Chapter 3 - The Bennett Storm
Vanessa stepped behind Daniel's shoulder, clutching his coat as the three giants closed the distance.
"Thomas, Marcus... what are you doing here?" Vanessa stammered, trying to muster a sweet, familial smile.
"Claire is just resting! She had a little dizzy spell—"
Thomas didn't even look at her.
He stopped twelve inches from Daniel Pierce, his massive frame blocking out the overhead light completely.
"Where is she?" Thomas’s voice was a low, guttural vibration that made the glass panels of the waiting room vibrate.
Daniel swallowed hard, trying desperately to summon his usual corporate bravado, though his hands trembled inside his pockets.
"This is a private medical facility, Thomas. You have no legal standing here. Claire cut ties with your family years ago. I am her husband, and I am handling her care."
Before Daniel could finish his sentence, Marcus stepped forward, his scarred hand moving with blinding speed.
He grabbed the lapels of Daniel’s bespoke Italian suit, lifting the smaller man four inches off the linoleum floor and slamming him hard against the hallway wall.
"Marcus! Put me down! Security!" Daniel shrieked, kicking his polished shoes uselessly in the air.
Two security guards took a single hesitant step forward, but Gabriel turned his head, fixing them with a stare so icy and lethal that both men stopped dead in their tracks.
"Chief Miller already called your head of security," Gabriel said quietly, showing a small silver shield pinned inside his leather jacket.
"The Boston Harbor Police are securing the perimeter. Step back and do your jobs."
The guards looked at Gabriel’s badge, exchanged a terrified glance, and immediately stepped back behind the desk.
Thomas leaned into Daniel’s face while Marcus held him pinned like an insect against the drywall.
Thomas pointed a thick, calloused finger directly at the reddish smudge on Daniel’s collar, then down at the scratches on his neck.
"You told my sister seven years ago that we were dead to her," Thomas whispered, each word dropping like a lead weight.
"You forged letters, blocked our numbers, and kept her isolated in your gilded cage so you could strip her bare."
Daniel gasped for air, his face turning an ugly mottled purple under Marcus’s iron grip.
"I didn't... she chose to leave! Ask Vanessa!"
Thomas slowly turned his eyes toward Vanessa, who was trembling against the water cooler, her lipstick smeared by her own shaking fingers.
"Vanessa," Thomas said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
"You pushed our pregnant sister into a concrete wall tonight."
Vanessa broke down into hysterical sobs, shaking her head frantically.
"It was an accident! She was screaming at us! She attacked Daniel first!"
"I saw the hallway cameras on my way up, Vanessa," Gabriel said, tapping a tablet screen he carried.
"You shoved her with both hands while she was holding her stomach. That's aggravated assault on a pregnant woman. In Massachusetts, that carries ten years."
Gabriel clicked his fingers, and two uniformed city police officers stepped out of the stairwell, their handcuffs already gleaming in the light.
"Take Miss Bennett into custody," Gabriel instructed without looking back.
"Book her at the fourth precinct on felony assault charges."
Vanessa screamed and wept as the officers pulled her arms behind her back, her designer purse clattering to the floor as she was dragged toward the elevators.
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Marcus dropped Daniel onto the linoleum, where my husband scrambled on all fours, gasping and clutching his bruised throat.
Thomas stepped over him as if he were a pile of dirty laundry, pushing through the heavy double doors into my room.
