It took half an hour to get the paperwork done and get Jess released.  Ben looked at Joey, “I need to talk to Uncle Sal.  Get them home, Okay?” He kissed Lane, “I love you, I just need to talk to Uncle Sal tonight to get this all straightened out.  I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

She looked tired, and he knew she needed to get some rest. They walked outside together.  He opened the front passenger door of Lane’s Escalade, helped her get in and kissed her again.  He brushed the back of his hand on her cheek.

“Go to bed without me. I can wake you when I get home.”

This was nuts, when had they turned into the family who spent more time at the police station than away from it?  Lane reached up and touched Ben’s hand as she looked into his eyes.  “Okay, promise you’ll wake me?”

He nodded and closed the door.  He pulled out this phone and called Uncle Sal. He didn’t bother with hello when Sal answered.

“Jess was arrested for assault.  What the hell is going on?”

“I didn’t even know the man who pushed me. Where is the girl?”

“She’s home.  There’s more to this, Sal and we both know it. They arrested the guy who pushed you.  I’ll talk to him in the morning and see if I can get the charges dropped.  Are you home now?  Are you all right?  Is Pauli with you?”

“Yes.  Go home to your wife and family.  There’s nothing to be done tonight.” Sal said as he ended the call.

Ben started his SUV and drove home.

Chapter 27

comes the dawn

Ben woke before dawn and dressed for his run.  It was another 10 mile morning.  He came home and went right to the weight room. He went through his reps, and as he finished Jamie came in.

“Did you already run, Dad?”

“Yeah, is anyone else up?”

“I passed Joey in the hall.  He looks awful, like he’s been up all night.  Is there something else going on?”

Ben looked at him, “Someone attacked Uncle Sal last night, and Jess jumped in the middle of it.  She was arrested for assault, but I expect the charges will be dropped today.  I just need to go to the station and talk to the guy.”

Jamie looked at Ben.  He trusted Ben.  He knew Ben had helped Jake, Jess, and his Mom more than once.  And if Ben said everything would be fine, it would be.  But Ben hadn’t said it would be fine.

“You didn’t say everything would be fine.  You always say, ‘I’ll handle it and everything will be fine.’  I’m not a kid; you can tell me if something is going on.”

It had been the Parkers against the world his whole life; and then three years ago, even Jess had let Ben into their family circle.  He had started to call Ben ‘Dad’ because, in many ways, Ben was the only father he’d known.  Sure Phillip Parker was in Chicago and Jamie saw him once a year or so, but Phillip Parker wasn’t there for him or his siblings when they needed something.  He hadn’t had that feeling of security until they’d moved to Kansas and met Ben Bellini.  The Parker kids knew that one phone call to Ben and, no matter what was wrong, he would set it right.

No, Jamie wasn’t exactly a kid any more.  Ben thought as he said, “There’s nothing else, Bambino.  I will handle it and everything will be fine.”

He patted Jamie on the shoulder as he walked toward the door.  He stopped and turned to look at Jamie.

“I’m just worried about your Mom.  This is a high risk pregnancy because of her age, you know.  Dangerous for the baby, not for her.  I want to be sure she gets enough rest and, with everything going on, this week has been hard on her.  But I don’t want anyone to worry.  Tonight is a party and we forget everything else.”

Ben walked up the stairs and went into the kitchen.  Joey had made coffee and was sitting at the table.  Ben got a bottle of water and sat with him.

“The Bambino thinks you’ve been up all night.”

“How do you get any sleep around this family?  I’m constantly waiting for the next shoe to drop.”

Ben laughed, “This has been an unusual week.  Things are much quieter usually.”

Joey ran his hand through his hair, “Probably because Jess is usually in L.A.”

Ben looked toward the hall where the bedrooms were.  “You said it yourself.  She can take care of herself.  Speaking of shoes, I need to order a new pair to replace the ones the police have.”

“Yeah, you and Pauli and the Jess Parker Shoe Club.”

Ben laughed again, “You forgot Tony.  He’s a card carrying member of the club.  I think she may have blackmailed both Pauli and Tony in.  She just manipulated me.  But she can be very hard to say no to.”

Ben got up and headed toward his bedroom leaving Joey alone at the table.  Yeah, Joey thought, she would be hard to say no to if she ever looked up at me with those big blue eyes like she wanted something from me.  He remembered the look on her face the other night just before she’d kissed him and told him never to scare her again.  Well, Toots, that goes both ways, he thought.

Ben paused to watch Lane sleep before going into the bathroom.  He’d closed the door, so the shower wouldn’t wake Lane.  He was standing in the shower, letting the ceiling mounted shower heads rain over him.  He was standing with his eyes closed and his face tipped toward the rain when he felt the hands on his back.  He shook his head and opened his eyes.

“I was trying not to wake you.” He said, as he turned and bent his head to kiss his wife.

“You promised to wake me last night.”  She said, as she moved her hands up his chest and curled her fingers in his chest hair.

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.  As always, when their tongues danced together, Lane moaned and, as always, that was all it took.  Ben picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him as he backed her against the stone wall.

The shower was six feet by six feet.  It had two stone walls, the other two were clear glass.  The entire ceiling was raining.  He moved his lips from her mouth, down her neck and across her shoulder, before he bent and took one of her nipples in his mouth.  She moaned and wrapped her fingers in the hair at the back of his head.  She knew her moaning always made him hard, and he knew suckling her breasts always made her wet.

He moved to her other breast and she continued moaning.  He wanted to take his time, but it had been weeks since they’d made love, and her moaning was pushing him with an urgency he was finding difficult to control.  He needed to be inside her.  Needed it like he needed to breathe.

She grabbed him tightly and threw her head back as she moaned.  “I need you inside me now.”

God, he loved that she could have an orgasm just from him suckling her.  He slid her lower and she helped guide him inside her.  He put his hands behind her.  The stone walls weren’t smooth, and the last thing he wanted was to scrape up her back.  There was a stone bench in the shower and he turned and lowered himself to sit on the edge of it.  She still had her legs wrapped around him.  She moved her left leg and wrapped it around his right leg as she slid up and down the length of him.  She put one hand against the stone and shifted.

He had promised her that he’d always make sure she had at least two orgasms before he even thought about having one himself.  He’d confessed even at the time that it wasn’t true, because he started thinking about having an orgasm almost before he was inside her.  This time was no different.  He wasn’t sure how many she’d had when she leaned forward and purred in his ear. “You’ve kept your promise, now come with me.”

He groaned, as he finally let himself go over.  He stood, still holding her, and walked into the bedroom.  She was so tight and wet, and he really wasn’t quite ready to be finished.  He laid her on the bed and got in next to her.  They were wet and it was a chilly morning.  He pulled the covers over them as he pulled her into his arms and began kissing her.