Chapter 10
The ballroom foyer held its breath. It was that kind of carpet that swallowed sound, thick and patterned in gold and cream, bordered by brass stanchions and velvet rope that hadn't been unclipped yet. A small table stood to the side with a guest book and a tower of champagne flutes no one had touched. Beyond the double doors I could hear the low murmur of a private event, glasses clinking, someone testing a microphone.
He hadn't moved closer. He stayed three feet away, hands still in his pockets, but his eyes hadn't left my face since I'd said his name. Daniel hadn't let go of my wrist. His fingers had slid down from my hand and circled the narrowest part, not tight enough to hurt, tight enough that I couldn't step away without making a scene.
"See," Daniel said. His voice was light, practiced. Like he was presenting something at a sales meeting. "I told you I'd bring her."
He looked at him when he said it, not at me. "You said you needed to see compliance. You said you needed to know I could handle my side. So here she is."
The words landed wrong. Compliance. Handle my side. I felt my stomach turn.
I stared at Daniel's profile, at the silver chain against his burgundy shirt, at the way his jaw was set like he was waiting for approval. "What are you talking about?" I said. My voice came out smaller than I wanted it to.
Daniel finally looked at me and smiled. It was quick and empty. "Don't do that," he said under his breath. Then louder, for him to hear, "She was nervous on the way in. I told her it was just a drink. That you just wanted to clear the air."
He turned back to him. "We're good, right? She's here. You saw her walk in with me. That covers what I owe. We said this would settle it."
I felt the floor shift. The whole night rearranged itself in my head, the dress he insisted I wear, the way he picked the emerald satin because it was impossible to miss, the hand he grabbed at the revolving doors when I tried to pause, the keep moving. He hadn't brought me to a party. He had brought me as payment.
"You used me as proof," I said. The cold came up from the marble through the thin soles of my shoes. "You told him you'd make me show up."
Daniel's grip twitched. "I told him I'd fix it," he said. "You knew I had a debt. I told you last month things were tight. This is how it gets fixed. You just had to be seen with me. That's all."
I remembered that conversation in our kitchen, him standing by the sink saying the hotel project was behind and he needed a favor from an investor, that I didn't need to worry about the details. I had thought he meant money he borrowed. I hadn't realized the collateral was me.
He hadn't heard any of it the way Daniel intended. His face changed. The restrained stillness from before cracked into something sharper, anger, but not at me.
"Is that what you told her?" he said to Daniel. His voice was low and even. He didn't raise it, but the foyer went quieter anyway. "That I demanded you parade her in here?"
Daniel shrugged, still holding my wrist. "You said you wanted to see her in person. You said you didn't trust my word after last time. So I brought her in person. We're settled."
He looked at me then, really looked at me, and I saw him take in the dress, the way I was holding my shoulders, Daniel's hand locked around my wrist. His eyes dropped to that grip for a second too long.
He took a half step forward and then stopped himself, like he was making sure not to crowd me.
"Hey," he said to me, soft enough that only I could hear it properly. "Did you come here because you wanted to?"
The question hung between us. Daniel answered before I could.
"Of course she did," Daniel said quickly. "She's my girlfriend. She wants what I want. Right, babe?"
His fingers tightened. Not a squeeze, a warning. Tell him yes. Make this go away. I felt the satin of my dress cling to my back, damp with sweat despite the air conditioning. The chandelier light from the lobby reflected in the brass doors behind him, warm and unreal.
I looked at his face, then at Daniel's hand on my wrist, then back at him. The man I'd known two years ago before everything went bad, before Daniel, before the nights I stopped answering my phone. He was waiting for my answer and he wasn't going to let Daniel say it for me.
My mouth was dry. I could hear my own breathing again, shallow and fast. Daniel's thumbnail pressed into the inside of my wrist.
He asked again, quieter. "Did you want to walk in here with him?"
May you like
I opened my mouth and no sound came out at first. The ballroom doors behind him stayed closed, but I could hear someone inside laugh, oblivious. Daniel stared at me, his smile gone now, his eyes saying please, just say yes, just end this.
I had to answer.
