Chapter 2
Richard’s face changed so quickly that I almost would have laughed if my cheek hadn’t been throbbing.
He looked at me.
Then at my father.
Then back at me.
“Emily?”
My father stepped around him.
“Answer me.”
His voice was quiet.
That was always when Daniel Bennett was most dangerous.
Not when he shouted.
When he became calm.
I touched my lip.
“It was him.”
Richard immediately lifted both hands.
“Now, wait. This is being completely misunderstood.”
Kevin stared at him.
“You slapped her in front of forty people.”
Richard’s wife finally looked up.
Her face was pale.
My father turned toward Richard.
“You put your hands on my daughter?”
Richard swallowed.
“I didn’t know she was your daughter.”
Something inside me went cold.
My father’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s your defense?”
“No. Of course not.”
Richard forced a nervous laugh.
“I’m saying there was confusion. Tempers were high. Your daughter was serving us, and I thought—”
“You thought she was someone you were allowed to hit?”
Richard stopped talking.
The restaurant stayed silent.
Even the kitchen staff had come through the swinging doors.
My father took out his phone.
He opened an email.
Then held the screen toward Richard.
“Do you know what this is?”
Richard stared.
“The closing package?”
“It was.”
My father tapped the screen.
“Now it’s a cancellation notice.”
Richard went white.
“Daniel.”
“You will address me as Mr. Bennett.”
Richard’s voice dropped.
“We have contractors waiting. Land purchases already signed. If your firm withdraws now, we could lose everything.”
My father glanced at me.
“Then perhaps you should have considered that before assaulting a woman because your steak disappointed you.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Richard’s expression twisted.
“You called the police?”
Kevin held up his phone.
“I did.”
Richard pointed at him.
“You have no idea what you just did.”
Kevin took one step forward.
“No. You have no idea what you did.”
Two officers entered.
Customers immediately started speaking.
Several had their phones raised.
One woman near the bar said, “I recorded the whole thing.”
Richard heard her.
His confidence cracked.
“Everyone needs to stop.”
The officer approached me.
“Ma’am, are you injured?”
“My cheek hurts. My lip is bleeding.”
Richard interrupted.
“She’s fine.”
My father turned so sharply that Richard stepped backward.
“You don’t speak for her.”
The officer separated us.
Richard tried to explain.
He called it a misunderstanding.
Then an accident.
Then he said I had been aggressive.
That was when his wife spoke.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stood slowly.
Her hands were trembling.
“My husband slapped her.”
Richard’s head snapped toward her.
“Claire.”
She flinched.
I noticed it immediately.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Richard lowered his voice.
“Sit down.”
Claire didn’t.
The officer looked at her.
“You witnessed it?”
“Yes.”
Richard walked toward her.
My father’s attorney, Margaret Sloan, stepped between them.
“Mr. Caldwell, I’d stay exactly where you are.”
Richard stared at Claire.
She stared at the floor.
I suddenly understood something that made my stomach turn.
This wasn’t the first time she had watched Richard lose control.
It might not even have been the first time she had felt it.
The officer asked Richard to turn around.
Richard laughed in disbelief.
“You’re arresting me?”
“For battery, pending investigation.”
“You know who I am?”
The officer gave him a tired look.
“Yes. You’ve mentioned it several times.”
A few customers laughed.
Richard didn’t.
The handcuffs clicked.
As the officers led him away, he turned toward my father.
“You kill this loan, Daniel, and you’ll regret it.”
Then he looked directly at me.
“You especially.”
My father moved toward him.
I grabbed his arm.
“Dad.”
He stopped.
Richard smiled.
It wasn’t a confident smile anymore.
It was angry.
Humiliated.
Dangerous.
Then the police took him outside.
The restaurant erupted into noise.
Kevin came toward me.
“You need a hospital.”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’ve had worse kitchen accidents.”
“That wasn’t a kitchen accident.”
My father heard me.
His eyes hardened.
“You’re done working here.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“Emily.”
“No.”
He looked shocked.
I was twenty-nine years old, but sometimes my father still spoke to me like I was sixteen.
“This is exactly why I didn’t want you doing this.”
“Doing what? Working?”
“Pretending you’re not a Bennett.”
My face grew hot.
“I wasn’t pretending.”
“You were waiting tables in a restaurant our family owns while a man we were financing attacked you.”
“I was helping Kevin.”
“You shouldn’t have been here.”
That hurt almost as much as the slap.
I stepped back.
“So this is somehow my fault?”
His expression changed.
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“It sounded like it.”
Margaret quietly touched his sleeve.
“Daniel.”
He closed his mouth.
Kevin brought me ice wrapped in a towel.
I pressed it against my cheek.
Outside, cameras were already appearing.
Someone had called local media.
The video was probably online.
I didn’t know how right I was.
My phone began vibrating.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Messages.
Notifications.
Missed calls.
Then one text appeared from my older brother, Daniel Jr.
EMILY. WHAT HAPPENED?
Before I could answer, Margaret’s phone rang.
She stepped away.
Thirty seconds later, she came back looking grim.
“That was our compliance director.”
My father frowned.
“What?”
“Caldwell Development’s general counsel just contacted the firm.”
“So?”
“They’re threatening to sue if we terminate the financing.”
My father almost smiled.
“Let them.”
Margaret didn’t smile.
“There’s more.”
She looked at me.
“They’re claiming Emily provoked Richard intentionally to sabotage the deal.”
My mouth fell open.
“That’s insane.”
“I know.”
My father’s voice turned icy.
“What exactly are they alleging?”
Margaret hesitated.
“That Emily was secretly acting on behalf of Bennett Capital when she served Caldwell tonight.”
Kevin laughed once.
“That might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Margaret’s expression stayed serious.
“They’re preparing a public statement.”
I looked down at my phone.
A news alert had already appeared.
CHICAGO DEVELOPER DETAINED AFTER INCIDENT AT DOWNTOWN STEAKHOUSE.
My picture wasn’t there.
Not yet.
Then another notification appeared.
Someone had posted the video.
The caption read:
CEO SLAPS WAITRESS—THEN FINDS OUT WHO HER FATHER IS.
The view count climbed every time I refreshed.
Twenty thousand.
Forty thousand.
Seventy thousand.
My father stared at the screen.
“This is going to explode.”
I should have been worried about Richard.
About the loan.
About the press.
Instead, I kept thinking about Claire.
The way she had flinched when he said her name.
I looked through the windows.
She was standing alone on the sidewalk while reporters surrounded her.
Richard had been taken away.
And somehow, she looked more terrified now than when he had been beside her.
I handed the ice pack to Kevin.
“Where are you going?”
“Outside.”
My father stepped in front of me.
“Absolutely not.”
I met his eyes.
“Dad, you came here to protect me.”
“Yes.”
May you like
I looked toward Claire.
“Someone needs to protect her too.”
