”
Their words were laden with an unspoken history and a maelstrom of old wounds and unresolved tension. Eden was an intruder in a war that had started long before she entered the room. “What debt? What did you cost him? What are you talking about?”