Mafia Desire (Erotica)

The woman seated on the chair next to Ben’s couch stood up. “My name is Joanne White. My husband Michael and I came to an arrangement years ago that he would have his affairs and I would have mine as long as we didn’t allow any discord into our home. We had my daughter Lily twenty years ago and I’m proud to say she is a beautiful, intelligent, and well-adjusted young lady. I’m moving to Florida to look after my ailing parents and to spend the rest of my life with the wonderful and faithful man that has been waiting for me to leave Michael.” She turned to Ben. “If you are interested I’m going to be putting my home on the market as well. My daughter has two more years of college and it would be wonderful if she could rent out her room in the house until she graduates.”

“Joanne!” Hannah barked.

“No, that’s fine. Yes, I’m interested.” Ben said.

Trish looked upset and Ben caught the look. “That doesn’t affect my offer to you in any way.”

That statement caused all of the women to look at Ben curiously. Hannah was worried his white knight compulsion was driving him beyond his means. “Ben that’s going to be a lot of money. You know what the current values are for these homes.”

He just looked at her calmly. “Yes, I know what they’re worth. It’s not a problem.”

Daphne was trying to figure Ben out. His home was the smallest, most modest on the street as his property was smaller probably because of the public lane to the nature reserve. He drove a domestic SUV and had none of the toys their husbands had shown off. She didn’t even know what work he did or if he had a job at all. She couldn’t help herself from asking the question on everyone’s mind. “Just how rich are you Mr. Shepherd?”

Ben felt uncomfortable under their eyes and looked at Hannah. She had her eyebrow raised waiting for an answer too. Still, he wasn’t about to give out the number.

“I live very comfortably and I’m very careful with my money. I can certainly afford to purchase a few homes from this neighborhood which are essentially investments that can be resold later for a profit. I will say that I won’t need to go into any debt to do it. Is that good enough?” he said looking back at Daphne. She nodded while the concepts of ‘purchasing a few million dollar homes’ and ‘no debt’ floated in her mind. She looked at Hannah who was obviously also thinking along the same lines.NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

Beth sunk into the couch against Ben as everyone looked to her, the last woman to speak. The only victim whose husband didn’t perish in the crash. She felt a tremendous guilt for that fact like somehow she hadn’t suffered as much as them. But her physical condition obviously disproved that. She looked up at Ben and he smiled down at her. She struggled forward on the couch and he helped her up. Only once she was on her feet and looking back at him did he realize he was bracing her with his hand on her ass. He blushed and smiled guiltily at her. She smiled back with a little spark in her eyes. She wiggled her hips and his blush ramped up. Hannah watched this with tears in her eyes and a grin on her face.

“I’m Beth Wilson. My ex-husband wasn’t on the plane and is now in jail.” There was some confused noises from the group so she explained. “He was carrying his work satchel which was loaded with a large quantity of very powerful medications so he was arrested for trafficking.” That seemed to settle the questions. She began again. “I don’t know what went wrong in our marriage, what I could or should have done to prevent Larry from straying.” There was a rumble of voices telling Beth she wasn’t responsible for the actions of her husband. She looked over at Hannah who smiled at her friend. “Hannah has been a tremendous help for me. She’s drawing me out of my depression. I was in so deep I couldn’t even see the damage I was doing to my children. We’re all getting better now. Talking with you all really does feel like it’s helping.” She turned to the host. “Thank you Catherine and Gabriella for making this happen!” She took her place next to Ben who gave her a hug which she snuggled into with a smile on her face.

There was a round of applause from the group. Cat looked at Gabriella and took her hand. They both stood up. “It should be known that while Gabriella made the calls and I’m hosting, the driving force behind this meeting is Ben. His concern for the well-being of his neighbors is above and beyond.” She and Gabriella both started the applause for Ben who tried his best to smile but was actually squirming badly and looked like he might bolt. Hannah saw his unease and walked over to their hosts and asked loudly to ‘help them with lunch in the kitchen’. Rochelle caught the tone and followed the three ladies out. As they left the others went back to the animated conversations they’d been having before the round table introductions. Hannah saw Ben begin to relax once more.

Once in the kitchen she spoke to her hosts and Rochelle. “Just to let you know, Ben is really uncomfortable with praise. I don’t know how he got that way and I’m not going to divulge anything he’s said to me in confidence during our talks but please be aware that Ben does what he does without expectation of reward and when he is rewarded it makes him upset. We almost made Ben leave just now. He’s a genuine and good man but sometimes he acts a little too selflessly.” Gabriella and Cat looked at each other in dismay. Rochelle looked thoughtful.

They opened the trays of sandwiches and salads catered from Rochelle’s restaurant and carried them out to the sideboard in the dining room. The room was otherwise ready for the meal. Catherine went into the living room and invited her guests to the table. They filled their plates and took their seats.

Hannah saw Ben was being led to the head of the table so she gently suggested that as host Catherine should sit there and allow Ben to take the next seat on the side. Ben looked gratefully at Hannah and she smiled. Beth stuck close to Ben and took the seat on his other side. Hannah sat next to Beth and Trish took the next chair. Joanne sat at the end of the table with Daphne on her right then Tina, Rochelle and finally Gabriella sitting across from Ben.

Before they began Rochelle spoke up. “If everyone wouldn’t mind I’d like to say a little prayer. I promise it won’t be a sermon or preachy. I’d just like to give thanks.” There were pleased smiles and nods so they all joined hands around the table.

“Thank you Lord for bringing us all here today before this bounty. Thank you for giving us the strength to share our stories with each other. Thank you for showing us we can be complete and worthy individuals standing on our own and for giving us the wisdom to know when it’s ok to rely on the support of our friends. Thank you especially for these wonderful women (and Ben), for the love and compassion they have shown and the strength we all share from that. Amen.”

The smiles were especially wide and Beth had tears in her eyes as she smiled at Rochelle.