Chapter 3 - The Knife Beneath the Napkin
The ballroom glittered with people who had mastered the art of appearing surprised by nothing.
Evelyn felt surprised by everything.
The chandeliers.
The silent waiters.
The woman wearing earrings that could have paid off her business loan.
She tugged once at the waist of her borrowed dress.
Dominic noticed.
“You’re uncomfortable.”
“These shoes have declared war.”
“I meant the room.”
“That too.”
He looked toward a nearby seating area.
“We can leave.”
It was such a simple offer that she believed him.
“No,” she said. “Rosa spent twenty minutes getting this zipper up. I’m eating something expensive.”
His laugh drew several curious glances.
At dinner, Victor occupied the chair across from her.
Mercer stood near the wall.
Bennett remained at Dominic’s right shoulder.
Evelyn had quietly exchanged seats with a foundation director so she could sit where Dominic would see her without effort.
Victor noticed.
“How thoughtful,” he said.
“Good conversation deserves eye contact.”
His smile tightened.
During the first course, Evelyn listened as Dominic discussed a neighborhood clinic with a pediatric nurse.
He asked practical questions.
Staffing.
Transport.
Whether the evening appointments actually stayed open for working parents.
It complicated her picture of him.
She disliked that.
A dangerous man could ask a good question. A generous check did not erase whatever had funded it.
Still, when he turned toward her, she found herself wanting to know which version of him he intended to become.
Then Mercer approached.
“A call from the eastern property manager,” he told Bennett. “Service corridor.”
Bennett glanced at Dominic.
“Handle it,” Dominic said.
A second guard moved toward an argument near the entrance.
The third followed a woman who had apparently misplaced a diamond bracelet.
Evelyn watched the room change.
Small movements.
Perfectly ordinary.
Together, they opened an empty strip along Dominic’s left side.
She reached for her water.
At the ballroom doors, a champagne tray hit the floor.
The crash cracked through the room.
Faces turned.
Dominic’s shoulders shifted toward the sound.
A waiter approached from behind Victor.
Except the waiter was not looking at the table.
He was looking at Dominic’s neck.
A silver line appeared beneath his folded napkin.
Evelyn moved before she had a plan.
She grabbed the heavy chair beside her and pulled it sideways into his path.
The man stumbled.
His blade struck the chair back, then slashed across her upper arm as she threw herself against Dominic.
They hit the floor together.
Somebody screamed.
The attacker tried to wrench free.
A champagne bucket rolled under his shoe.
Bennett reached them before the man could recover, driving him away from the table as another guard finally closed in.
“Knife!” Evelyn shouted, though everyone could see it now.
Dominic held her against him beneath the table.
For one terrible second, he was completely still.
Then he felt the blood soaking her sleeve.
“Evelyn.”
“I’m here.”
“Your arm.”
“I noticed.”
His hand pressed a folded linen napkin over the cut.
Around them, expensive shoes ran in every direction.
Mercer appeared.
“Get him out.”
“No,” Dominic said.
“Sir—”
“She comes with me.”
Evelyn caught his wrist.
“Hospital. With actual doctors.”
He looked at her.
Then, despite the noise and fear and blood, he nodded.
At the hospital, a physician cleaned the wound and closed it with several stitches.
Evelyn’s hands began shaking only after the danger had passed.
Dominic sat beside the treatment bed.
His shirt was streaked with her blood.
“Don’t do that again,” he said.
She stared at him.
“Save your life?”
“Put yourself between me and a knife.”
“You’re welcome.”
His face changed.
He looked down.
“Thank you.”
The words were rough and unfamiliar.
She let them stand.
Detectives arrived shortly afterward.
Dominic’s attorney arrived almost with them.
Evelyn answered questions without looking at the attorney for permission.
The attacker had carried identification that belonged to an actual catering employee who had never entered the building.
The substitution had occurred before the dinner.
Someone had approved it.
Evelyn described the seating.
The distractions.
The way the guards had been drawn away.
She did not speculate about Dominic’s vision.
That was his information to share.
Afterward, Mercer waited outside her room with a paper cup of coffee.
“Quite an evening,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Mr. Hale’s lucky you happened to be watching his left.”
Evelyn took the coffee.
It was cold.
Mercer leaned slightly closer.
“How long have you known about that eye?”
A chill moved through her that had nothing to do with the hospital.
Dominic had told her exactly who knew.
Mercer had supposedly known only that there were limitations.
She met his gaze.
“Long enough to wonder why you weren’t watching.”
For a moment, his pleasant expression disappeared.
Then Bennett stepped into the hallway.
“Car’s ready, Ms. Parker.”
Mercer moved aside.
Evelyn followed Bennett without looking back.
Halfway to the elevator, she said, “Don’t take me home.”
May you like
Bennett stopped.
Behind them, the hospital doors swung quietly shut.
