Benjamin Gomez spun the dagger in his hand, his grip steady. “Andrew Lane told me not to lay a finger on you, but I'm still pissed about you calling the cops. Someone's gotta take the hit for that, and it sure isn't gonna be you. So it's Andrew Lane."

Emily's face tightened. Her eyes never left the dagger. "Are you out of your mind? That's Andrew Lane. You really think you can mess with him?"

Benjamin let out a click of his tongue, rubbing the back of his neck, rolling his shoulders. "Why does that sound so annoying to me? So what if he's Andrew Lane? He ended up in my hands anyway. I'll do what I want."

His gaze grew darker as he looked at her. "Emily, with the way things are now, maybe you should worry about yourself for once."

Andrew turned his head, flashed her a calm smile. "It's fine, Emily. Really. Doesn't hurt at all. Not even a little. Don't stress about me."

Emily's eyes narrowed, her expression a tangled mess of irritation, contempt, and anger.

Benjamin scoffed. “Okay, enough with the meaningful looks. Seriously, you two are making me sick."

He stepped forward, brandishing the dagger. Emily clenched her jaw so hard it hurt. Her heart raced with worry. Andrew still sat there, cool as ever, like none of this bothered him. It made Emily want to hit him, just to shake him up.

Benjamin raised his arm. Emily finally snapped. "This is all because of me. Why drag anyone else into it?"

Benjamin shot her a sarcastic glare. “Andrew Lane isn't just anyone. He's part of the reason we're here. There's no way I'm letting him off the hook."

Andrew didn't even seem to notice Benjamin's approach. He just kept his eyes on Emily, almost like he was enjoying how anxious she was.

Emily's brow pulled tight. She stared Andrew down. "You really are crazy."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Benjamin brought the knife down, slicing a

deep line across Andrew's arm. Blood spurted out, bright and shocking.

Emily flinched, squeezing her eyes shut, turning away fast.

Andrew gave a low grunt, looking down at the blood streaming down his arm His face didn't change, not even a wince, like pain was something that happened to other people.

Benjamin was careful, in his own way. After that one hard slash, he stopped. He grabbed a rag and started wiping the dagger and his hands, slow and almost relaxed.

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As he cleaned the blade, he kept his eyes on Andrew's face, on the wound. He grinned. "That's more like it. I've wanted to do that for ages Thanks for making it happen man.'

Andrew smiled back, as if the blood pouring from his arm was nothing. "Anytime."

Benjamin watched him, a strange little laugh escaping, then turned his attention to Emily.

“And you, Emily, I should thank you too. If it wasn't for you, Andrew never would've walked into this."

Emily sucked in a shaky breath, her face pale as paper.

She forced her eyes open, looked at Andrew again.

He looked just as calm as before, but his arm was bleeding, the wound impossible to ignore.

She turned to Benjamin, her voice low and tight. "Aren't you going to wrap that up?" Benjamin sat down on a big rock, still cleaning his knife, not even looking at Andrew. "He's a man. He should be able to take it. Doesn't need a bandage."

Emily's face changed again. "If he passes out, are you ready for that? You really think the Lane family won't come after you?"

Benjamin tossed the bloody rag to

the ground and ground it under his boot. His eyes were cold, almost empty. "If he dies, he dies. Doesn't

Jose,

matter. I've got nothing left to le can't you tell? There's nothing I'm scared of anymore. The only thing that keeps me up at nightis worrying about Isabella's future. As long as she's okay, that's all I need.”

Emily took another deep breath, steadying herself. “And your daughter? Ashley

Gomez? Do you not care about her anymore?"