Cowboy Casanova - Lorelei James [124]
He had a bad feeling about this. He quieted the dogs. “Did someone die?”
Quinn shook his head and came inside.
Ben asked, “Did I forget I was throwing a party?”
Chase shook his head and came inside.
“Is this about the sale of the Wetzler place?” Ben asked.
Gavin shook his head and came inside.
But Ben blocked Dalton from coming in. “Did you do this?”
Dalton gave him a somber look. “Yes.”
“Who else did you tell?”
“Just them.” Dalton shouldered past and Ben let him.
No words were exchanged as outerwear was discarded. Everyone wandered to the TV area instead of the bar.
Ben’s heart thundered in his temples. He felt his cheeks burning as he joined them, sitting in the chair furthest away from his family.
“So, Dalton, you gonna tell us why we’re here? And why you think Ben needs an intervention?” Quinn asked.
Dalton wiped his hands on his jeans. When he realized the action hinted at nerves, he folded his arms across his chest. “Ben’s never been one to talk about the women in his life. He’s always says that a gentleman never kisses and tells, which never rang true for me, because all guys brag on the chicks they’re banging. Then I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Ben out at the bar or heard about him on a date with a woman. I thought it was weird he drove to his buddy’s bar in Gillette. That made me wonder if Ben was gay and hidin’ it.
“That also made me wonder if the bar in Gillette was a gay hangout, especially since not one person in our family has ever been there. After the bullshit with us not getting the Wetzler place, and the rumors I’d heard from Jenny that Ben was involved with the president of the new bank, well, I suspected if he was gay he’d slept with her just to get a loan.”
Dalton had a high opinion of him.
“I call bullshit on that, Dalton,” Chase snapped. “Ben ain’t the type of guy to use women and discard them.”
“That just shows how much you don’t know about him. See, I went to the Rawhide Bar Friday night. Dropped Ben’s name and I was escorted to a different door. A private club. A sex club. But the thing I saw that knocked me to my knees? My cousin using a whip on not one, but two different women. Women who were tied up so they couldn’t get away. These woman begged him to stop and he didn’t. He just kept hurting them.”
Ben studied his hands in the silence.
“That’s why I called you guys. Ben’s out of control. He’s got a problem with violence against women. I know a violent streak runs in the McKay family. Brandt struggles with it. Kane and Colt deal with it by beatin’ the shit out of each other. I figured Quinn had it in your family. Makes me sick to think Ben’s had it all this time and we didn’t notice. Add in the kinky sex stuff I saw? And it’s all kinds of wrong. We need to intervene and get him away from that kinda behavior. We need to help him.” Dalton finally looked at Ben pleadingly. “If my dad, who’s been a binge drinker his whole life, can admit at his age that he’s got a problem, I know we can find a way to help you.”
He’d be touched by Dalton’s concern if he wasn’t so fucking mad. If he wasn’t so fucking mortified he’d have to look his brothers in the eye and admit, yes, part of what Dalton said was true.
Ben expected silence as his brothers tried to process Dalton’ accusations.
But Quinn started to laugh. His older brother, who defined restrained, laughed so hysterically tears rolled down his face. He laughed so hard he doubled over on the couch. He’d look up at Dalton, then at Ben, and cackle, giggle and wheeze with laughter.
Not the reaction Ben had predicted.
Finally, Quinn calmed down. He wiped his eyes. He addressed Dalton, who’d taken a seat during Quinn’s laughing fit. “I understand your concern, okay? I don’t know how I would’ve reacted seein’ Ben in that situation. But you’ve taken it totally out of context.”
“Bullshit.”
“So you ever been to a bar or a club in a big city like what you seen in Gillette?”
“That don’t matter. This ain’t about me.”
“You’re laying all Ben’s secrets bare. I’m expecting the same thing from you.”
“Fine. Whatever.”
“You’ve lied