CHAPTER 127: TESTING THE WATERS

I took in a deep breath and told myself to just say it. Before I could stop myself, I quickly blurted out the question that I had on my mind.

"Mother, are you happy with Bennett?" I asked.

My question must have taken her by surprise because my mother blinked her eyes rapidly a couple of times before her face softened, and she smiled.

"What kind of question is that? Of course, I am," she replied, followed by a sweet laugh.

I forced myself to hold her gaze as I nodded my head a couple of times at her expected answer.

"Do you really love him?" I asked a different question this time.

My mother laughed even louder than before, nodding her head as if my question was absurd.

"Honestly, I never thought that I could fall in love again like this after... you know, what happened with your father. I’m in love with him, more than I thought possible. He’s wonderful. He’s very supportive, and he’s been so kind to me," my mother replied before smiling to herself as if recalling some very fond memories.

For a moment, I felt extremely conflicted, and then I felt sick. My mother had always been overly cautious with love because of what happened with my father. She had taken more than enough years to consider dating again. I basically grew up watching her coping with life alone while raising me. Her life had been nothing but difficult, but she had always tried her best to smile and look happy in front of me. However, now she had given her heart to a man who had never been honest with her.

"Have you ever sensed that there is something strange about him?" I asked carefully.

My mother frowned as if in thought before shaking her head.

"Not at all. Why are you asking me this?" she asked.

Now it was my turn to hesitate. I could feel my hands trembling before I clenched them into fists on my lap.

"Do you trust him? Do you trust Bennett?" I asked as I stared directly into my mother’s eyes.

"Of course. Ben and I don’t have any secrets. I trust him," my mother replied without missing a beat.

I bit down on my lower lip very hard when she mentioned that they had no secrets between them.

"It’s nothing. I was just, you know, wondering. You’ve only been married for a short time, so I want to make sure that things are working out and that you are safe," I told her honestly.

My mother’s expression only looked more confused than before as her frown deepened.

"What do you mean by safe? Is something going on, Abby? Did Bennett do something that you didn’t like?" my mother asked worriedly.

"It’s nothing like that," I replied very quickly.

"Then what is it? Is something wrong?" my mother asked as she leaned across the table towards me.

At that moment, I wanted to stand up and scream yes! I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and tell her that we need to run and get away from here as far as we can before it is too late for us to get our lives back.

But I didn’t.

I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

"I just think that you should be careful. That’s all. I’m worried about you," I replied softly.

The look my mother gave me told me that her concerns were still very much intact. However, she didn’t push me any further.

"Thank you, Abby. I appreciate you worrying about me, but I promise that I’m okay, really," my mother replied.

After that conversation, we tried our best to enjoy our meal before switching to lighter topics. I felt like a failure because I couldn’t come out and tell my mother that Bennett was the head of the mafia. However, I could feel that not all was lost because I did make some progress. I had begun nudging my mother about the topic, so the next time I would have more confidence to ask for more details and then finally reveal the truth to her.

The other thing that changed following the conversation was that I couldn’t shake this feeling of unease. My fear for my mother’s safety only grew stronger and stronger until I started spending more time with her and Bennett. I just didn’t want her to be alone with him if I could help it.

When Bennett suggested dinner at home, I made sure to be there and to sit close to my mother. When my mother wanted to go shopping, I insisted on coming along with the excuse that there was something that I wanted to buy.

At first, everything worked out naturally, but when Bennett began giving me doubtful looks, I realized that I couldn’t keep on fooling him forever. I knew that he could sense that something was off and that I couldn’t keep this up forever.

Time was running out, and I needed to figure out my next move.

...

**A week later**

Sometimes it doesn’t take a loud thunder late in the night with dramatic lightning effects for you to know that something has gone horribly wrong. The moment that my mother and I stepped through the mansion after returning from dining outside together, we were hit with the sense that something was wrong.

Bennett stood in the center of the grand living room as he paced back and forth with his phone pressed tightly to his ear. His usual calm and composed manner was gone. Instead, his shoulders were tense, and his face displayed clear distress.

We both froze when we spotted him at the entrance before exchanging worried glances with each other.

I had never seen Bennett acting that way before. It was one thing for him to look so distressed, but also another for him to look so out of control.

"That is not what we agreed on. I don’t care what needs to be done, get it fixed. I want an update in an hour with no mistakes. Don’t make me make my way down there," Bennett snapped as he continued pacing back and forth.