Chapter 94 - Daddy Dominant's Good Girl

I asked Bennett to meet me at a cafe in town. Ellis was reluctant to leave me alone with him but I assured Ellis I would be fine. I even told him he could pick up Ken. He was excited about that chance and almost left me eagerly.

Chuckling to myself, I went into the cafe and ordered a coffee. I sat at a corner table with a good window view and waited for Bennett.

Bennett arrived right on time, as usual. He came up to the table first. I stood and he kissed my cheek.

“It is good to see you, Olivia. Thank you for asking to meet,” he said.

“I know I’ve been a little distant, and that hasn’t been fair to you. Did you want to get a drink?” I motioned to the barista.

“I’m fine,” Bennett said, waving at the barista dismissively. We sat across from each other. “For you.” He held out a dozen roses.

My cheeks warmed and I took the bouquet, smelling the sweet, delicious roses. “These are beautiful,” I murmured.

A pit formed in my stomach. He was acting like any good boyfriend on a date. He knew we weren’t really together but I suddenly felt like I was using him and leading him on.

I set the roses on the table and refused to meet Bennett’s eyes for a moment.

“Olivia, what is wrong?” he asked. He reached across the table and took my hand from around my coffee cup, gripping my fingers.

Slowly, I pulled my hand away. “Bennett, I don’t need you to pretend to be my boyfriend anymore. I want us to go back to being just friends.”

“Oh,” Bennett said, looking down. He was clearly hurt.

“You’ve been so kind to me and helped Ken and me out. When I needed you, you've been there. I am grateful and I want to repay you somehow,” I explained.

Bennett shook his head and sniffed. “You and Ellis are back together aren’t you?” He gave me an accusing look.

My cheeks burned hot and I looked down, my stomach squirmed as I remembered the night Ellis and I had shared together recently.

“Well… we aren’t… official or anything. We are um… working on things,” I said, swallowing hard.

“I should have known. Women always want the bad boys. They don’t care how many times they get hurt, they’ll keep going back to the one that hurt them,” Bennet grumbled.

“That’s not… well, it is a little more complicated than that. Because of Ken and a lot of past misunderstandings,” I said softly.

I looked at Bennett’s face. His fists were clenched but his eyes were distant and angled toward the window.

“I’m sorry, Bennett. You knew we were just pretending to be together. I’ve always valued your friendship and that’s why I trusted you with this,” I muttered.

I chewed my lower lip, feeling worse and worse by the second. I worried that Bennett would think that I was using him. My stomach rumbled and I wrapped my arms around myself.

“No, I understand. I knew this was temporary. I just hoped… well, I hoped you’d see how great of a guy I could be and want to make things official,” he admitted with a nod.

“I do think you’re a great guy. You’re pretty much perfect,” I said, biting my lower lip.

“Then what’s the problem?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at me.

I shrugged. “Maybe, if we’d met under different circumstances, things with us could be different.”

Bennett sighed heavily and slouched down in his chair. “In the five years we worked together, did you ever love me? Did you ever have more feelings for me?”

I thought back to how amazing Bennett had always been. He’d helped me get a job, helped me and Ken get an apartment. He’d always looked after us, even when one of his other musicians attacked me.

I’d never had to ask, but Bennett was always there.

I gnawed the inside of my cheek. “Bennett, you were always someone I could count on. I thought of you more like family, like a best friend or a brother,” I said slowly.

Bennett scoffed and shook his head. “Yes, the dreaded ‘friend zone.’”

“I’m really sorry. I know you’re disappointed,” I said quietly.

I glanced down and cupped my hands around my coffee. The warmth helped calm my nerves. It wasn’t easy facing Bennett and letting him down. Not after everything he’d done for me.

“I understand, Olivia. You have a history here and with Ellis that is unresolved. Perhaps one day it will be fully resolved and we can reevaluate our situation,” he suggested.

I shrugged. “I can’t promise anything. Ellis and I aren’t back together yet but we are working on things and Ken really wants to be a family with his real father.”

“I can respect that,” Bennett nodded. Suddenly, a broad smirk spread across his lips.

My stomach churned and I gave a nervous smile. I didn’t like that look. I’d never seen Bennett smile like that before.

“Although, you know that Ellis isn’t a great man. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have run from him,” he pointed out.

“That was… well, I was confused,” I admitted with a shrug.

“Really? Do you know everything about Ellis’s past?” he prompted.

Nodding slowly, I sipped my coffee. “We’ve talked about it extensively. At least, recently he started explaining things. That’s why it seemed like the right time to give things another chance.”

“Oh, so he has told you all about Nancy, then, has he?” Bennett asked, cocking his head to the side.

I swallowed, my mouth dry. I took another sip of coffee and it tasted sour.

“I know about Nancy. She’s a woman from Ellis’s past, but he’s forgotten about her,” I said, my words sticking in my dry mouth.

“I’m surprised he told you about her. Nancy has always been his biggest secret,” Bennett continued, that same, unsettling smirk on his lips.

I swallowed hard, again. “H-how do you know about N-Nancy?”

“Well, when you’re in the business Ellis and I are in, you know things about your rivals, like potential weaknesses. Nancy was always someone that I had my eyes on,” Bennett explained.

“I’ll be honest, when I first learned about her, I was very upset. I couldn’t understand why Ellis wouldn’t talk about her and why he was so… why he insisted on holding onto her,” I admitted. I tried drinking my coffee again.

It tasted right this time. I found it almost relieving to talk to someone else about Nancy. I hardly had the chance to dissect my thoughts and feelings about her, especially with Ellis.

“I can imagine you would be upset. She always had a special place in Ellis’ heart. I even heard he kept a room like a shrine to her in his home,” Bennett said, chuckling.

“That’s been taken down. He had the whole room remodeled,” I explained, offering a light smile.

“I’m glad to hear it. Hopefully, her memory won’t come between the two of you, now that you seem to be getting back together,” he said, grinning.

It was supposed to be a nice sentiment, and I should have taken it that way. Instead, I felt like Bennett was implying something deeper. His eyes flickered like Bethany’s had, with malicious intent.

“Bennett… do you know something?” I asked slowly. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to know. Things with Ellis had just started going in the right direction.

“If you and Ellis have talked about it all, then I don’t think there is anything I know that you don’t,” he said, shrugging.

“He assured me that he has put Nancy behind him and everything to do with her is in the past,” I said, nodding.

“Hmm,” Bennett said, stroking his chin.

“Bennett, what is this about? What are you talking about?” I asked. My voice hitched in urgency. I didn’t want to be led around in circles.

“Nancy being in the past isn’t necessarily the truth,” Bennett said, holding a hand out to me.

I narrowed my eyes at Bennett. I’d always respected him. If he was just trying to stir up trouble between Ellis and me, I wasn’t okay with that. I crossed my arms and leaned back.

“Bennett, I trust Ellis. He finally opened up to me and told me everything. Are you just saying these things to cause trouble?” I asked bluntly.

Bennett creased his brow. His eyes fell. He looked wounded and gently rubbed his chest like I had stabbed him or punched him.

“Olivia, I have proof. I can show you if you want to see,” he offered, pulling his phone out.

I chewed the inside of my cheek and looked at the darkened screen of Bennett’s phone. What proof could he have? Pictures, audio, video? Was he spying on Ellis?

I didn’t know what to think. I had too many questions about how Bennett could have gotten his proof. But he was so sure that he had something I should see. I couldn’t deny that I wanted to know.

I’d started trusting Ellis again, but it wasn’t infallible.

“O-okay. Show me,” I said, nodding.

Bennett sighed and unlocked his phone. He showed me a video on a beach. I recognized the beach. It was where Ellis had taken me one weekend, where I’d almost drowned and he’d gotten sick.

I grabbed the phone and pulled it across the table so I could see the video better.

It was nearly sunset and an ocean breeze whipped through the skies. The waves crashed loudly. In the background, I could see the seaside estate that Ellis had tried to give me as a gift.

There was a woman on the beach. In the setting sun, she looked a lot like me but I knew it wasn’t. The time and date stamp on the video proved it wasn’t me. I was nowhere near the beach that day.

She smiled and beckoned to someone off-screen. That person came closer, and I knew instantly it was Ellis.

Gasping, I covered my mouth with my hand, but I couldn’t look away. My eyes were glued to the screen.

They were talking, but their voices were muffled by the waves and the wind. The woman, Nancy, was wearing a little sundress that flapped in the wind. Ellis was wearing a button-down shirt that was half open and pants, rolled up to his shins.

They were both barefoot and looked like they’d been on the beach for a while.

Nancy reached forward and grabbed Ellis’s wrists. He didn’t pull away.

Then, Nancy, who looked remarkably beautiful and happy for a ‘dead’ woman, threw herself into Ellis’s arms, hugging him.

The video ended immediately.

I stared at the blank screen again, too stunned to give Bennett his phone back.

“Olivia?” Bennett asked, taking his phone.

I looked at him, not really seeing him.

“I’m sorry you had to see that. Do you really think that if he hadn’t thought Nancy was dead, he would have fallen in love with you?”

Bennett’s question rang in my ears.