Chapter 4
Elias insisted nobody meant for Clara to lose the baby.
Men always become precise about intent after consequences arrive.
“She tried to leave,” he said.
“So you stopped her.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Silence.
Arthur answered.
“She became hysterical.”
I looked at him.
“Careful.”
He ignored the warning.
“She was screaming. Threatening her brothers. Saying you would kill everyone in the house if they didn’t let her go.”
Antonio’s expression changed slightly.
Clara had known exactly who I was.
And still protected that secret.
“Why didn’t she tell you I was Vale?” I asked.
Arthur scoffed.
“She said ridiculous things about you being dangerous.”
I almost smiled.
Not enough.
“She never named the organization?”
“No.”
Interesting.
Even while surrounded by nine men, Clara protected me.
Or protected them.
Maybe both.
Victor spoke quietly.
“She said if we knew who Dominic really was, we’d do something stupid.”
I looked at Arthur.
“She knew you well.”
His jaw tightened.
I turned back to Elias.
“What happened when she tried to leave?”
He said nothing.
So Caleb did.
“Elias grabbed her.”
Elias turned.
“Shut up.”
Caleb kept going.
“She fought him. Marcus blocked the door. Dad told everyone not to let her leave until she called Dominic.”
Arthur stood.
Vale men moved immediately.
He sat again.
Caleb continued.
Clara refused the phone.
Arthur threatened to keep her at the Bennett house until the baby was born.
That was when she panicked.
Not because she feared confinement for herself.
Because she understood what Arthur meant.
The Bennett future.
A child raised under his roof.
My name removed.
My wife reduced to a daughter who disobeyed and was corrected.
“She tried to get past Elias,” Caleb said.
I looked at the eldest brother.
He finally spoke.
“I pushed her.”
My vision narrowed.
“How hard?”
No answer.
Caleb answered for him.
“She hit the edge of the table.”
Antonio’s hand closed around the back of a chair.
Mine did not move.
I could not afford movement yet.
Then Nolan whispered:
“She was still standing afterward.”
Everyone looked at him.
His face had gone pale.
I understood immediately.
May you like
The push had not been the end.
Something else happened after Clara stood back up.
