It's A Sweet Life Part 21

Allan pulled Ben into the bedroom and whispered, "Maybe I shouldn't go today."

"You have to." He glanced out to where Libbie watched TV on the couch. "I'll be with her. It'll be okay."

"I feel like I'm abandoning her. And that's such a chickens.h.i.+t excuse, that I'm going to buy art supplies in Orlando."

"Hey, it's not a chickens.h.i.+t excuse. The bakery is closed today. It's the only free day you can go and not worry about leaving her shorthanded downstairs. That's your rationale."

Allan scrubbed at his face with his hand. "I still feel like a s.h.i.+t."

Ken handed him the disposable cell phone they only used to make contact with Miami. "Go. It's okay."

Allan returned to the living room and leaned in to kiss her. "Are you sure you're okay with me going?"

She forced a smile through her pain as she nodded. "I'm okay. Ken's here with me. Please, I want you to go have fun. You've been working your a.s.s off for me and I really want you to go do this for yourself."

After lunch, she announced she wanted to go to Walmart to pick up some things and headed for her purse. Ben frowned when he saw how much pain Libbie was in. He suspected she thought she was hiding it well from him, when in fact her every expression and movement telegraphed it loudly to his trained eye.

He reached over and took her car keys from her. "I'll go with you and I'll drive."

"That's really sweet, but-"

"But what?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "I don't have anything going on this afternoon that can't wait until tomorrow. You're obviously in a lot of pain. I'm driving you, and that's that."

He suppressed his wistful sigh at the sweet pink blush that colored her cheeks. "Thank you," she softly said as she picked up her purse from the table.

He did love her, even though he knew he couldn't tell her. It wouldn't be fair to her, especially since she'd never said it to them.

How will I ever say good-bye to her?

It was something he refused to think about.

He offered her his arm. "You're very welcome," he said as she finally slipped her arm through his. He patted her hand. "Are you going to be warm enough dressed like that?"

She nodded even as she tugged a little at her fingerless gloves. "Yeah."

He slowly walked with her downstairs and out the back door, locking it behind them. "I worry about you," he said. "I don't want you overdoing things."

"I'm okay."

He drove them to the store, offering his arm to her and keeping his pace slow to match hers. "What are we after today, anyway?"

She pulled a list from her pocket. "a.s.sorted odds and ends." She looked up at him and smiled. "And we're almost out of Astroglide."

He laughed as he leaned in to place a kiss on her lips. "I'll be the gentleman and go grab that for you. I suppose I should get more condoms, too?"

"Yeah. At the rate we're using them, though, we might need to see if we can purchase them in bulk somewhere."

"I'll take the cart and go do it. Where will you be?"

She handed him the list. "I need some new socks. I'll go get those and catch up with you by office supplies. I need a few things there, too. If you want to grab me shampoo and toothpaste while you're over there, that would be great."

"Done."

He headed over to the health and beauty section and quickly found lube, condoms, and other items on her list from that section. As he headed over to the office supplies, he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings as he scanned the shelves for the items on her list. Pens, printer paper, envelopes.

That was why he was startled, his head snapping up at the woman's voice, when she called out.

"Allan!"

He turned, ready to shove the cart into the person and run, if necessary. But the young woman, wearing a tight sweater and even tighter jeans, was too fast for him and threw her arms around his neck. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?"

His mind raced. He had no clue who this woman was. That she called him Allan briefly blipped his see-I-told-you-so meter to mention to Allan later.

For now, he had to get away from her.

"Um, hi."

She planted a kiss on his cheek before stepping back, her hands on her hips. "Leeza Maxwell." She poked him good-naturedly in the chest. "You don't remember my name, do you?"

"Sorry, Leeza. Yeah, just took a moment to process. Didn't expect to run into you here. How are you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Stuck living here with my sister, if you can believe that." She grabbed his s.h.i.+rtfront again and pulled him in. "I miss Miami. I don't suppose you're single and available right now, are you?" He tried to pry her fingers loose without hurting her, but didn't manage to do it before she planted a kiss on his lips.

"Actually, yeah, I'm seeing someone. Sorry. And we're only here for a little while. Just visiting family."

"Dammit. I knew I should have tried calling you when I moved away." She didn't appear to be seriously upset, however.

Thank G.o.d. The last thing he needed was an attention-drawing lover's spat with one of Allan's club bimbos in the middle of Walmart.

Although that likely wasn't the most dysfunctional event to ever occur in the aisles of a Walmart.

Libbie let out a soft sigh as she watched his a.s.s in his jeans as he walked away with the cart. They were both good-looking hunks of men.

I still don't understand what they see in me, but I guess I should quit questioning it.

She found herself some warm socks, as well as two new flannel pj sets that would help keep her warm throughout this cold snap. As she made her way across the store to the office supply section, she froze at the end of the aisle.

There, Ken stood talking with a woman.

Libbie watched from the far end of the aisle as the woman tried to rub herself against Ken as she kissed him. Without thinking, Libbie s.h.i.+fted everything to one arm and fumbled her phone from her pocket with her free hand. She quickly snapped a couple of pictures.

He can't deny it and say I was wrong. He can't lie and say I imagined it.

No bulls.h.i.+tting his way out of it. And she wouldn't be tempted to pretend she was mistaken. She'd already caught them in one whopper of a lie, that they weren't gay.

Okay, not that it was a bad lie, because d.a.m.n, she benefitted from the truth.

And she had ignored the fact that their truck hadn't had a Nebraska plate on the front when they arrived. Maybe they did hit the DMV office like they'd said. And the weird feeling that Charles had lied when she questioned him about his knowledge of Cuban sandwiches.

And what about Charles? Was he lying the same way Ken was? What else had they lied about?

Who's to say what they might lie to me about?

It felt like a block of ice now resided where her heart had strongly beat for the men.

And I was stupid enough to fall in love with them.

She stepped out of the aisle and into a different one to get herself under control. She'd sworn she wouldn't do it, that she wouldn't lose her heart to them. That it would be about fun and s.e.x and getting some help in the shop in the bargain and extra money to help pay the bills every month.

But that she wouldn't fall in love with the men. Either of them.

As hot tears threatened to sting her eyes, she knew that was exactly what she had done-fallen in love.

With both of them. On Halloween night, the first time they'd made love to her, she'd lost her heart to them even though she wouldn't open herself to more pain by admitting it to them.

How f.u.c.king stupid am I?

After a few minutes of deep breaths to calm her shaky nerves, she returned to the aisle where he was and found him alone, looking over the pen selections as if he hadn't just had another woman in his arms.

Two can play that game.

She dumped her stuff in the cart.

"You all right?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine. Let's get this done and over with."

They got the rest of the items on her list. Any time he spoke to her, she kept her answers short, monosyllabic when possible. Staying in front of him the entire way, she swiped her credit card at the register and let him deal with loading the bags in the cart. Then she briskly marched in front of him all the way to the car, waiting while he unlocked the door for her and let her in. He rounded the car to pop the trunk and start the car so the heater would run for her.

Libbie pressed her lips tightly together to keep the scream locked inside her throat. If she started, she feared she might not be able to stop.

They might have shattered her trust, but they wouldn't take her dignity from her. She'd wait until she was home and alone and safely locked behind a closed door before breaking down and crying.

She heard Ken close the trunk. When he walked around to the driver's door and got in, she turned to the pa.s.senger window, unable to look at him.

He didn't put the car in gear. Despite the heavy silence, she kept her eyes fixed on the bank building at the far end of the parking lot.

"What's wrong?" he softly asked.

She shook her head, still not trusting her voice.

She felt him touch the back of her left hand and forced herself not to flinch. "Libbie, talk to me, sweetheart. What happened? What's going on? Something happened in the store, and I want you to tell me what."

With pain building inside her chest, she finally let go of it and allowed it to burst from her. "I saw you. I saw you with that woman in there. I saw her all over you and saw her kiss you. And I heard her call you Allan. Take me home. Now."

"Libbie, listen to-"

"I'm done listening. You guys aren't gay. You aren't from Nebraska, either, probably. You have a girl. The lies stop here and now. I'm done. I-"

"Libbie!"

She jumped at the force and depth of his voice. Her head involuntarily swung around, her eyes meeting his. She thought he was going to say something else, but instead, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it, he laid it in her lap without a sound.

The badge cast a s.h.i.+ne in the late afternoon sunlight. Blinking, she looked up and stared at him.

"Go ahead," he quietly said. "Then we can talk. It's time you know it all, I guess. We never planned to get involved with you. We didn't want to put anyone at risk."

With her fingers trembling, she silently read the inscription on the badge. Miami-Dade. She flipped past that and saw another driver's license. The picture with Ken's blue eyes, but with s.h.a.ggy, dark hair and his face covered with a dark beard and moustache.

Benjamin Donohue, with a Miami address.

A Florida concealed carry permit, with the same picture and name. A photo ID from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.

She flipped through it. Credit cards, a bank card, Social Security card, voter registration card.

All in the name of Benjamin Donohue.

Trying to catch her breath, she slowly looked at him. Both his hands rested on the top of the steering wheel, his gaze transfixed somewhere out in the distance ahead of them.

"Who are you really?" she whispered.

Without looking at her, his voice sounding tired and drawn, he softly said, "Detective Benjamin Donohue, Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office. I spent three years in deep undercover to bring down the Bianco crime family."

She looked back at his wallet, once again flipped open to the badge. "Why are you here?"

"We're in hiding."

"We?" She closed her eyes. "Duh. You and Charles."

"Allan," he softly corrected.

She felt her heart clench. "That woman in there called you Allan."

He slowly nodded, then finally looked at her. "We're not cousins. We're identical twins. Allan is an a.s.sistant state's attorney on the team prosecuting the case. She thought I was him because when we went into hiding I made myself look like him and made him totally change his appearance."

Her mind swam with questions. She suddenly remembered the night she'd heard Charles...Allan, call Ken...dammit...Ben "bro" while they were making love to her.

The only word she could give voice to was, "Why?"

He released the steering wheel and she allowed him to carefully take her hands in his. He brought them up to his chest and tucked them into his jacket. Beneath his s.h.i.+rt, she felt his heart pounding. "Let's get the groceries home and I promise I'll tell you everything. Okay? No more lies. The whole truth."

She nodded, not understanding why he now sounded so sad.

And worried what it meant.