Before they’d begun working Dominic reviewed the design with Ben and thought it was a little over engineered. He teased Ben about that but he agreed it would be plenty strong.
The extra rigidity was required as off the two large bedrooms on the south facing, second floor would be cantilevered balconies with privacy screening on their sides. They would be wonderful for catching some rays and relaxing with a good book. The view of the woods would be awesome. They would also provide a little shade and rain protection for the huge deck he planned on building off the main floor at the back of the house. That was a project for next spring. Dominic’s team was just here to build the house. Ben would do the finishing work. Now it looked like he’d be doing that work… later.
“How did it go?” Dominic asked him as he approached. Ben held up his hand and showed them the splint. Jayden finished up so he walked over to see Ben. His eyebrows went up as he took in the shiny metal wrapped over Ben’s finger. Then his face froze as he saw a long black muscle car turn into their street.
Ben caught the change in his expression and glanced over his shoulder. He looked back at Jayden. “Are these the guys you need to avoid?”
Jayden nodded nervously. Ben looked at Dominic who nodded at Hector. Hector whistled loudly and the four men turned to face the street as the black convertible GTO cruised around the circle to pull up to the sidewalk. Four young men stared back at them from the car. The driver grinned at Jayden and Ben caught the gleam of gold caps over most of his teeth. There was a lot of gold jewellery on display.
“JD, cum yah,” the driver called out.
Jayden glanced at Ben who stepped forward instead. He stopped next to the car and looked down on the smirking man.
“Jayden no longer has any business with you. Is that understood?” Ben said calmly.
“Mi enant talking to yuh. Guh wey,” he sneered, looking at Ben from the corner of his eye.
Ben struggled to understand what he was saying. The accent was strong and the junk he had on his teeth seemed to be garbling his speech as well.
“Jayden is no longer part of your crew. He’s upgraded. Leave now and don’t come back. Last chance,” Ben scowled, his facial scar very apparent.
Jayden’s nerves were screaming at him to warn Ben these guys were violent and carrying weapons. The one Ben was talking to, Ki, was the most violently dangerous of all. Ki was insane! Jayden couldn’t move or speak as he was frozen in fear.
The gold encased sneer slipped away and Ki suddenly saw Ben as a threat. He began to pull his gun but Ben’s left fist hit him over his left eye and his head snapped back. He sagged in his seat.
The car was suddenly surrounded by big, dangerous looking men holding a variety of deadly looking weapons. Everything from pistols, to shotguns and machine guns. Hector’s crew had arrived. The three remaining men in the car immediately froze, seeing their imminent death.
Ben leaned over the door and picked up the gun the unconscious driver dropped in his lap. Ben collected the weapons from the other men as well and handed them back to Dominic who was standing at his elbow.
“Ben, why don’t you take a walk and talk with Jayden while I have a talk with our guests here,” he said with a smile. Ben nodded and walked back to Jayden who was looking like a strong wind might blow him away. Ben put his arm over the young man’s shoulder and walked him back to his house. They went inside and Jayden looked up at Ben.
“He would have killed you. You know that, right?” He was looking at Ben with wide eyes and he was trembling in reaction. Ben had put his life on the line to protect him. He couldn’t get past that.
“Yeah, I think he tried but I don’t think we’re going to have any more trouble with him. Listen, you can’t say anything to anyone about how Dominic’s guys stepped up out there. Is that understood?” Ben said calmly and Jayden heard the same serious tone Ben used on Ki. He looked into the big man’s eyes and there was no anger, fear, or worry. Just calm. He nodded.
“I need to hear you say it.”
“Yes, I won’t tell anyone what happened.”
Ben smiled and nodded. “It’s almost five so we’ll call it a day, ok? Relax and unwind a little.” He turned to go.
Jayden suddenly reached out and touched his arm. Ben looked back.
“I- I just wanted to say thanks!”
“See you tomorrow,” Ben said with a smile and left.
When he got back to the build site there was no sign of the car or the thugs in it. Hector was hosing something off the road.
Dominic walked up to him. “How did it go?” he asked Ben.
“Jayden’s pretty shook up but he’s appreciative so he won’t say anything. Construction can be a dangerous business it seems,” Ben said with a smile for his friend.
“Usually it isn’t quite this bad but it doesn’t hurt to take precautions,” Dominic said.
Ben nodded in the direction of Hector’s activity and Dominic snorted. “The guy you hit lost his lunch when he came to. Puked all down the side of his ride. Probably a concussion. Let’s see your left hand.”
Dominic looked at Ben’s left hand and the knuckles were a little red but otherwise showed no damage. He chuckled, shaking his head.
“Hey! Look what I found!” Hector called out as he picked up two shiny objects from the road. They glittered in the afternoon sun.
“Is that-” Ben began.
“Yup. The punk’s grill. Your punch must have knocked them loose. They fell out when he tossed his cookies. They’re heavy!” Hector said. “You want them?”
Ben scowled and shook his head.
“Suit yourself. I’ll melt them down and make them into some nice rings for my lady. These small stones may actually be diamonds,” he exclaimed with a grin.
“What if he comes back for them?”
“Don’t worry about that. We talked. His ‘crew’ isn’t happy about his leadership and will make sure that doesn’t happen,” Dominic said quietly and Ben dropped it. He didn’t need to know.
“Listen, I’ve been ordered to stay away from the worksite until my finger heals a little. I’m going to see about getting out of town for about a week. I’ll have my phone so if you have any questions you can call or send me an email,” Ben explained.
“That’s a good idea,” Dominic said.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thanks for everything.”
The contractor just smiled and nodded to Ben who headed for home. He had some travel arrangements to make.
When Ben left Rochelle at Trish’s place she walked up the drive and rang the doorbell. Trish answered the door shortly and grinned at her friend.
“Rochelle! What’s up?” Trish stood back and gestured for her to enter.
“I have a question for you.”
Trish nodded.
“Would you be able to take some time off next week?” Rochelle asked.
Trish pulled her phone from her pocket and opened her calendar app. “Which days?”
“Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant would you be able to take the entire week off next week? From this Saturday to the following Saturday?”
Trish looked at Rochelle with wide eyes. “What’s going on?”
Rochelle squirmed and looked at her neighbor. “Ben has been ordered to not use his right hand until the dislocated finger heals. He has to avoid the renovation work so I’ve managed to convince him to take a vacation somewhere hot and sunny but he wants me to come along. I said yes.”
“So… you want me to keep an eye on Jayden?” Trish asked.
“No! I want you to come with us!” Rochelle blurted.
Trish looked at Rochelle in shock. “Ben asked you to join him at a tropical paradise for a week and you want me to come along? Are you feverish? Have you lost your mind? A week alone with the sexiest man I know and you want a chaperone?”
“I know it sounds crazy but I’m not sure how I’ll be with Ben all to myself. I’m not ready to be alone with him for that long,” Rochelle said.
Trish scowled at Rochelle. She shook her head and looked at her calendar again. She had a print piece due for a customer on the following Tuesday but she could finish it up by Friday and queue it for delivery the following week. She also had two website promotion pieces she could probably complete this week. She’d have to take her laptop along to finish up the work on the marketing campaign for Hanna’s hospital but that was fine as it wouldn’t take much time since she had the preliminary work completed.
Trish could ask Hanna to take care of Mason so that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Well my calendar looks fine but there’s also the issue of cost. I haven’t had many high paying jobs recently,” Trish complained.
“Ben is paying for the trip,” Rochelle said with a pleading expression.
“Oh! Well… I guess I’m in,” Trish smiled.
Rochelle pulled her into a hug. When they parted Trish looked her friend in the eye.
“You know, Ben isn’t difficult to get along with. He’s such a tender heart.”
Rochelle looked away. “I know. It’s his tender heart that I’m afraid of. I still don’t know how to relate to men… emotionally.”
“Then use this time to learn. Ben deserves it,” Trish growled protectively.
“This from the woman who admitted to using him for sex,” Rochelle shot back.
Trish had the good grace to blush and nod. “It’s true. I did but I finally let him into my heart. I haven’t regretted that decision one bit.”
Rochelle nodded.
“Hey! You haven’t seen the renovations Ben did in my kitchen!” Trish gushed and tugged on her friend’s arm.
Rochelle had a relieved smile on her face as she followed.