Free A Commitment to Love, Book 3 by Kenya Wright Page A

Benny said what?”
    “That we couldn’t be together.”
    “This is classic Romeo and Juliet. It’s just that Juliet’s father is a deranged serial killer.”
    “Serial killer?”
    “A man that murders a lot of people in a ritualistic manner. That’s him. I’ve known him for over twenty years. Benny is dangerous, and he won’t leave you alone until he believes he’s received some sort of justice or what he rightfully deserves. It took me years to shake him, and even now …” She looked away for a few seconds. “Even now … I don’t know if I shook him.”
    “He still comes by?”
    She took that moment to sip her drink. “When did Jasmine leave?”
    “This morning.”
    “With him?”
    “I assume so.”
    “I was hoping to come over here before she left.” She shrugged. “That’s okay. I’m here. Everything is going to be okay. We’re going to work this out. You got the money, and I have the plan.”
    “Plan?”
    “Yes.”
    A liquid buzz settled down on me. I rubbed my temples with my free hand. “I’m not understanding this, Sophia.”
    “You know what the solution is. You know it. You’ve been trying to fix this, since you all came back from Italy. You think I don’t know what’s going on? I know a lot more than you. Trust me. You thought Benny was done. No. He was just starting.”
    “And now you decide to say something?”
    She wagged her finger at me. “This is my daughter. You brought her into this beef with Benny. Don’t blame your dilemma on me.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “But do you know the solution?” she asked.
    “I think I do. Get her back.”
    “No.”
    “That’s all I want.”
    “You need to concentrate on the bigger picture. Jasmine will come back, if who’s dead?”
    “Benny.”
    Heat glazed over her eyes. “Then why is he even alive?”
    “I tried.”
    The heat left her gaze and she smiled. “I’m sure you did. I just can’t believe you never came to me. I’ve been waiting for months. You never did. Sometimes, your moves are hard to guess.”
    My moves?
    The cognac had begun to do its job. A chemical euphoria drifted over me. I rubbed my face and promised to drink some more, once Sophia left.
    She captured my attention. “I can help you kill Benny.”
    Silence hung in the air for almost a minute as we stared at each other, her with confidence, me dumbfounded.
    “What?” I asked, as if unsure I’d already become drunk and was simply imagining everything.
    “I can help you kill Benny.”
    This is too convenient. Too well-timed. What’s going on?
    “How can you help me?” I asked.
    “I know him. I know how he thinks. I read everything he writes and—”
    “He writes?”
    “He does these weird … journals. It’s notebooks and notebooks of his studies, nightmares, memories, and just jumbled thoughts.”
    “Journals? How do you know all of this?” I paused. “Look, Mrs. Montgomery, I don’t think—”
    “Chase, be quiet.”
    Now I see where Jasmine gets the bossiness.
    “Benny is complex. He has a set system of traditions in his head.” She tapped her own. “I don’t even know how to explain it. He has ideas of customs and rules of society, and when he thinks they’ve been violated, he kills. He’s the type of guy where, if you step on his shoe in the train, and don’t say sorry, he is liable to follow you out of the train, stalk you for days, and then late at night, while you sleep, choke you until there is nothing left inside of your body. That is a true story by the way.”
    I had nothing left to say.
    “I understand Benny better than he gets himself,” she confessed. “How the hell do you think I’ve been able to stay alive around him for so long?”
    “I thought you two were maybe a fling or—”
    “Let’s not lie.” She frowned. “I know what you’ve heard. I stripped and met Benny there. We had sex, and he felt bad and returned to his happy little wife. They lived wonderfully together, but then him being such a good man,